Sometimes our political commentariat seems to go fashion-crazy. When a new trend gets popular it overwhelms everything in its path: logic, poltical divisions, even expert opinion. The latest vogue is deficit reduction, and our nation's Anna Wintours tell us we simply have to have it. In Washington, screaming about being in the red is the new black. more »
thenation.com — Wednesday's bombings in Baghdad's Green Zone were probably the most significant bombings in Iraq's capital since the attacks on the Jordanian embassy and the United Nations offices in 2003. While President Obama and the Pentagon are focused on Afghanistan, the war in Iraq is showing signs of heading south, and fast.
huffingtonpost.com — Ex-vice president Dick Cheney's statement that "there was never any evidence to prove that" Iraq was involved in 9/11 is being widely portrayed as an admission. But it's less an admission than a PR move.
washingtonpost.com — Top officials from the Bush administration have hit upon a revealing new theme as they retrospectively justify their national security policies. Call it the White House 9/11 trauma defense. But careful analysis could have replaced the impulse to break all the rules.
For some time now, people have been wondering how the historical Presidential legacy of George W. Bush will read. That it will be terrible, is now almost universal in consensus. I'm now thinking how the legacy of the most authoritarian, abusive of power, secretive, Vice President in U.S. history should read also. more »
Political change happens with a compass, not a roadmap. Obama has clearly indicated which way he wants to lead. Our job is to push him forwards and keep him on course.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office reports that it will take years and cost about $200 billion to repair or replace equipment that was worn out or broken in the Iraq war.
A former Iraqi official recently estimated that more than $13 billion meant for reconstruction projects in Iraq was wasted or stolen through elaborate fraud schemes.
The federal government has authorized $656 billion for the Iraq war. Of that total, $152 billion was appropriated to fund the Iraq war during the current fiscal year. That amounts to more than $12 billion per month and $416 million per day.
A record number of private contractors are used in Iraq--receiving almost 20% of funding for operations or $85 billion-- these contractors are often not held accountable for their use of the money.
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