In the Red

The complaints of the privileged are too often
confused with the voice of the masses
--John Kenneth Galbraith

There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true;
and the other is to refuse to believe what is true
-- Søren Kierkegaard
___________

The latest audit by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction sums up the Iraq venture in a nutshell ("Iraq Rebuilding Awash in Woes"):

U.S. efforts to rebuild Iraq are so beset with daily violence, corruption and poor maintenance that Iraqis will not be capable of managing reconstruction anytime soon, investigators say.

Rates of attacks are lower, but attacks are more devastating, meaning greater disruption of services and public works.

Iraq's annual financial loss now exceeds $5 billion due to fraud and abuse that "afflicts virtually every Iraqi ministry," according to the report. [The ministries of oil, interior and defense are the biggest offenders.]

In a cover letter, Inspector General Stuart Bowen Jr. said the Iraqi government was assuming more of the financial burden for the recovery effort, but U.S. support "will remain relatively robust for the foreseeable future."

The good news is that the Iraqi government was assuming more of the financial burden for the recovery effort; bad news, the bill will be robustly footed by America.

Who uses terms like robust anymore? It is certainly not a term America is accustomed to seeing in regards to our own economy, unless it is fronts "budget deficit." What precisely does assuming more financial burden mean? Will they be bringing their own packed lunches to the reconstruction sites now? Will the food-service catering contractors be taking it on the chin?

Have we Americans gone totally 'round the bend? Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars for our soldiers to support corruption and self-serving Iraqi interests?

If we don't care about the dead and wounded, then possibly the fiscal irresponsibility of this venture should be a wake-up call.

What is this money purchasing for America? Are the majority of Americans totally brain-dead?