Neither our president nor Congress has ever subjected this massive investment of lives, limbs and money to a simple costs-benefits analysis, or compared it to alternative investments in defense, energy security, and the economy that really would make us safer. Nigerian email scams get a better economic analysis than our leaders have given the Iraq investment "plan."
At the top of my suggested alternative investment portfolio: Fix the GI Bill, which once fueled our national greatness, but which is now being manipulated by the Administration to cheat veterans out of promised college educations and home ownership. And that's just the tip of a potential investment iceberg, as the sums of money slated to be spent in Iraq are so vast that, if redirected, they would be sufficient to do just about everything this country needs doing to prepare for an uncertain future:
For less than the $1 trillion dollars that Iraq is going to cost us in the future, we could... strengthen our military and support the troops, make college affordable once again, achieve universal affordable health care, break our addiction to Mideast oil through massive investment in solar and hydrogen technologies, decisively combat global warming, and make America the world leader in green energy and transit technology... Read more about this alternative portfolio
We could have it all. Really. Or we can have the Iraq War. Time to choose.
