If I just had 1.2 Trillion
See here for a depressing discussion of the health care, education and other goods that 1.2 Trillion might have bought. It’s yet another reminder of how the fateful decision to go to war in 2003 will haunt the nation — to say nothing of the Middle East — for the rest of our adult lifetimes.
That said, I recently attended a dinner with six adults horrified by the war and the question was posed: what should the United States do now? Answers ranged from the draft (politically impossible but at least a signal from the President that everyone, not just our military families, should sacrifice in this effort), sending in another 100,000 troops (no one thought the 20,000 surge meaningful and enough to protect the Iraquis from sectarian slaughter) and immediate withdrawal. The range of options seemed to me to suggest the depth of the problem — we’re now in so deep that no one can see air.
We’re up to our neck in alligators in Iraq, and Bush merely wants to send more personnel to hold on to more alligators. We know what can happen when the alligator is let go. Not a reassuring thought for a soldier/marine trying his/her level best to keep the beast down.
If I were in Iraq, I sure wouldn’t want to be one of the last guys/gals out!
Interestingly enough, the NYT reports to day that Maliki seems to have decided, or at least say he has decided, to crack down on all troublemakers, thinks he has the forces to do it, and predicts the American forces will be able to start leaving in 3-6 months. I am as sceptical as anyone about this, but it might actually be good news. The one sure thing is that our President is not gong to come up with any idea that works, unless by shear chance, and that seems unlikely. The idea that after three years of fumbling the Commander in Chief has finally figured it out is not to be believed.
This argument does not weigh how much oil we will get from Iraq now or later. Is any of that oil coming to us now. Originally, the president said that the cost of the war would be unwritten by Iraqi oil, did he not?
Wasn’t this war really about oil and using theocracy and democracy as baits? Where is all the Iraqi oil going? Not all of it is being lost.