Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says he warned President George Bush in August 2002 that Iraq "will crack like a goblet and it will be a problem to pick up the bits." Powell broke the unspoken rule in Washington -- He dared to question the mulitiple significant foreign policy failures of the current administration.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=2892

Bush never addressed the question of cost. From the start, the administration has been, and continues to be, evasive about the costs of war in Iraq.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=12944
http://tinyurl.com/7xb89


From Information Clearing House

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/022405A.shtml


Informant: Friends


Dead Messengers: How the U.S. Military Threatens Journalists

Steve Weissman writes, "For those who care to judge for themselves, the best place to start [an investigation into the deaths of journalists] is the story of Baghdad's Palestine Hotel, where on April 8, 2003, an American tank crew killed two journalists and wounded three others. The U.S. military never took testimony from a single journalist who was there, and never disciplined any military personnel."

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=2900



Wounded Journalist: GIs Fired Without Warning
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/556108/

Another Journalist Deliberately Targeted?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/556898/

Giuliana Sgrena: 'My truth'
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/557163/

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER GARY WEBB
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/442522/

by Jonathan Weisman

Concern About Impact on White House's Credibility Cited

Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, February 23, 2005; Page A17

At the National Security Council's request, the White House excised a full chapter on Iraq's economy from last week's Economic Report of the President, reasoning in part that the "feel good" tone of the writing would ring hollow against the backdrop of continuing violence, according to White House officials.

The decision to delete an entire chapter from the Council of Economic Advisers' annual report was highly unusual. Council members -- recruited from the top ranks of economic academia -- have long prided themselves on independence and intellectual integrity, and the Economic Report of the President is the council's primary showcase. ... See the rest at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45323-2005Feb22.html or http://tinyurl.com/6hgo4


© Virginia Metze

by David Isenberg

Asia Times

02/25/05

Although the exact cost of the Iraq invasion to the American taxpayer is not known, recent figures suggest it is a lot more than has been publicly suggested and will grow considerably higher. Part of the problem in estimating costs is that the war is obviously not over; it just keeps going, and going, and going. According to a report on the cost of the war in Iraq released last week by the Democratic staff of the House Budget Committee, the war and ongoing insurgency could cost the United States between US$461 billion and $646 billion by 2015, depending on the scope and duration of operations. ... The lower figure is based on a US withdrawal of forces within four years, per Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's prediction that all US troops could be withdrawn by the end of 2008. The second estimate reduces US forces to 40,000 by 2010, per a previously released Congressional Budget Office model...

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GB25Ak01.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

If the government knew it might be liable in a lawsuit, it would have a vastly increased incentive to provide quality medical care. A former commander of mine once told me that, "the true measure of a man may be seen in how he behaves when he knows he will not be held accountable for his actions." Remove the incentive for doing the right thing, guarantee a lack of punishment for doing the wrong, and what do you get? All too often, you are left with the expedient, the cheap, and the good-enough-for-government-work. When Uncle Sam knows he will not be sued for botched surgeries, erroneous prescriptions, and filthy hospitals, he has no incentive to fix those problems.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=2885

"This report confirms my concerns about the VA's capacity and ability to meet the rising demand of veterans seeking mental-health services," U.S. Representative Lane Evans (D-Illinois), ranking Democrat on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, said in a February 16 statement. "It is inconceivable that the VA has yet to even name a PTSD coordinator in each of its health networks as recommended by the Special Committee."

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=2888