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How much will the war on terrorism cost? If past experience is any indication, there are bound to be a few hidden expenses. As it takes on the axis of evil, the Pentagon is running up what it refers to as “incremental costs” — expenses over and above the cost of training and deploying troops overseas. But when the General Accounting Office took a look at $2.2 billion the Defense Department spent enforcing no-fly zones in Iraq and keeping peace in the Balkans in 2000 and 2001, it found at least $101 million in what it calls “questionable expenditures.” Here are a few of the iffier expenses racked up at air bases in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Cappuccino machine $16,758 Golf-club set with bag $1,478
Corporate golf membership $16,000 White beach sand $4,638
Genie lamp with Riyadh stone $432 “The Intelligent Investor” software $2,987
Cowboy hats $4,896 Deocrative river rock $18,980
Nacho cheese warmer $1,039 Love seat and armchair $23,989
Remote-control cars $3,766 Sumo wrestling suit $3,395

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We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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