The Hollywood Liberal

Raw Story
Excerpt
A day after a Democratic senator known for speaking out at anti-war protests filed papers to begin exploring the possibility of a presidential run, Senator Hillary Clinton (NY-D) told Matt Lauer on NBC news that she supported a “cap” on US troops sent to Iraq beginning this January. It was her first interview since returning from a trip to Iraq this past weekend as President Bush’s escalation strategy is put into effect.

Senator Clinton says that she has no reason to believe that the President’s latest plan to secure Baghdad will be successful, adding that the addition of troops in Iraq will particularly undercut efforts in Afghanistan, where she believes more troops are necessary to fight a resurgent Taliban.

Hilary in The Race To Win

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How US is deferring war costs

Christian Science Monitor
Excerpt
During Vietnam, the US raised taxes but still watched deficits soar.
But to pay for the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US has used its credit card, counting on the Chinese and other foreign buyers of its debt to pay the bills.
Now, as President Bush is promising to boost the number of troops in Iraq, there is increased scrutiny over how the US is going to pay for it all.

The US is spending about $10 billion a month on Iraq and Afghanistan. By the end of this year, the total funds appropriated will be nearly $600 billion – approaching the amount spent on the Vietnam or Korean wars, when adjusted for inflation.

Because the US is borrowing to finance the war, the cost will be borne by future generations. “And it’s still going to be one of the most expensive wars we have ever fought,” he says.
Unlike in previous major wars, the United States has cut taxes at the same time it has increased military spending. “It’s fair to say all of the money spent on the war has been borrowed,” says Richard Kogan, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank in Washington. “But eventually everything has to be paid for.”

H.L.s Take:
And by the time the bill comes due, Bush, Cheney and their friends and cronies will be living it up with limos, mansions, and yachts, while we pay off the financial debt, and the soldiers pay off the emotonial debt they will suffer from being on the front lines of Bush’s wars.

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Attacking Iran
What’s In It For Bush?

Counterpunch
Excerpt
Initially, the Bush Regime denied that Bush’s escalation speech on January 10 signaled that the Regime intends to attack Iran. Now a number of Regime officials have made it clear that Iran, not Iraq, is the focus of the Regime’s war planning. Robert Gates, the new Defense Secretary and member of the Iraq Study Group, was supposedly brought into the Pentagon to de-escalate the war. Gates now says that Iran is the target of US military moves in the Persian Gulf…

The Bush Regime’s latest big lie is that the US is not winning in Iraq because of Iran. “The Iranians are acting in a very negative way,” alleges the “moderate” Gates. Iraq, the target for the escalation in US troop levels, has dimmed in importance. In the few days since Bush’s “surge” speech, Bush, Cheney, Gates, Rice, and national security advisor Hadley have said far more about Iran than about Iraq…

Clearly, the Bush Regime expects that it can again deceive the American public. There is no doubt that Iran will be attacked. The Israeli government and the neoconservatives have been demanding it.
The question is: why is Bush, who is confronted with failure in Iraq, willing to compound his problems by attacking a more powerful Muslim state that the US has no prospect of being able to occupy?

Here is the victory scenario:

H.L.s Take
Paul Craig Roberts who was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration, lays out a chilling scenario.
Will Bush and Cheney use nuclear weapons against Iran to get the “Victory” they so badly need. Maybe not, but they have other plans up their sleeves to save Bushs legacy. Will Congress allow this to happen?? Probably, the media definitely will do every thing in their power to try to help out the monkey just like they always have.

Here is a new ad Move On.org is running in New Hampshire and Iowa about John Mc Cain. He has no shot at being President. He went against the will of 74% of the American people so he could help out his old buddy Bush one more time. The colossal failure of he troop surge will be political death for Mc Cain. At least it won’t be the actual death the soldier will have to face.