re: #24 Gus

This is new how? Almost all counter terrorism budgets are “mystery budgets.” We used to call them black budgets. Please, tell me how this is different than during the Bush years. “Sign on the dotted line and we’ll take care of the rest.”

No, it doesn’t seem significantly different from previous plans

The last time the Obama administration proposed such a fund, Congress rejected the proposal. The State Department held an elaborate rollout in 2011 for its request for $770 million to start a Middle East and North Africa (MENA) fund, to respond to the events of the Arab Spring.

Congress refused to appropriate the money out of concern there were scant specifics about how the money would be spent. Ambassador Bill Taylor, former head of the MENA Transitions Office at the State Department, said Wednesday perhaps this time would be different.