Pentagon Pressed for Iraq War's Costs

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&ncid=703&e=1&u=/ap/20040310/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/cost_of_war

WASHINGTON - Pressed to estimate the cost of future operations in Iraq (news - web sites), the Pentagon (news - web sites) has repeatedly said it is just too hard to do.


Now the ranks of disbelievers are growing — in Congress and among private defense analysts. Some say the Bush administration's refusal to estimate costs could erode American support for the Iraq campaign, as well as the credibility of the White House and lawmakers.


"It is crucial that we have every bit of information so we can level with the taxpayer," Democratic Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin recently told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. "We don't have that information now."


"The White House plays hide and seek with the costs of the war," said Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.

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[teryang]

1. Following the Constitution is too hard!

The dictator, empowered by the patriot act and Iraq war resolution, decides what the budget is.

Congress surrendered its powers under the Constitution and the sovereignty of our people when it passed the Iraq war resolution, the homeland security act and the patriot act. Congress' approval is no longer required to authorize spending. By the power invested in the unelected leader, the executive appointees will decide what to spend, where to spend it, and whether to even bother telling anyone what they are doing.

Kevin Phillips, promoting his new book about the dangerous bush dynasty, noted the bushista affinity for Machiavellian politics. Machiavelli had great admiration for the institution of wartime dictators of Rome as a political model and wrote of its virtue and instructive value to unscrupulous leaders at great length.