America's economy underpins our position as the world's most powerful nation. Our success in two world wars and the Cold War was largely due to America's industrial might at home and our ability to mobilize the world's largest manufacturing power for wartime production. But today we see how a failed national security policy hurts our economy so much that it threatens our role as a global leader.
Following 9/11, while the administration was planning multiple wars, our president did not call on the American people to sacrifice for a war-time effort. Instead, he asked us to go shopping and to live our lives as if we were not planning major military operations that would need a massive economic mobilization as well as the of our most precious resource - the men and women who serve in our military. While this call for normalcy was reassuring to some, it didn't reflect reality.
Seven years later, with two wars costing American and foreign lives and draining resources, we are reeling from the economic impact of a disastrous foreign policy. It's a delayed sacrifice from a swollen deficit of action, leadership and judgment resulting in the American people bearing an overwhelming economic burden.
Irresponsible spending and failed national security policies are directly connected to the economic downturn. The Bush administration allowed our financial markets to leverage themselves toward disaster while at the same time engaging in profligate national security spending. Defense Secretary Robert Gates describes military spending as "baroque."
The Iraq war has an enormous cost. This is the first war in American history that has not demanded some sacrifice from citizens-whether through sharing the economic load, being drafted or cutting back on consumption. The wars' entire cost is being paid for with borrowed money, passing the bill onto future generations and limiting the promise of economic prosperity for years to come. The price of oil has risen dramatically, from $25 when the war started. We spend $10 billion a month on the war, with a total cost estimated at $1 trillion to $3 trillion. The war has directly dragged down essential sectors of the economy and hampered our ability to address the broader economic meltdown.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081018/EDIT02/810180367/1113/election0
Following 9/11, while the administration was planning multiple wars, our president did not call on the American people to sacrifice for a war-time effort. Instead, he asked us to go shopping and to live our lives as if we were not planning major military operations that would need a massive economic mobilization as well as the of our most precious resource - the men and women who serve in our military. While this call for normalcy was reassuring to some, it didn't reflect reality.
Seven years later, with two wars costing American and foreign lives and draining resources, we are reeling from the economic impact of a disastrous foreign policy. It's a delayed sacrifice from a swollen deficit of action, leadership and judgment resulting in the American people bearing an overwhelming economic burden.
Irresponsible spending and failed national security policies are directly connected to the economic downturn. The Bush administration allowed our financial markets to leverage themselves toward disaster while at the same time engaging in profligate national security spending. Defense Secretary Robert Gates describes military spending as "baroque."
The Iraq war has an enormous cost. This is the first war in American history that has not demanded some sacrifice from citizens-whether through sharing the economic load, being drafted or cutting back on consumption. The wars' entire cost is being paid for with borrowed money, passing the bill onto future generations and limiting the promise of economic prosperity for years to come. The price of oil has risen dramatically, from $25 when the war started. We spend $10 billion a month on the war, with a total cost estimated at $1 trillion to $3 trillion. The war has directly dragged down essential sectors of the economy and hampered our ability to address the broader economic meltdown.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081018/EDIT02/810180367/1113/election0
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