5 Years and Counting
The Iraq War is five years old. What can you say? It has been a dreadful, depressing, costly misadventure, the worst foreign policy disaster in U.S. history.
Trust me: this war is such an albatross around the neck of the Republican party that even if fractious and disorganized Democrats muddle until November 3 before they decide upon a candidate for President, he or she will still win the election.
It is apparent President Bush knew very little going into Iraq, and after five horrendous years with nearly 4,000 lives lost and 60,000 injured, he has learned nothing. How else do you explain the celebratory mood from those who launched the war?
In a Pentagon address marking the anniversary of the Iraq invasion, President Bush was optimistic. He said “the surge” had turned the situation around in Iraq and that the “high cost of lives and treasure” has been worthwhile.
Veep Cheney, fresh from a Baghdad weekend, agreed the war has been “a successful endeavor” and “well worth the effort.”
Republican Presidential nominee John McCain, with loyal Democratic sidekick Joe Lieberman whispering factual corrections in his ear, claims “America and our allies” (whose numbers are dropping faster than the value of the dollar) “stand on the precipice of winning a major victory against radical Islamic extremism.”
Also popping the bubbly are America’s military contractors. They not only have made a fortune off the Iraq War but aided and abetted by the Bush Administration have devised ways to avoid paying taxes. Kellogg Brown & Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, has hauled in more than $16 billion in federal funds, but with a mailing address in the Cayman Islands managed to avoid at least $500 million in U.S. taxes.
To escape government scrutiny, both Halliburton and KBR moved their headquarters to Dubai. Justice Department lawyers have proposed a new rule that would provide for Congressional oversight of U.S. contractors, but the White House slipped in language that would exempt contractors who work overseas. Vermont Rep. Peter Welch is demanding an investigation.
After five years, the war has cost more than $522 billion. That’s a figure we can’t even contemplate. That’s why I’m grateful to Sen. Mary Landrieu for putting “billion” into perspective: “A billion minutes ago, Jesus was alive. A billion days ago, nobody walked on the Earth on two feet.”
Somewhere I read that a Nobel Prize-winning economist estimates the total cost of the Iraq War could top $3 trillion.
Help me out here Mary. A trillion days ago…
Trust me: this war is such an albatross around the neck of the Republican party that even if fractious and disorganized Democrats muddle until November 3 before they decide upon a candidate for President, he or she will still win the election.
It is apparent President Bush knew very little going into Iraq, and after five horrendous years with nearly 4,000 lives lost and 60,000 injured, he has learned nothing. How else do you explain the celebratory mood from those who launched the war?
In a Pentagon address marking the anniversary of the Iraq invasion, President Bush was optimistic. He said “the surge” had turned the situation around in Iraq and that the “high cost of lives and treasure” has been worthwhile.
Veep Cheney, fresh from a Baghdad weekend, agreed the war has been “a successful endeavor” and “well worth the effort.”
Republican Presidential nominee John McCain, with loyal Democratic sidekick Joe Lieberman whispering factual corrections in his ear, claims “America and our allies” (whose numbers are dropping faster than the value of the dollar) “stand on the precipice of winning a major victory against radical Islamic extremism.”
Also popping the bubbly are America’s military contractors. They not only have made a fortune off the Iraq War but aided and abetted by the Bush Administration have devised ways to avoid paying taxes. Kellogg Brown & Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, has hauled in more than $16 billion in federal funds, but with a mailing address in the Cayman Islands managed to avoid at least $500 million in U.S. taxes.
To escape government scrutiny, both Halliburton and KBR moved their headquarters to Dubai. Justice Department lawyers have proposed a new rule that would provide for Congressional oversight of U.S. contractors, but the White House slipped in language that would exempt contractors who work overseas. Vermont Rep. Peter Welch is demanding an investigation.
After five years, the war has cost more than $522 billion. That’s a figure we can’t even contemplate. That’s why I’m grateful to Sen. Mary Landrieu for putting “billion” into perspective: “A billion minutes ago, Jesus was alive. A billion days ago, nobody walked on the Earth on two feet.”
Somewhere I read that a Nobel Prize-winning economist estimates the total cost of the Iraq War could top $3 trillion.
Help me out here Mary. A trillion days ago…
posted by Victor Kamber | 1:06 PM
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