Obama to Spend $800 Billion on Wars in 2009, Vows to Keep 50,000 in Iraq Past 2011

In a stark look at the reality of the situation of U.S. military commitments abroad, journalist Steve Watson of PrisonPlanet.com reports that President Obama will push for over $800 billion to spend on war-related and occupation activities in 2009. Watson also reports that "Every single component bar one of the DoD budget is up 5-10% compared to 2008, with the budget for 'military construction' increasing by a whopping 19.1%."

By escalating the ongoing war in Afghanistan by announcing the deployment of an additional 17,000 troops to the battlefield, and expanding the CIA's covert war in the border region of Pakistan, America's war woes will not be cured anytime soon. America has occupied Afghanistan since the year 2001.

In other news, President Obama is poised to announce his so-called "withdrawal" strategy from Iraq where troop levels will be reduced over the next two years. After August 2010, President Obama plans to keep a "residual force" of over 50,000 soldiers in Iraq for occupation purposes. Currently, 142,000 American soldiers are deployed in Iraq. While the self-dubbed anti-war candidate has yet to deliver on any promise, it is astoundingly clear that his unwavering support of the Imperial War Machine will make things much worse for many more years to come.