In his speech calling for WWIII, Secretary of State John Kerry stated: "The United States government now knows that at least 1,429 Syrians were killed in this attack, including at least 426 children. Even the first-responders, the doctors, nurses and medics who tried to save them, they became victims themselves. We saw them gasping for air, terrified that their own lives were in danger. This is the indiscriminate, inconceivable horror of chemical weapons. This is what Assad did to his own people."
Suffice to say, Kerry is a very thorough man who pays close attentions to numbers. In a heavily censored war zone, Kerry can count exactly how many people died. Only a few news sources have challenged Kerry's estimate of the dead, with some claiming that the number was much lower. Nonetheless, that number will be remembered by those who come to cast a vote on S.1429, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014.
Slated to be voted on after the Senate returns from recess, govtrack.gov calculates that S.1429 has a 20% chance of being approved by Congress. The Senate Defense Appropriations bill grants the Pentagon the sum of 594.4 billion dollars, essentially funding it at pre-austeritysequester levels. Senator Durbin -- the bill's sponsor -- went on to say that the Pentagon's approach to the sequester in 2013 was improper, and that should it continue in 2014: "civilian workers will be have to be laid off, rather than simply furloughed." A downsizing of the Pentagon during this time of crisis is now all but out of the question, especially after those 1,429 dead Syrians.
Back in July, Senator Jack Reed told Politico: "I anticipate there will be a very vigorous debate in the context of the authorization bill. It’s building on both sides." However, we should not debate S.1429 when 1,429 Syrians have died, Syrians who need America's help, help which can only be provided by a $594 billion bill.
Buried in that bill under Title II is a section calling for "Cooperative Threat Reduction Account," which states: "For assistance to the republics of the former Soviet Union and, with appropriate authorization by the Department of Defense and Department of State, to countries outside of the former Soviet Union, including assistance provided by contract or by grants, for facilitating the elimination and the safe and secure transportation and storage of nuclear, chemical and other weapons; for establishing programs to prevent the proliferation of weapons, weapons components, and weapon-related technology and expertise."
It seems as if our leaders were planning for every contingency this past summer, but there's a reason why the White House is so concerned about S.1429 -- it doesn't go far enough. According to the Huffington Post, the bill appropriates the tiny sum of "just over $594 billion," and this is not enough. Not only is there a risk that should we not step in to help the Syrians, that Congress could provide even less money for the Pentagon, but there is also the risk that if the bill passes in its current form, that America will be weakened.
The bill slows down the production of the F-35, the airplane that was supposed to secure our aerial supremacy for the next generation. The jet fighter is an utter failure, and the slow-down will not only guarantee Chinese aerial supremacy, but it will also shake trust in our allies who have invested heavily along with us. Should S.1429 pass in its current form, poor countries like Israel and Denmark will be forced to pay for a bigger, unprecedented share. Essentially, S.1429 passing in its current form ensures that American technological supremacy is relegated to the pages of history. Americans need to sacrifice because we need more time and money for a new plane or to fix the problems of the F-35.
But I'm personally not too worried that the Pentagon may not get enough money because when in July the House of Representatives decided to provide only $512 billion, the White House threatened a veto, arguing: "that it would force the administration to cut education, health research and other domestic programs in order to boost spending for the Pentagon."