Walter Reed disgrace is another hidden cost of involvement in Iraq

Note the source. :wow:

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/16860822.htm


Walter Reed disgrace is another hidden cost of involvement in Iraq

By Carl Leubsdorf

The Dallas Morning News

(MCT)

Disclosures of substandard conditions for wounded veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center represent more than another case of Bush administration incompetence.

They show how its mishandling of the management and financing of the Iraq war has created a series of devastating side effects that go far beyond questions about its military and diplomatic policies in the Middle East.

Since President Bush sent U.S. troops to Iraq, his administration has constantly sought to minimize war costs, protect its tax cuts and avoid the government's looming long-term fiscal problems.

The result has been to shortchange the nation's veterans, provide insufficient equipment and training for active troops, weaken the ability to deal with threats outside Iraq and create a ticking fiscal time bomb that threatens to explode on its successor's watch.

It seems a political lifetime since the White House slapped down economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey for suggesting a war with Iraq might cost $200 billion. Budget Director Mitch Daniels called the figure "very, very high" and said it would cost about one-third of that, some paid by U.S. allies.

But the president's latest budget says the cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan will hit $662 billion next year - with a lot more likely after that.

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