US Spends Two Billion Dollars a Week in Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan costs US taxpayers two billion dollars a week, according to calculations made by the Department of Defense Monday.

The information appeared in the digital edition of The New York Times, on a study of the US government to cut its military presence in Afghanistan.The conflict represents an economic bleeding and the strategies of the new national security team for US President Barack Obama say a change is necessary to cut costs.

They also consider that conditions have changed since the killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan on May 2, and want to increase the rhythm of return of US military forces.

According to US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, to take the soldiers out too quickly would put the achievements of the coalition headed by the US in the last 18 months in danger, after Obama ordered a reinforcement of 30,000 soldiers. Obama is still considering a major reduction of troops, and he will probably make a speech on the issue this month.

enator Dick Durbin, the second top Democrat in the Senate, had stated it is necessary to end this war soon, and this spirit is gaining ground and is likely to increase in the run-up to the elections of 2012. The National Security Council convoked a meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan for Monday. The US has a total of 100,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, 90,000 forming part of the ISAF Force, led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which commands 132,400 soldiers in total.

via US Spends Two Billion Dollars a Week in Afghanistan « RAWA News.

FDA sends US marshals to seize elderberry juice concentrate, deems it ‘unapproved drug’

Wyldewood Cellars, a Kansas-based producer and distributor of elderberry juice, is the latest raid target of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which recently sent US marshals to the company’s winery in Mulvane to confiscate the “unapproved drug.”

According to the rogue agency, Wyldewood had violated provisions in the US Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) that restrict health claims for food items, warranting the sudden invasion.According to Barry Grissom, US Attorney for Kansas, the FDA sent a warning letter to Wyldewood in 2006 to remove or modify certain health claims that it said were in violation of federal law, but the company did not comply.

FDA officials claim that Wyldewood continued to make unapproved claims, and that seizing the product was the next step.However, John Brewer, co-founder of Wyldewood, says that after receiving the initial FDA warning letter, his company hired a consultant familiar with FDA regulations to help his company reword their product descriptions. After making the appropriate changes, and clarifying that the elderberry products in question were supplements, Brewer says his company had done what it needed to in order to be in compliance.

“We haven’t heard anything from (the FDA) since,” he told reporters, noting that following the changes up until the raid, the FDA had ceased communicating with Wyldewood. “They’ve been in our facility multiple times. It’s like, ‘C’mon guys, we changed our label, we changed everything we thought we were supposed to do.’ And then they show up and do this. (Supplements) seems to be one of their hot buttons these days.”

This tactic, of course, has become all too common in recent years. A company receives a warning letter from the FDA, makes the appropriate changes, never hears anything further from the FDA, and out of nowhere gets raided. Such actions on behalf of the FDA are ultimately unwarranted and illegal, and the offended parties have every right to sue the agency for damages.”You think you are doing things correctly, and there hasn’t been any word, and all of a sudden you get this,” said Brewer to The Kansas City Star.

learn more about the legitimate health benefits of elderberry

via FDA sends US marshals to seize elderberry juice concentrate, deems it ‘unapproved drug’.