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Happy Presidents’ Day: I like Ike, too

By Alexander Carpenter
As our representatives turn their attention to the Bush administration’s new 100 billion dollar request for funding the war on Iraq, let us consider these words from President Eisenhower, a man who actually knew how to plan and win wars (WWII) and also knew when to redeploy (Korea).
As President Eisenhower notes, our money is not just going to the troops, but also to the new American war industry.

Oh yeah, and there’s more:
It could cost the VA at least $350 billion to provide disability compensation and health care to Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, according to a Harvard University researcher’s conservative estimate. Those costs could climb as high as $663 billion, if many troops remain at war much longer and health care costs inflate.
“We’re running up a bill that we’ll be paying for the next 50 years,” said Steve Robinson, director of veterans affairs for Veterans for America, a national veterans advocacy organization.
The nation has committed $427 billion to war costs, not including VA expenses. Pending budget requests would raise the total to $662 billion.

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