Sunday, February 23, 2003

The Martial Plan - Billions for offense, not one cent for reconstruction Look at our behavior in Afghanistan. In the beginning, money was no object; victory over the Taliban was as much a matter of bribes to warlords as it was of Special Forces and smart bombs. But President Bush promised that our interest wouldn't end once the war was won; this time we wouldn't forget about Afghanistan, we would stay to help rebuild the country and secure the peace. So how much money for Afghan reconstruction did the administration put in its 2004 budget? None. The Bush team forgot about it. Embarrassed Congressional staff members had to write in $300 million to cover the lapse. Iraq will receive the same treatment. On Tuesday Ari Fleischer declared that Iraq could pay for its own reconstruction -- even though experts warn that it may be years before the country's oil fields are producing at potential. Off the record, some officials have even described Iraqi oil as the "spoils of war." 3:28:37 PM

WP: The great duct tape conspiracy? Interesting WP story stating that 46% of all duct tape sold in the USA is manufactured by an Ohio-based company whose founder donated over $100,000 in the 2000 election campaign cycle to the Republican National Committee and other GOP committees. [Boing Boing Blog] 2:45:47 PM

Cheney Hates Parody of Wife; White House Lawyers Threaten Website Dick Cheney, apparently not busy enough planning a war and handing energy policy over to his pals in Big Oil, is upset at a Web parody about his wife (a public figure of some renown). So government lawyers, on the taxpayers' dime, have sent the site a letter asking for "adjustments in the content" of the site. [Dan Gillmor's eJournal] Ah, now we see the beginnings of the Dumbya Administration's silencing of critics... 2:37:45 PM

© Copyright 2003 Michael Alderete.