Biting the hand that feeds him: Bush betrays the poor
Igor Volsky
Issue date: 2/24/05 Section: Opinion
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The occupation of Iraq has made Americans less secure. Bush administration policy has radicalized Muslim extremists and drastically enhanced the Muslim call to jihad. Bush did this knowingly and deliberately.
In his testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Porter Goss, the new CIA Director confessed that the war in Iraq "was giving terrorists experience contacts for future attacks... They represent a potential pool of contacts; build transnational terrorist cells, groups and networks."
The American progressive movement and the U.S. intelligence community have long cautioned against such an outcome. The National Intelligence Estimate of 2002 warned that an invasion could increase the threat of terrorism and the National Intelligence Council has recently concluded that "Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of 'professionalized terrorists.'" But Bush invaded anyway. The benefits of the ends superceded the consequences of the means.
The means have had dire consequences. For the first time since 2001, the Army began the fiscal year with just 18.4 percent of its recruitment goal met. According to the Washington Post, that amounts to less than half of last year's figure and falls well below the Army's goal of 25 percent. Fewer soldiers are joining the army out fear of ending up in Iraq, the epicenter of international terrorism and the local of a poorly planned and ill-justified war. For many potential army recruits, the President's campaign of lies, misrepresentations and omissions has drained enthusiasm from the American ideal of volunteerism. For this reason, the army has had to offer large monetary incentives and re-enlistment bonuses to potential "volunteers." The average cost of signing up a recruit has risen from $15,265 in fiscal 2001 to $15,967 in fiscal 2004.
These and other costs have resulted in a staggering $427 billion budget deficit- the great majority of which can be attributed to the President's irresponsible tax cuts and the $220 billion invasion and occupation of Iraq. Bush's 2006 budget plans to extend the former and supplement the letter. And in order to "cut the deficit in half in five years," the budget slashes $212 billion from 150 domestic discretionary programs and $138 billion from mandatory programs. These programs disproportionately benefit the poor and middle class. The same cannot be said for Bush' tax cuts.
In his testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Porter Goss, the new CIA Director confessed that the war in Iraq "was giving terrorists experience contacts for future attacks... They represent a potential pool of contacts; build transnational terrorist cells, groups and networks."
The American progressive movement and the U.S. intelligence community have long cautioned against such an outcome. The National Intelligence Estimate of 2002 warned that an invasion could increase the threat of terrorism and the National Intelligence Council has recently concluded that "Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of 'professionalized terrorists.'" But Bush invaded anyway. The benefits of the ends superceded the consequences of the means.
The means have had dire consequences. For the first time since 2001, the Army began the fiscal year with just 18.4 percent of its recruitment goal met. According to the Washington Post, that amounts to less than half of last year's figure and falls well below the Army's goal of 25 percent. Fewer soldiers are joining the army out fear of ending up in Iraq, the epicenter of international terrorism and the local of a poorly planned and ill-justified war. For many potential army recruits, the President's campaign of lies, misrepresentations and omissions has drained enthusiasm from the American ideal of volunteerism. For this reason, the army has had to offer large monetary incentives and re-enlistment bonuses to potential "volunteers." The average cost of signing up a recruit has risen from $15,265 in fiscal 2001 to $15,967 in fiscal 2004.
These and other costs have resulted in a staggering $427 billion budget deficit- the great majority of which can be attributed to the President's irresponsible tax cuts and the $220 billion invasion and occupation of Iraq. Bush's 2006 budget plans to extend the former and supplement the letter. And in order to "cut the deficit in half in five years," the budget slashes $212 billion from 150 domestic discretionary programs and $138 billion from mandatory programs. These programs disproportionately benefit the poor and middle class. The same cannot be said for Bush' tax cuts.