Iraq war linked to our economic woes
A trio of $600 big bills shared the front page of the April 9 Daily Herald with the Petraeus report.
This is logical because the two stories are closely related.
The economy is in trouble; the Bush War, costing over $12 billion per month, is a major contributing factor.
The projected cost, even if we pull out promptly, is over $1,000,000,000,000. That figure does not include the value of lives lost.
It is invalid to compare the Bush War to WW II. In 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor with a massive naval and air attack. Our nation promptly declared war and won.
On Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush Administration was asleep on guard duty and allowed 20 terrorists to use our own domestic planes to destroy the World Trade Center. Iraq had nothing to do with the attack but based on cooked intelligence, George W. Bush launched Shock and Awe against the wrong country.
One by one, other reasons for the attack, such as weapons of mass destruction, have been discounted.
The final effort is supposed to convert Iraq into a democracy. This comes at a time when the distorted form of democracy in the USA is not serving us well.
If we would clean up our own act, we could have a better slate of presidential candidates this year. For example, if the Republicans would nominate Sen. Chuck Hagel, we would vote for him and soon be out of Iraq.
Current action in Iraq is to save face for a failed administration. Hearts and minds cannot be won with military might.
The Iraq fiasco is not the only failing of the Bush Administration. The economy has turned sour because of poor management. There are tax cuts for the rich and lower discount rates to stimulate the sinking economy.
We continue to print paper money, thereby devalue the dollar and seem to wonder why oil and gold prices are soaring.
To make matters worse, we borrow from China to buy expensive oil from the Arabs. Keep this up and the average housewife will need a $600 bill to buy a basket of groceries.
Russell C. W. Crom
Mount Prospect