Thursday, October 20, 2005
Whew!
I'm back! Sorry for the hiatus, but real life came calling and I'm here to tell you, life's a bitch. For the last month, I have been swamped with things at work and school. Since the middle of September my students have performed at three football games, marched in three parades and put on a full 90 minute show that involved two large group numbers, twelve individual acts, and a 17 minute choreographed medley from the musical Hairspray. Plus, it's the end of the first quarter grading period, so grades are due. On top of that, it was mid-term week at the University and I had a major exam plus a five-part assignment due.
But that's over now and I'm raring to go. Just for posterity's sake, here's a few things that caught my attention while I was gone:
But without any further ado, let's get on with tonight's post, shall we?
It's bad enough that the administration did a piss-poor job of planning for the aftermath of the Iraq invasion, but now this:
Oooops! I can hear Georgieboy now: "Sorry, Iraq, but we've decided that you don't need any clean water because we fucked up! Oh, and by the way, we're cutting funding for power generators as well and we're going to have to put off repairing those sewers, too. But hey, don't look so glum. You've got your freedom, right? Assuming you aren't killed by a suicide bomber, a roadside IED, or disease from unclean water, there's really nothing standing in your way of enjoying a delightfully free life."
Now of course this isn't anything new. It's been reported for a long time that we are having funding issues in Iraq, but what's important about this report is who it was made by. None other than Stuart Bowen Jr., a former longtime Bush aide and a key player for Team Bush in the 2000 Florida recount. Sure, it looks like another Bush crony in a prime position, but at least the Republicans can't claim that this is motivated by partisan politics.
As the criticisms mount and the poll numbers fall, it's clear that the Bush administration is losing its grip. It's too bad that they're making the Iraqi people suffer for their ineptitude.
But that's over now and I'm raring to go. Just for posterity's sake, here's a few things that caught my attention while I was gone:
But without any further ado, let's get on with tonight's post, shall we?
Why Does George Bush Hate the Iraqi People?
It's bad enough that the administration did a piss-poor job of planning for the aftermath of the Iraq invasion, but now this:
- The Bush administration cannot fulfill all its grand promises to rebuild Iraq because soaring security costs, mismanagement and poor planning have cost billons of dollars, federal auditors said Tuesday.
Some projects — including those to provide clean water for Iraqis — have been cancelled as a result.
In one case, security costs for a U.S. Agency for International Development program on economic reform increased from $894,000 to $37 million, an auditor told Congress. And hundreds of millions of dollars is being diverted to pay for training for Iraqis and for the maintenance of new facilities — expenses overlooked in the initial U.S. planning for the reconstruction, auditors said.
Add to that the rising prices for materials, cost overruns and delays, and there’s far less money to rebuild Iraq as the Bush administration envisioned, said Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. He called the shortfall “the reconstruction gap.’’
“Though the causes may be numerous and valid, the existence of the gap simply means that the completion of the U.S.-funded portion of Iraq’s reconstruction will leave many planned projects on the drawing board,’’ Bowen told the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations.
Oooops! I can hear Georgieboy now: "Sorry, Iraq, but we've decided that you don't need any clean water because we fucked up! Oh, and by the way, we're cutting funding for power generators as well and we're going to have to put off repairing those sewers, too. But hey, don't look so glum. You've got your freedom, right? Assuming you aren't killed by a suicide bomber, a roadside IED, or disease from unclean water, there's really nothing standing in your way of enjoying a delightfully free life."
Now of course this isn't anything new. It's been reported for a long time that we are having funding issues in Iraq, but what's important about this report is who it was made by. None other than Stuart Bowen Jr., a former longtime Bush aide and a key player for Team Bush in the 2000 Florida recount. Sure, it looks like another Bush crony in a prime position, but at least the Republicans can't claim that this is motivated by partisan politics.
As the criticisms mount and the poll numbers fall, it's clear that the Bush administration is losing its grip. It's too bad that they're making the Iraqi people suffer for their ineptitude.
