Down the rabbit hole
Joseph Wilson wrote an article that appeared in the San Jose Mercury's Perspective section yesterday. Wilson is the diplomat sent to Niger in West Africa in February of 2002 to check out the allegation that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium 'yellowcake' for nuclear weapons construction. His article is worth reading. Wilson pleads for honesty from the American government but in the meantime has put his copy of "Alice in Wonderland" back on his desk.
Based on VP Cheney's appearance yesterday on 'Meet the Press', that is not likely to happen any time soon. See the Washington Post. Cheney vigorously maintained that we are making good progress in Iraq, denied any miscalculations on the part of the administration and sees little need for a change of course. There was at least a dose of reality for Cheney apparently believes the costs of maintaining operations in Iraq and Afghanistan could increase beyond the $160 billion or so now either spent or earmarked. Pretty soon we'll be talking about real money.
David Firestone of the New York Times analyzes the impact of the costs in Iraq and Afghanistan on the US public. (See analysis). Firestone reports that after President Bush's Sunday speech outlining the pending request for $87 billion for next fiscal year "Administration officials acknowledged the next day that every dollar of that cost will be borrowed, a loan that economists say will be repaid by the next generation of taxpayers and the generation after that. The $166 billion cost of the work so far in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has stunned many in Washington, will be added to what was already the largest budget deficit the nation has ever known."
'It's the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!' said Alice.
11:00:16 AM 
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