From Tim Grieve in Salon:
The Bush administration is asking Congress for an additional $120 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan — money that comes on top of the $226 billion the administration has already budgeted for Iraq.
Would we be "aiding and abetting the terrorists" if we mentioned just now that the Bush administration's top budget official insisted in 2002 that the entire war in Iraq would probably cost between $50 billion and $60 billion? Or that the president's secretary of defense suggested that the cost would be "something under $50 billion" and that other countries would be paying some of it? Or that the deputy secretary of defense said that Iraq could "pay for its own reconstruction"? Or that the White House eased out the president's chief economic advisor after he dared to suggest that the war would actually cost $100 billion or — gasp! — $200 billion?
You have to wonder: What if we earmarked $200 billion to make the world more peaceful? Which would be the better investment? Which would make our children safer? [Tags: iraq george_bush peace]
Posted
by D. Weinberger at February 4, 2006 11:45 AM
Comments
I can understand perhaps why we got involved in Iraq in the first place. But I can not understand why we are still there. I think the only reason we remain is because the powers that got us involved are simply not man enough to admit they made a terrible mistake.
Posted by: human growth hormone | February 4, 2006 08:04 PM
sorry to be so optimistic, but the goal for the New American Century are all but failed.
1) China has 2 U.S. military base/countries around, Afghanistan and Iraq.
2) Europe has a weak and dengerous state at its borders, Iraq.
3) the huge arabic population in Europe, First generation or sometime fresh out of the boats, are so upset to be a possible cause of instability if not civil war within europe. Paris few month ago is the perfect example of it
what could you ask more for a new american century ?
I know nobody of you think it s a scenario worth a penny, but it looks what they wanted to do and they didn t failed at all in my opinion.
Posted by: gianluca baccanico | February 4, 2006 09:42 PM
It's fun to do arithmetic with this.
$200 billion divided evenly by the 25 million population of Iraq is $8000 each. Enough to live for five years, since the per capita income is $1600.
If we get up to a trillion or two, it's enough to buy a house for each family in Iraq. In the United States.
Posted by: Mark Dionne | February 4, 2006 11:19 PM
Next expedition: Iran.
Pretense: nuclear
Objective: oil
"Iran has yet to find an investor for the development of its Azadegan oilfield, for example. After its discovery about two years ago, its phenomenal oil reserves - 26 billion barrels - have not yet helped Iran find a reliable investor. Under American pressure, a group of Japanese oil companies interested in its development delayed signing a $2 billion contract with the Iranian Oil Ministry by the mutually-set deadline of June 30 despite two years of negotiations."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EG18Ak05.html
Peace through goodwill just doesn't have the "shock and awe" factor. It doesn't raise defense contractors' stock prices. And it doesn't advance the neoconservatives agenda, as expressed by Grover Norquist: "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."
Posted by: ~Chip :) | February 5, 2006 03:35 AM
200 Billion USD. What do you think how many lives in africa you can save with such a amount.
Posted by: Abo | February 6, 2006 09:46 AM
"there can be no peace without war."
Posted by: mark | February 6, 2006 05:26 PM
I personally am so frustrated with this president. I never thought we could have a bigger lier than Clinton. I was wrong. This country hasn't had a decent president since Reagan. At least what you saw was what you got.
Posted by: extenze extagen | February 10, 2006 01:38 AM
Very well organized site. I particularly liked the resources section.
Will use it to plan my next trip to NWT. See you soon.
Posted by: pharmacy | February 15, 2006 04:43 AM