The Cost of Major U.S. Wars

I stumbled upon this report today and found it really interesting, particularly given the state of the US economy these days.  It is mind boggling to think how much money President Bush and his father spent alone on warfare —- all the while, the economy took a hit during both presidencies.  It is high time America stopped trying to fix the world and started working to fix itself!  

 

Costs of Major U.S. Wars 

Stephen Daggett - Specialist in Defense Policy and Budgets 

Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division 

 

 

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress has appropriated more than $800 billion for military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere around the world, including $65 billion to cover costs for the first few months of FY2009. Almost as soon as the next Administration takes office, the military services are expected to submit requests for additional funds — quite possibly $100 billion or more — to cover costs of overseas operations and of repairing and replacing worn equipment through the remainder of the fiscal year. In the face of these rather substantial and growing amounts, a recurring question has been how the mounting costs of the nation’s current wars compare to the costs of earlier conflicts.

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Consumers facing a taxing time

Vivian Salama

The National | August 20. 2008 

For many, the adage “a penny saved is a penny earned” is nothing more than wishful thinking. Food prices are up, rents are going through the roof, and salaries are not keeping up with inflation.

Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world who have flocked to the UAE in search of prosperity find themselves cutting costs and struggling to stay afloat. And on top of all that, the one thing the country’s residents have collectively celebrated – a tax-free society – could soon become a thing of the past, as early as 2010.

The issue of whether or not to implement a value-added tax (VAT) in the UAE has sparked its fair share of support and criticism, particularly in the past six months as the inflation rate has risen above 11 per cent and is forecast to keep climbing.

“Now is not the right time to seriously discuss introducing a VAT,” said Robert Ziegler, the vice president of the management consultancy AT Kearney in the Middle East. “A lot of people realise there are a lot of fees that essentially translate into taxes here, but there is also a big psychological factor to the idea of the UAE being ‘tax-free’.”

VAT is an indirect levy and taxes individuals at each stage of production and distribution, from food producers and clothing manufacturers, all the way down the supply chain to the end user – as opposed to a retail sales tax that is collected solely at the point of final purchase.

VAT is a key component in the tax system of about 130 countries, generating a total of more than US$18 trillion (Dh66tn) in global tax revenues, according to a report by the Tax Policy Centre. On average, it accounts for 25 per cent of national governments’ revenues. Like the UAE, the US is one of a handful of non-VAT countries.

Although the standard rate of VAT is 17.5 per cent in the UK, the average rate worldwide is approximately 20 per cent. Some countries such as Denmark, Norway or Sweden have a rate as high as 25 per cent.

The proposal on the table here is not nearly as high – an issue that will delight the 80 per cent of the population made up of expatriates who have come here to live and work on a tax-free basis. According to Ahmad Butti Ahmad, the director general of Dubai Customs, the agency behind the eventual introduction of VAT, proposals submitted to the UAE’s federal authorities suggest anywhere from a three to five per cent tax as a starting point. Ideally, it would serve a number of purposes. Principally, it would compensate for the import tariffs lost to any future free trade agreements, whether with the EU, China, India or the US, although no agreements have been signed with these countries so far. A VAT levy would also boost Government coffers, money that could be spent on welfare.

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UAE cities at odds over lifestyle, ties to Iran

from the IHT today.  Interesting – i was just discussing this with a friend today!  Who’s to say that small and overly pretentious countries with strong ties to the United States are not at risk of getting onto the bad side of defiant neighbors given the evolving world order?

Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi and Dubai have been rivals for decades, one building world-class museums as fast as the other has been throwing up skyscrapers.

But the healthy competition that’s helped transform them into two of the Middle East’s most vibrant and bustling cities has soured as they grow increasingly divided over their relations with two other rivals — Iran and the United States.

At first, the differences were cultural. Dubai’s sprawling beaches, American-style theme parks and over-the-top shopping malls clash with the more prim sophistication of Abu Dhabi, which is building a symphony orchestra and branches of the Guggenheim and Louvre museums.

But now Dubai’s soaring commercial growth, liberal Western outlook — and massive trade with Iran — are becoming a liability for U.S.-friendly Abu Dhabi.

With half the population and glitz of Dubai, Abu Dhabi is the richest emirate and capital of the seven that make up the United Arab Emirates. As the world’s fourth largest exporter of oil, Abu Dhabi is also the main provider for the rest of the semi-independent states, including Dubai.

That gives Abu Dhabi the political capital to assert its authority and rein in Dubai’s at times murky commercial dealings with Iran.

