Global Insecurity
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 1:55 PM
By: Arnaud de Borchgrave
The United States is now fighting two wars with a long-term price tag estimated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office at $2.4 trillion, of which about $1.9 trillion would be spent on Iraq. Monthly costs are running at $12 billion a month.
Pity President Bush’s successor. He/she will be inheriting a mess on all fronts — national security, economy, defense, trade, health. Huge interest costs should also be factored in as combat is funded with borrowed money.
The full impact of Bush’s answer to a question put to him by a European author in a private Oval office meeting a year ago leaves no room for doubt. After an optimistic briefing on Iraq, the author asked the president, “What about your successor?” Bush replied, “Don’t worry about him. We’ll fix it so he’ll be locked in.”
Given all our problem crises, from a stretched-to-the-breaking-point military to some of the developed world’s worst airlines (that were once the world’s best, and whose operational performance in 2007 was the worst in 20 years) to bandit capitalism that threatens some 2 million with the loss of their homes, it takes real chutzpah to demonize Russia’s political system.
