[DEBATE] : Re: How do you lose US12 billion?

[Stefan Andreasson]

The point - as I am sure you can see - was simply that going from "US
wastes $12 billion in Iraq" to some sort of useful statement about the
inherent "efficiency" of capitalism (or lack thereof) was not
meaningful.

Stefan


On 08/02/07, debate-request at lists.kabissa.org
<debate-request at lists.kabissa.org> wrote:

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: mfleshman at aol.com
> To: debate at lists.kabissa.org
> Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 11:03:17 -0500
> Subject: [DEBATE] : Re: How do you lose US12 billion?
> Highly successful indeed Stefan, given that it wasn't their 363 tons of money they were scattering around.  The Americans stole it from the iraqis fair and square -- a sort of finders-keepers-losers-get-their-helicopters-shot-down-with-SA-18s-bought-by-the-resistance-with-that-money type of situation.  Duffel bag accounting.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bstefan at gmail.com
> To: debate at lists.kabissa.org
> Sent: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 3:16 AM
> Subject: [DEBATE] : Re: How do you lose US12 billion?
>
>
> You could, on the other hand, argue that none but a highly successful
> (if we don't debate distribution of this success, etc.) capitalist
> country has $12 billion in cash to shrink wrap and send off to foreign
> lands in the first place? Moreover, if we had some comparable data on,
> say, US and Soviet spending on various imperial missions during the
> Cold War could we say something meaningful about how 'efficient' the
> US as a capitalist state is compared with a 'really existing'
> socialist one.
>
> I've no doubt that a country like Cuba has managed to use its meagre
> resources in a more efficient way than the US but the US spending $12
> billion in cash in Iraq in a rather pathetic way says very little, I'm
> sure, about capitalism as such.
>
> Stefan
>
>
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Peter Dwyer <peter at aidc.org.za>
> > To: "debate: SA discussion list" <debate at lists.kabissa.org>
> > Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 09:20:59 +0200
> > Subject: [DEBATE] : How do you lose US12 billion?
> > Send it to Iraq!! But no matter, what was lost belonged to the Iraqi
> > people so who gives a toss and who cares about solving poverty in
> > Iraq or elsewhere for that matter. Its a drop in the ocean to the US
> > 1 trillion the US ruling class has wasted on the war already.
> > Capitalist efficiency-my arse!.
> >
> > I loved this one Bremer's financial adviser, retired Admiral David
> > Oliver was asked what had happened to the $8.8bn he replied: "I have
> > no idea. I can't tell you whether or not the money went to the right
> > things or didn't - nor do I actually think it's important."
> >
> > Read, laugh and weep.
> > Peter