The UAE and other Sunni-ruled Arab states are suspicious of Shiite Iran, just a boat ride across the Gulf from Dubai. They share the West’s concern over Iran’s nuclear program and fear Tehran’s growing ability to empower Shiites across the region, especially in Iraq.

Iran and the UAE have diplomatic ties and both benefit from their booming commerce. Thousands of Iranian business are based in Dubai, which also hosts the Arab world’s largest Iranian expat community.

With U.S. sanctions against Iran already in place and Washington threatening new penalties for Tehran’s failure to curb uranium enrichment, Dubai is finding it more difficult to defend its lucrative commercial dealingswith Iran’s ruling elite.

The UAE has been a loyal ally in America’s war on terror. The U.S. has been allowed to operate in an airbase in the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and its warships regularly dock in Dubai’s ports.

But Iranian investment in Dubai — about US$14 billion each year — buoys a robust development plan largely financed with foreign cash. The trade is also huge boost to Tehran’s confidence that it can survive Western-imposed sanctions.

“Iran is not suffering from sanctions if it can still bring things through Dubai,” said Jean-François Seznec, a Gulf specialist at Georgetown University.

Last year, the Bush administration asked Abu Dhabi to crack down on companies suspected of smuggling equipment to Iran to build explosive devices killing American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The White House also expressed concerns about shipments to Iranian front companies operating in Dubai.

Within days, the UAE president announced a law that allows authorities to “ban or restrict imports, exports or passthrough shipments for reasons of health, safety, environmental concerns, national security or foreign affairs.”

Authorities announced the closure of some companies, but it isn’t clear how thoroughly the law has been enforced. Analysts say Dubai has largely ignored America’s pressure to curb trade with Iran.

By continuing with business as usual, “Dubai has been jeopardizing Abu Dhabi’s relationship with Washington,” said Christopher Davidson, a UAE specialist and a lecturer at the U.K.’s Durham University.

Plus, Dubai’s permissive ways to accommodate Western residents and tourists — by circumventing alcohol restrictions and other rules in the conservative Muslim country — have made the city-state a “liability for the federation, with its behavior,” Davidson said.

So Abu Dhabi has stepped up its pressure, starting with delicate issues Dubai has trouble defending — nudity and excessive booze. Last month, Dubai obliged when Abu Dhabi questioned its neighbor’s Islamic credentials.

Police detained almost 80 people over in a crackdown on public drinking, topless sunbathing and nudity on public beaches. Undercover policemen also rounded up 17 foreign men authorities accused of being gay.

Dubai’s acting police chief vowed to detain all those suspected of acts “deemed offensive, immoral or disrespectful.”

But limiting Iranian business in Dubai is a tougher task, with few rewards for Abu Dhabi, analysts say.

“Neither of them wants to be too close to the U.S. nor too distant from Iran,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, political science professor at Emirates University.

The balancing act associated with trying to accommodate the U.S. and Iran has enabled Dubai and Abu Dhabi to “play good cop, bad cop,” Seznec said.

But he said it was also possible Abu Dhabi doesn’t truly want Dubai to stop being “the main transport hub for Iran.”

The UAE capital looks after the interests of other Gulf states, who fear a U.S. recession and high inflation because their currencies are pegged to the dollar, Seznec said.

“And a bankrupt Iran is simply not in the Gulf’s interest,” he said.

Watch Egypt Get Veiled

My pal Tom Gara wrote this fascinating post on his blog about the changes that have taken place at Cairo University over the last 100 years.  It is really breathtaking to compare these pics.  

FROM A DIFFERENT DRUMMER:

 

This year is the 100th anniversary of Cairo University, the largest university in the Middle East. The Egyptian bog Hatshepsut has posted some pictures of Cairo Uni English Faculty graduating classes from the last 50 years.   

You’ll have to click on each pic to see it in full size – but the generational changes in the wearing of headscarves is amazing.

1959:

1978:

1995:

2004:

 

An interview with Dubai

This is a really great bit from the gang at the New Yorker Cartoon Lounge.  It has been a bit hit amongst my American friends living here…. because it’s *SO* true!!!

 

JULY 21, 2008

AN INTERVIEW WITH DUBAI

CARTOON LOUNGE: Dude, what are you doing?

DUBAI: What?

CL: With all these flashy glass towers? You look like an idiot.

D: No, it’s awesome.

CL: No, man. It’s not awesome. You’re totally trying way too hard. You’re like a sixteen-year-old kid in West Virginia driving a Porsche—or even worse, like a monster truck made of diamonds.

