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Deeper and Deeper
The New York Times Editorial
Thursday 05 October 2006
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100506E.shtml

There is fresh evidence, if any more were needed, that excessive borrowing during the Bush years will make the nation poorer.

For most of the past five and a half years, interest rates have been low, allowing the government to borrow more and more - to cut taxes while fighting two expensive wars - without having to shoulder higher interest payments.

That's over now. For the first time during President Bush's tenure, the government's interest bill is expected to rise in 2006, from $184 billion in 2005 to $220 billion this year, up nearly 20 percent. That increase - $36 billion - makes interest the fastest-growing component of federal spending, and continued brisk growth is likely. According to projections by Congress's budget office, the interest bill will grow to $249 billion in 2007, and $270 billion in 2008.
[…]
The result, as The Wall Street Journal reported last week, is that for the first time in at least 90 years, the United States is now paying noticeably more to foreign creditors than it receives from its investments abroad. That is a momentous shift. It means that a growing share of America's future collective income will flow abroad, leading to a lower standard of living in the United States than would otherwise have been achieved. Americans deserve better than this financial mess.


On every level, the Iraq war is hurting America
Bush's folly in Iraq is taxing US armed forces, the economy, and democracy.
By Pat M. Holt
The Christian Science Monitor
October 05, 2006
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1005/p09s02-coop.html

[…]
The latest National Intelligence Estimate of the war on terror reports that "anti-US sentiment ... is on the rise and fueling other radical ideologies." One reason is the lack of success in stabilizing and pacifying Iraq. The implication is that the US is losing the war in Iraq.

In one sense, the Army is plainly losing the war. It is shorter of manpower and equipment now than when it invaded Iraq in 2003. The 3rd Infantry Division, which led the invasion of Baghdad and which has already served two tours in Iraq, has been alerted to prepare for a third tour. (It has also been told to prepare to go to the Korean peninsula if another conflict breaks out there.) But there is no equipment with which to train. What was not destroyed or worn out in Iraq was left there for the replacements.
[…]