::sigh::

Let us talk, for a moment, about the war.

my favorite two lines are at the bottom:

"If brings to more than $650bn (£330bn) the amount provided by Congress for the war in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003."

if brings? what the hell are they trying to say there? even if you swap the if for an it, this still doesn't make sense.

or am I just crazy?

ok, on a slightly more serious note, the second one:

"Congress did attach two conditions to the funds - prohibiting the construction of permanent US military bases in Iraq and requiring Baghdad to match any US reconstruction aid."

So we will require Iraq to pay an amount equal to that which we destroy? We're going to invest 162 billion *more* towards destroying a group of people, then require these people to pay *our* reconstruction companies for sketchy back-room political deals, high-salary positions, driven by only selfish, dishonest, and immoral motivations?

why do we even need to do this? why are we not yet rioting in the streets, clamoring at the white house doors, cuffs in hand? have we become complacent? how far have we allowed ourselves to drift? how could this be different? should I be breaking this here cycle?

but I don't quite get Congress's logic, getting lost on the destruction part.