Dubai: That would be tight.

CL: No man, that would be stupid.

Dubai: Whatever, but at least you’d get people’s attention.

CL: Yeah, for being a huge tool.

Dubai: You’re just jealous, man.

CL: Oh, yeah, what I really want is a bunch of huge glass skyscrapers that practically scream out to the entire world that I have a small penis. O.K., maybe I wish I had your cash. But I’ll tell you this, if I did I have your gazillion dollars I’d spend it with a little more class‚ even a little responsibility.

Dubai: Like how? You gonna buy some world peace?

CL: I don’t know—maybe some hospitals or just some really expensive medical procedures for everyone. Or what would be wrong with a museum or something?

Dubai: Nothing as long as it’s really really tall…

CL: Right.

Dubai: …and has pictures of naked ladies in it.

CL: You’re such an idiot.

(Pause.)

Dubai: Seriously though, can they really make a car out of diamonds?

CL: I don’t know, man. Probably.

Dubai: Sweet.

CL: See that’s exactly what I’m saying. Just because you can do something, if you have the money to do it, doesn’t mean you should do it.

Dubai: Uh, what?

CL: Because it makes you look like a shallow moron. Don’t be that guy. Nobody likes that guy.

Dubai: I’ve got tons of friends.

CL: Look, man, I wouldn’t be a real friend to you right now if I didn’t tell you this: You’re surrounded by people that only like you for your money.

Dubai: Yep.

CL: Dude, that’s not a good thing. You should try to actually learn to do something to distinguish yourself that doesn’t involve throwing a lot of cash around. Sure some equally shallow idiots might like you, for a little while, but… See the thing is, money isn’t the best basis to build relationships on.

Dubai: How would you know? Your idea of a good time is, like, a book.

CL: Uh yeah, touché. You really got me there.

Dubai: Besides, my gross national product is in excess of thirty-seven billion, so screw you.

CL: Yeah, but that’s nearly all oil. What happens when your oil reserves dry up in less than twenty years, which is what everyone’s saying, by the way.

Dubai: Who cares, man. That’s twenty years from now. Anyway, we’ve got tourism too.

CL: Your tourism is based entirely on people coming to gawk at your colossal stacks of glass. What happens when you can’t afford to keep the lights on. I’m just telling you—you want to be known for producing something of real value not just something that’s expensive. I mean if you were a musician, who would you rather be, Dylan or Diddy?

Dubai: Uh, Diddy, obviously. Have you seen his house?

CL: I don’t even know why we’re friends. I really don’t.

Dubai: You don’t need to worry about me, dude. I’ve got a couple other things up my sleeve.

CL: What, casinos? The world’s tallest dog track?

Dubai: No, check this out. We’re making a bunch of islands in the shape of the world. Here’s a pic.

CL: What the hell? Is that for real?

Dubai: Yeah, bro, it’s gonna be awesome. People can buy each island and own, like, part of the world. It’s gonna be crazy expensive, too.

CL: You’ve got to be kidding me. You really think there are people in the world with so much money and so little taste that they’ll actually want to buy some tiny concrete continent.

Dubai: Tommy Lee just bought Greece for him and Pamela Anderson to hang out on.

(Long pause.)

CL: O.K., You’re right. I’m wrong. Do whatever you want, I guess.

Dubai: Yeaaah boyz!

—Matthew Diffee

Spain’s eye-catching olympic faux pas

A number of people in the Middle East have asked me about whether I think America is ready to have a black president should Barack Obama win.  To those people I say, only time will tell whether the country is ready… however I think America is leaps and bounds ahead of Europe with regard to political correctness and social tolerance.  Make no mistake, the United States is FAR from perfect, but the incident below would have NEVER happened in there. 

The Spanish basketball team pose for an advertisement. 

Sid Lowe

The Guardian, Monday August 11 2008

Spain’s Olympic basketball teams have risked upsetting their Chinese hosts by posing for a pre-Games advert making slit-eyed gestures. The advert for a courier company, which is an official sponsor of the Spanish Basketball Federation, occupied a full page in the sports daily Marca, the country’s best-selling newspaper.

The advert features two large photographs, one of the men’s basketball team, above, and one of the women’s team. Both squads pose in full Olympic kit on a basketball court decorated with a picture of a Chinese dragon. Every single player appears pulling back the skin on either side of their eyes. The advert carries the symbol of the sport’s governing body.

