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| US Halts Anti-Drug Aid To Colombia |
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Posted by CN Staff on May 09, 2002 at 17:58:53 PT By Jeremy McDermott, BBC Correspondent in Colombia Source: BBC News 
The Colombian authorities have launched an investigation into expenditure at the anti-narcotics police after the US suspended aid to the unit, alleging that some $2m had been diverted from a bank account provided to cover administrative expenses. A US Embassy source said that further funds to the account would not be released until the matter had been resolved. The head of the anti-drug police, General Gustavo Socha, said that several officers had already been retired over the matter and that the anti-narcotics operation would continue unhampered. The incident is embarrassing for both the Colombian and US governments as President Bush increases aid to this beleaguered South American nation - now the third largest recipient of American military aid in the world after Israel and Egypt. Mr Bush wants to broaden his war on terrorism to include Colombia, as three of the country's warring factions are on Washington's terrorism list. However, accusations of police corruption will provide more fuel to opponents of further involvement in Colombia's bloody civil conflict. Several US congressmen have said there is little to show for the billion dollars of aid former President Bill Clinton granted to Colombia. And, they say, further commitment could simply drag America into another Vietnam. Note: Colombia is the third-largest recipient of US military aid. Newshawk: Charlie Related Articles & Web Site: Colombia Drug War News No Sanctuary From Colombian War US Finds a Word for Military Aid to Colombia The Colombia Quandary - Patrick Leahy Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #17 posted by mayan on May 10, 2002 at 18:04:19 PT |
| There are several I found & most of them vary on the actual amount of debt. Here's one:
http://www.toptips.com/debtclock.html [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #16 posted by goneposthole on May 10, 2002 at 04:58:33 PT |
| 396 billion dollars for the US defense budget divided by 6 billion souls equals 66 bucks each. So for 66 dollars each worldwide, anybody can have their ass blown to bits. I feel much safer now, and so should you. Just put it on Mastercard. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #15 posted by dddd on May 10, 2002 at 03:20:53 PT |
| ..Thank You!....I'm delighted to see the results of your calculations...I find it quite dazzling,in a disturbing and grotesque sort of way..about $1400.00 per person,,and that is just the defense budget!.. For 2003,,the next highest expenditure,is for "education",,and it is about 52 billion... I think everyone needs to know the shocking facts about government spending...It's almost beyond believable. Most people really dont want to know..they know it's ridiculous,,but they have no idea how ridiculous it actually is....dddd [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #14 posted by Dan B on May 10, 2002 at 02:47:02 PT:
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| I agree that $158.30 is a lot of money for each American to be spending on defense--but the number is actually off by one decimal point. Actually, the correct amount (using the numbers provided) would be $1584.00 for every man, woman and child. I would use the more accurate estimate of America's population, though: 280 million. This still leaves each American (taxpayer or not) with an annual defense bill of $1414.28. This means the average family of four is spending $5657.14 annually to keep the American war machine in full flex. That isn't merely outrageous, it's obscene. That's money we could be spending on education, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and creating jobs for the jobless. Dan B [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #13 posted by dddd on May 10, 2002 at 02:19:31 PT |
| ...Nice to see you!.... Thank you for the approximation.....about158 bucks per person huh,, including babies,to senior citizens..... ..so..I guess the equation would be 396 billion,divided by 250 million..???.. I'll take your word for it,,,,,,but I hope maybe some brainiac out there could verify the figures....my mind is too shot to do this type of math stuff...dddd [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #12 posted by CongressmanSuet on May 10, 2002 at 01:13:17 PT:
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Using a base population[very low, I know,] of 250,000,000
people per-capita spending on defense would be around $158.30 a year. How FAR off am I guys.... [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #11 posted by dddd on May 09, 2002 at 23:52:41 PT |
| ...I guess I just needed verification for my original comment,,in which I suggested that 2 million,is a paltry sum, when compared to a Billion........so..... "The Colombian authorities have launched an investigation into expenditure at the anti-narcotics police after the US suspended aid to the unit, alleging that some $2m had been diverted from a bank account provided to cover administrative expenses. " ....Oh My Goodness!!!,, What a shocker!,,sure am glad them government watchdogs cracked down on that 2 million dollar mis-use of funds!....Now we can all feel comfortable,and confident in knowing that they are keeping a close eye on how the other 99.998 percent is being used!...... ....FYI;The federal budget for 2003,requests 396 Billion dollars for defense spending....Perhaps someone could do the math,and give us a rough idea how much that works out to per capita of Americans?.......dddd [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #10 posted by FoM on May 09, 2002 at 23:14:50 PT |
