War & Peace: January 2006 Archives

Thanks to BoingBoing and Comics.212.net, I found this 8-page online comic by Joe Sacco. A picture really is worth a thousand words.

"I guess the Iraqis who thought the US was going to turn Iraq into another America weren’t really far from the mark- we too now enjoy inane leaders, shady elections, a shaky economy, large-scale unemployment and soaring gas prices." — Riverbend at Baghdad Burning

OK, So yes, I didn't want this stupid war in the first place. And yes, I think the troops need to come home.

But — what happened to "you broke it, you bought it?" Apparently, where rebuilding Iraq's FUBAR infrastructure, the Bush administration is planning on cutting and running.

BAGHDAD -- The Bush administration does not intend to seek any new funds for Iraq reconstruction in the budget request going before Congress in February, officials say. The decision signals the winding down of an $18.4 billion U.S. rebuilding effort in which roughly half of the money was eaten away by the insurgency, a buildup of Iraq's criminal justice system and the investigation and trial of Saddam Hussein.

Just under 20 percent of the reconstruction package remains unallocated. When the last of the $18.4 billion is spent, U.S. officials in Baghdad have made clear, other foreign donors and the fledgling Iraqi government will have to take up what authorities say is tens of billions of dollars of work yet to be done merely to bring reliable electricity, water and other services to Iraq's 26 million people.

Gah.

Can we impeach these m******* yet?