No one involved in the advert appears to have considered it inappropriate nor contemplated the manner in which it could be interpreted in China and elsewhere. No offence was intended by the advert, but whether the Chinese see it that way is a different matter and it is likely to provoke more criticism at a delicate time for Spanish sport. The failure to recognise the potential consequences is striking in the light of the problems Spain has had with issues of race and the Spanish Olympic committee’s continued desire to host the Games in Madrid in 2016 or 2020.

In the past the Spanish have been left in no doubt as to the sensitivity of racial issues internationally, especially since Spain’s football manager, Luis Aragonés, made his infamous remark about Thierry Henry, monkey chants greeted England’s football players in a friendly game in Madrid and the formula one driver Lewis Hamilton was subjected to abuse in Barcelona.

Help Students in Gaza Get a Better education

I received this email today from a contact of mine regarding an initiative by an Israeli nonprofit organization looking to help students in Gaza leave the besieged territory to get a better education.  I think it is really honorable and I hope people can help!

———–

Greetings,

I write to ask you to join us in helping hundreds of Palestinian students in the Gaza Strip reach their universities abroad. Since June 2007, Gaza’s borders have been closed, trapping 1.5 million people – including hundreds of talented young people accepted to universities abroad but prevented from reaching their studies. Last year, Israel permitted approximately 500 students and dependents to reach their studies abroad via “shuttle” services, but this year, Israel says that students will not be permitted to leave Gaza – except for a few dozen with prestigious scholarships to Western countries.

Hundreds remain trapped, in danger of losing hard-won places at universities all over the world. I refer you to Gisha’s report, “Held Back-Students Trapped in Gaza” (June 2008) and Gisha’s Power Point Presentation, “Students STILL Trapped in Gaza” (July 2008).

 

Today we are launching an online campaign aimed at recruiting international support for the right of Palestinian students from the Gaza Strip to reach their studies abroad. By clicking on the banner above you’ll reach the campaign’s mini-site: www.trappedingaza. org

The campaign is accessible in three languages - English, Arabic and Hebrew - and we hope to communicate it via e-mail, social networks, blogs and other websites.

How can you help?

1.       Join the campaign by logging on to the mini-site and asking Israel’s leaders to let students in Gaza access education;

2.       Spread word of the campaign by forwarding this message to others;

3.       Feature the banner on your website or blog.  You may choose a banner to download at this link.

4.       Click on the mini-site for further action.

Please join us in helping Gaza’s young people exercise their right to freedom of movement and to access education – and to build a better future in the region. 

Best Regards,

Sari Bashi, Executive Director

Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement

New World Order… to say the least!

I returned from the apartment of friends after watching a stunning Olympics opening ceremonies hosted by the Chinese.  For those of you who missed it, I highly recommend that you try to catch it. If I’m not mistaken, I read somewhere that the performers numbered well over 10,000 (I guess that’s not that big a deal for a country of 1.4 billion).  The “bird’s nest” Olympic stadium was absolutely spectacular and the performances were, at times, breath taking (I can’t imagine what it would have been like to watch it from the stadium).  I think it is fair to say that if there were any doubts of China’s emerging role as a world power, the opening ceremonies put speculation to rest.  China is here to stay.

 

Some of the political highlights:

-  by far my favorite moment was when the cameras flashed on the Algerian delegation and in between them was none other than French President Nicolas Sarkozy.  Hey Nick, I thought you love America?!

-  Vladamir Putin – and not Dmitry Medvedev - was the face of Russia, adding fuel to the fire of the rumor mill that Putin is still the man running the machine.  Incidentally, Putin did not seem phased that while festivities were taking place in Beijing, his country’s military had already started squashing Georgia.

-  Queen Margaret, and not Gordon Brown, was there representing the United Kingdom.  Brown will apparently be there for the closing ceremonies to accept the Olympic handover as London will host the games in 2012 (WOW!  Hard to imagine the next games are in 2012…. it sounds to futuristic!)

-  ”Still President George Bush” (as the great Jon Stewart calls him) was there with wife Laura cheering on the troops, err, athletes as they marched into the Beijing Stadium.  Bush made headlines earlier this week by bashing China’s poor human rights record, though he made sure to do it in Thailand on his way to the games, rather than on Chinese soil where even President Bush is not immune to punishment (actually, I just made that up… he probably is, though he shouldn’t be).

Other highlights:

- 8 members of the Iraqi Olympic team were present for the march.  That number was left in question until the last moment.

-  Palestinians marched under their flag, something I am always pleased to see.  I look forward to the day that they march as a free and sovereign nation.  