| I didn't think you meant any harm and I just went ahead and fixed it. Heck I'm not even sure what comes after a trillion. They throw millions away like we deal with a ten dollar bill. It's down right crazy and we don't have a surplus anymore. Didn't take long to wipe it out either. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by goneposthole on May 09, 2002 at 23:04:40 PT |
| I did not expect it to be that way. sore eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by FoM on May 09, 2002 at 22:57:28 PT |
| I cut the 3333333333333333 back a little because they made the page mess up and I hope they weren't exact 3333333333333333 but a statement and I left enough 3333333333333333 in so you could! Hope you don't mind! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by goneposthole on May 09, 2002 at 22:45:24 PT |
| A million is 1/1000 of a billion or 0.001. If one penny is a million dollars, the 1000 pennies or ten dollars is a billion. The second part is correct. If you have 10 houses in the neighborhood and nine are flying flags (the Stars and Stripes) you have a ninety percent approval rating. Or, nine people out of ten are following your line of bullshit. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by dddd on May 09, 2002 at 22:16:05 PT |
| ....thanks Goneposthole...I dont doubt the accuracy of your calculations,,but I was a bit confused..I am kinda stupid when it comes to math. ...But here's how I see it;...1 billion,is a thousand million..(?),,,so,,1 million dollars,is .01 billion....Is this correct?.....in other words ,if one penny was a million dollars,the ten dollars would be a billion????....correct?...........dddd [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by goneposthole on May 09, 2002 at 21:45:40 PT |
| 2,000,000/1,500,000,000 equals 2/1,500 or 1/750 or approximately 0.13333333333333333333333333333333333333%
or a little more than a tenth of a penny for every hundred bucks. They haven't learned how to get away with the real money. It takes time for those things to happen. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by dddd on May 09, 2002 at 20:24:19 PT |
| ....Although,,I do consider the BBC above average in reporting news,,,..I have zero trust in the US empire,,and I do NOT believe that this "halt",in anti-drug aid,is anything more than a ploy,,,a custom tailored deceptive charade! ....If the public is lead to believe that the US empire is keeping a close eye on the billions of taxpayers dollars,,then ,,when the next years budget has billions in "aid" for Colombia,,Sheeple will assume that they have a government that is very careful about how the billions are being used.....As far as we know,from this article, ,2 million bucks were used in a questionable manner.... Two million sounds like alot of money,(actually,it is alot of money),,, but who can tell me what percent of 1 Billion,2 million is?... ..I believe this "halt",in US aid,,is about like busting someone for misusing a nickel out of a hundred bucks!....dddd [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by Lehder on May 09, 2002 at 20:21:18 PT |
If Bush were smart and called for the re-legalization of cannabis, he would be expelled from office. He would be ruined by revelations of criminal corruption and personal degeneracy prepared long ago and waiting. http://www.ackland.org/tours/classes/westall.html If he were to call off US petrol-imperialism in Colombia he would be killed. His father would probably be in on the assassination, if he's smart, to save his own skin. I see in the newspaper that Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has requested that the national debt be increased by $750 billion beyond the present $5.95 trillion. The increase is needed to avert an unprecedented default on debt. Congress wrangles over it at this moment as we pray for all their good fortunes. Remember the big surplus? How much are we spending on terrorists? On drug wars? On crooked Colombian cops? With smarts like these our economy will be reduced to manufacturing rolling papers for Latin America, and we'll be damn glad of the income, probably paid to us in bananas. At least the Greeks were smart enough to look up. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by null on May 09, 2002 at 18:28:32 PT |
| The head of the anti-drug police, General Gustavo Socha, said that several officers had already been retired over the matter and that the anti-narcotics operation would continue unhampered. gee... i would mind "being retired" with $2m to ease the pain... and as for it being another potential Vietnam... man. [self editing occurs here] i typed a great deal about that thought, but decided it much better not to post it. suffice it to say... see "the wall" in D.C. if you never have. it has a lot to say... [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on May 09, 2002 at 18:26:40 PT |
| If Bush were smart, he'd cut off this Colombia business by calling it a big fiasco started by CLinton. [ Post Comment ] |
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