Today I watched the House Oversight Committee hearings about private contracting in Iraq. I have commented on the extent that we have employed private contraction in a combat zone in Iraq. Although we have used contractors in the past, the extent of their use in Iraq is far and away greater then in any other war. The House hearings choose not to delve into the details of the most recent incident with Blackwater since the Justice Department is investigating this incident. The disc...

Today the AP ran a story about the staggering medical costs from the Iraq war. The VA is trying to provide some estimates as to the future cost to care for the Iraq War Veterans. The VA has run out of money several times during the past two years and the spending is up 83% since Bush took office. There have been 185,000 veterans that have required care so far and the VA fears that number could reach 700,000 and span 50 Plus years. The experience from this war is different because of...

The Bill to give 3.5 Million children health insurance that today do not have coverage passed Congress in a bipartisan way. Bush has said he will veto this bill while he prepares to request another $190 Billion for WAR! Bush is a lost cause and the voters must turn their attention to Congress. ANY member of Congress that is up for reelection in 2008 that does not vote to override a Bush veto of this bill should be removed from office in November 2008 for turning their backs on these 3...

Yesterday George Bush forcefully defended his fiscal policies at his news conference. It was clear that Bush believes what he is saying despite that the results of the past 6 years show a total opposite reality. Bush again stated his disagreement with the criticism of Alan Greenspan who has said the Bush tax cuts and spending policies were irresponsible and have caused harm to our country. Bush also talked about the inability of Social Security and Medicare to pay the benefits that have...

The Bush Administration has turned more and more to private contractors to provide functions in war torn Iraq. These are PLUMS that have been given American Companies and have cost the American tax payers double and triple the cost to provide the same service by our military that in the past were responsible for security in a war zone like Iraq. Bush has ignored the fact that the size of our military and the missions they have been given are out of balance. Some believe the Army needs...

As the Bush presidency moves toward an end, more and more critics are blasting George W. Bush and his policies. They are coming from former members of his administration, from world leaders and from some of the most knowledgeable people in our country. People like Allen Greenspan who says Bush and his fiscal policies were a disaster. Mr. Greenspan also said in his book that the Iraq War was not because of WMD, or because Saddam was an evil dictator. It is not because Saddam refused t...

If the GOP members of Congress in the House and Senate refuse to change course in Iraq as the VAST majority of Americans want, November 2008 could prove to be a blood bath for the GOP. If as we reduce the troop levels from April thru August 2008, violence in Iraq continues at the current pace or gets worse, the GOP who plan to run for reelection are in TROUBLE. The Democrats must press for a change in the war policy and if the GOP members of Congress up for reelection prevent that cha...

Last Night President Bush continued to lie and spin the facts to the American people. In that his speech was just like most of his other speeches over the past 6 ½ years. Lie ONE: The success in Anbar, which is the major example Bush sighted, is the result of the American Troop Surge. First, Bush only sent 4,000 additional troops into Anbar. The success against al-Qaeda elements in Anbar is the result of the local Sunni tribes that agreed to attack the foreign terrorists and...

The American Commander told the Senate today that after almost 5 years of war, over 3,700 dead American Military, over 27,000 wounded American Military and over ½ Trillion dollars that he does not know if that sacrifice has made America any Safer. That is a DAMMING statement as to the failure of the Bush Policy of invading Iraq from the TOP military commander on the ground! Bush must be beside himself after learning of the General's statement today. Think of it- Our most senior milit...

Bush is telling everyone the Surge is Working when the facts say the opposite. Yes in Al Anbar Province the violence is much better but in the north and south the violence is much worse. Overall the death toll is UP and there is no progress on the political front. The Police Force is a problem and the Iraqi Military can not function on their own. For Bush to declare the surge is working to reduce the violence in Iraq is simply not true and the death toll and lack of political progress ...

Deaths in Iraq UP 20% in August. The violence is shifting and getting worse! The casualty figures were released yesterday in Iraq and they will overshadow anything the September Report says from Petraeus and Corker. The data does show some reduction in the Baghdad area but violence in both the north and south have more then offset the gains in Baghdad. Overall the number of deaths have increased by 20% in August. Add the almost total lack of progress on the political issues and t...

Bush got two more jolts this week. Yesterday the Joint Chiefs told Bush and Cheney that the Army and Marines CAN not sustain the troop levels in Iraq. The Joint Chiefs said we should cut the troop strength to 80,000. The Army Chief of Staff also wants to cut the tour length to 12 months from the current 15 month tour. T his may be at odds with what General Petraeus may want but the limits of the overall size of the ground forces will force the reduction of the troop levels in Iraq. Th...

On Tuesday Congress will receive the GAO Report on the situation in Iraq. The report is a detailed assessment of both the military and non military progress in Iraq. This report was requested by Congress and the person who released the 69 page draft copy to the Washington Post did so because they feared there would be an attempt by the White House to water down the very pessimistic GAO assessment on Iraq. The report says that only 3 of the 18 Benchmarks have been met by the Iraqi...

Two of the most important domestic initiatives of the Bush Presidency are the Economy and Education. We continue to hear how great a job the Bush policies have done in these two areas. This week we have definitive data on the results of the past 6 years on how well the economy has impacted most Americans and how well the Public Education system is performing (No Child Left Behind). First the Census Bureau has just released the data on the Economy and health Care in America. Here a...

On August 24th I posted this Blog which elicited many truly asinine comments that demonstrate the hypocrisy of many who Blog on Joe User- Bush & Rice Should be Impeached for NOT Protecting America! The United States spends Billions of dollars each year to collect and process intelligence for one propose—To provide the President and National Security Advisor information to help defend this country from attack. In my Blog I documented scores of such warnings provided ...