-  Kosovo was not present in the march — I don’t know if that’s because they didn’t send any athletes or if it’s because they still march as part of Serbia.  If anyone knows, please drop a line, I’d be very curious.

-  North Korea sent a fairly large (well fed) delegation to the games. They did not march hand-in-hand with South Korea as in previous years, signifying South Korea’s new firmer stance on the issue of ties with its neighbor.

-  My friends and I laughed out loud at the sight of the team from Kingdom of Bahrain marching in with a banner that displayed a photo of the king, Sheikh Hamad ibn ‘Isa al Khalifah.  A bit tacky, Bahrain, but good on you for having no qualms!

 

Tutankhamun’s Childrden Under Study

hey guys – fyi to all the Egyptian antiquities lovers:

Tutankhamun’s Childrden Under Study 

In collaboration with the Cairo University ‘s Faculty of Medicine, the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) started a scientific project to study two mummified fetuses which have been stored at the university since their discovery in Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 on Luxor’s west bank. It is thought that the tiny bodies may be those of the young king’s stillborn children.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni announced the collaborative project today, adding that the scientific team headed by Dr. Ashraf Selim, head of Cairo Scan, and Dr. Yehia Zakaria of the National Research Center carried out a CT scan on the two fetuses and took samples in order to carry out a DNA tests.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the SCA, said that the study aims at identifying the linage and the family of king Tutankhamun, particularly his parents. The DNA test and the CT scan will may also help to identify the fetuses’ mother.

The results of these studies, asserted Hawass, will also help in identifying the mummy of queen Nefertiti, the wife of the monotheist king Akhenaton. Within the framework of the SCA’s project to CT scan all royal mummies for identification, samples from several unknown female mummies found at the Egyptian museum have been taken for DNA testing.

All of the results will be compared with each other, along with those of the mummy of the boy king Tutankhamun, which CT scanned in 2005.

Dr. Hawass also signed a scientific agreement with Dr. Ahmed Sameh, dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, to establish Egypt’s second ever DNA lab at the faculty. The first one is inside the Egyptian Museum. Such a lab, explained Dr. Hawass, will enable scientists and researchers to carry out scientific comparisons between the results provided from both labs.

Dr. Hawass said that the forensic section at the faculty will study the bones found inside the pyramid builders’ cemetery on the Giza plateau, in order to learn of the diseases that they suffered during their lifetimes and their average ages at death.    

Israeli food company: We won’t sell produce grown by Arabs

I found this story in Ha’aretz today to be really disturbing.  Already Palestinian farmers are at the mercy of road blocks and travel bans.  These people are suffering enough – not just from Israeli restrictions, but from the conflict within their embattled territories that is completely out of their hands.  This is really just the icing on the cake.  So sad. – VMS  

Israeli food company: We won’t sell produce grown by Arabs By Amiram Cohen, Haaretz Correspondent http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1008424.html

Israeli produce marketing company Otzar Ha’aretz (treasure of the earth) announced on Monday that it will not market produce grown by Arab farmers, and will from now on only sell only Jewish-grown products. 

The company, which has been marketing fruits and vegetables to the ultra-Orthodox community during the shmita (sabbatical) year, announced that it will continue to operate once the year is over in effort to “support Jewish agriculture in Israel.” 

According to Jewish law, every seventh year the earth must rest and no crops can be grown. Many ultra-Orthodox Jews use foreign-grown produce during this sabbatical year in order to avoid using crops grown by Jews. Another solution, offered by Otzar Haaretz, is the Otzar Beit Din, a solution in which the Rabbinical Court appoints the farmers as its emissaries to grow produce. The produce retains its Shmitah sanctity, but can be sold by the Rabbinical Court for a fair price. Other solutions include growing produce in hothouses on beds detached from the ground, storage of produce grown in the year prior to Shmitah, produce grown in the Aravah and more. These are the main sources from which Otzar Ha’aretz supplies kosher produce during the Shmitah year.

In a statement issued Monday, Otzar Ha’aretz announced that though the shmita year will soon come to an end, the company plans to continue marketing produce to the ultra-Orthodox community as well as to members of the general public “who want high quality produce that the consumer can identify where it was grown.” 

The Director of Otzar Ha’aretz Ika Ness explained the company’s decision, saying that “Jewish agriculture needs support and we, as Zionist people, view this as our mission.” 

Marketing Director Dore Lichtenstein said that “it is every person right to know who stands behind the product they are buying, who made it and who imported it and whether it was made in Israel.”