Political-Commentary.com

Was the War Worth It?

Did it make sense to go to war in Iraq? The original justifications for the war related to US national security -- Saddam Hussein was a threat to the US due to his weapons of mass destruction, and there was a connection between Iraq and the 9/11 terrorists. Having abandoned those justifications, the Bush administration is now saying the war was worthwhile due to the benefits it will bring to the people of Iraq.

Assume for the sake that argument that the war has resulted in a net benefit to the Iraqi people (which is by no means clear). Even so, one must still do a cost/benefit analysis to determine if the war was worthwhile. Before this thing is through, the cost of the war will be 100's of billions of dollars, with the loss of thousands of lives (both American and Iraqi). That much money could have done a world of good if spent on unmet needs at home, such as education and health care -- and all without any loss of life.

Do the benefits of the war to the Iraqis exceed the forgone benefits at home? Almost certainly not. Of course, the whole comparison between benefits in Iraq and benefits at home may not make sense to Republicans. They may take the position that the government shouldn't be spending any money at all on unmet needs at home. But that raises the question -- why is is OK to help the Iraqi people, but not to help people in the US?

Normally, of course, you would not justify a war by comparing its benefits with the forgone opportunities at home. But most wars involve US security. Having conceded that the Iraq war didn't involve US security, the Bush administration is outside the normal calculus for wars. It must justify this war on a cost/benefit basis, but apparently could not do so.

Asleep at the Controls

According to Former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson, "no reasonable American could hold the president responsible for the [9/11] attack." That may be true. However, reasonable Americans do want a President who is doing all he can to prevent terrorist attacks. Not only was Bush asleep at the controls before 9/11, but he appears to think it was perfectly fine to be asleep. With an attitude like that, this is not exactly the fellow we want at the controls in the future, even if the 9/11 attack would have occurred regardless of what Bush might have done.

"Historical" Documents

Condolezza Rice has indicated that documents warning about impending terrorist attacks were "historical," and thus of little value. Her definition of "historical document" is not entirely clear, but apparently means "document that is based upon information that was learned in the past." This is a fairly broad definition that -- at least until the invention of a time machine -- would seem to encompass all human knowledge.

A Dunce as President

When Cheney and Rumsfeld are alone, do they make jokes about Bush's intelligence and lack of interest in ideas? One suspects they do -- "How did we ever end up working for this dunce?"

Condolezza Rice

Condolezza Rice doubtless is a very smart person, and probably fit well into academia. However, her testimony before the 9/11 commission indicates her utter incompetence in her present position. Far from being a "mover and shaker," she seemed to view her job as sitting back and waiting for people to give her information and ideas. And once received, she didn't seem to know what to do with the information and ideas. If Bush is re-elected, will we have four more years of her, or will she have the grace to resign?

Incompetence

The 9/11 hearings confirm the impression that the Bush administration -- Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rice, Powell, Rumsfeld -- are a bunch of incompetents who couldn't do a decent job as dog-catcher. Has this bunch made a single decision that turned out right?

9/11 Hearings

We hear that the 9/11 hearings are politically motivated, and won't accomplish anything. Of course, anyone who says this is making a politically motivated statement.

The hearings will accomplish two things. First, they will indicate whether the Bush administration is competent to run the county, and that will help voters make a wise choice during the next presidential election. Second, people can't learn from their mistakes unless they know what they did wrong. Thus, we can at least hope that the hearings will help the Bush administration develop more effective policies. Of course, this may be wishful thinking, since Bush apparently would never admit to making a mistake, and thus will see no reason to change his policies.