they HAVE to be kidding me

this is unreal and unbelievable. while i am sorry for the people of iraq (THE INNOCENT ONES and yes, i do believe innocent ones exist everywhere) and i know our troops caused much damage, i cannot fathom our government asking the public for donations to help rebuild iraq. where the hell are our tax dollars (BILLIONS AND BILLIONS) going to? oh yes, they are going into KILLING PEOPLE. we do NOT belong there, we never did. most of our money should be going to re-building our OWN country now. i have never minded paying taxes (really). i only wish i could dictate WHERE they go to

New twist on Iraq aid: U.S. seeks donations
BY CAM SIMPSON Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - From the Indian Ocean tsunami to the church around the corner, Americans have shown time and again they are willing to open their pocketbooks for charity, for a total of about $250 billion last year alone. But now, amid pleas for aid after Hurricane Katrina, the Bush administration has launched an unusual effort to raise charitable contributions for another cause: the government's attempt to rebuild Iraq. Although more than $30 billion in taxpayer funds have been appropriated for Iraqi reconstruction, the administration earlier this month launched an Internet-based fundraising effort that it says is aimed at giving Americans "a further stake in building a free and prosperous Iraq." Contributors have no way of knowing who's getting the money or precisely where it's headed, because the government says it must keep the details secret for security reasons. But taxpayers already finance the projects the administration is seeking charitable donations for, such as providing water pumps for farmers. And officials say any contributions they receive will increase the scope of those efforts, rather than relieve existing taxpayer burdens. The campaign is raising eyebrows in the international development and not-for-profit communities, where there are questions about its timing - given needs at home - and whether it will set the government in competition with international not-for-profits. On a more basic level, experts wonder whether Americans will make charitable donations to a government foreign aid program, and whether the contentious environment surrounding Iraq will make a tough pitch even tougher. "I'm a little skeptical, and the timing certainly isn't the best," said James Ferris, director of the Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy at the University of Southern California. "It's going to be a hard sell."........