Nation will bear the high cost of staying the course

Nation will bear the high cost of staying the course
EDITOR:
Now that the war in Iraq is nearing three years old, I think it is a good time to look back and see just where we have been. I don't think anyone has a clue to where we are going.
Before the war we were repeatedly told that Iraq had terrible weapons of mass destruction and would soon have the means to deliver them and that we might expect to see a mushroom cloud over New York City. Our only choice was to take military action against Saddam quickly. When the United Nations and most of "old Europe" failed to agree, the Bush people said that the United Nations views were of no consequence and that we would go it alone.We were also told that the revenue from the oil in Iraq would pay for reconstruction costs and possibly some of the military costs Also that the Iraqi people would welcome us with open arms after Saddam was deposed. Further that democracy would then spread all over the Mideast.
In May 2003, President Bush appeared on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln beneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner and declared an end to major combat. A short time later, when the Iraqis challenged our forces, President Bush said, "bring it on."
What has happened since? No weapons of mass destruction have been found. Many of our former friends in the world have turned against us. Instead of reducing the number of terrorists, most think we have created a breeding ground for them and increased their number.
We have suffered 2,304 of our people dead and another 16,653 wounded, many of whom will never live a normal life again. This past December President Bush himself said that the Iraqi civilian death toll was 30,000, but that was the price they had to pay for us liberating them from Saddam and introducing them to democracy.
Now Iraq is teetering on the edge of a civil war and no one knows what the result would be if that happened.
So far the war in Iraq has cost $246 billion dollars and Afghanistan is costing $800 million a month. The military budget, which does not include the Iraq and Afghanistan war costs, for fiscal year 2007 is $462.7 billion. In fiscal year 2000, it was $288.8 billion.
As of March 6, 2006 the national debt was $8,27 trillion. Interest for Fiscal Year 2006 was $173 billion.
How does President Bush propose to deal with this? As far as the war goes, he says we will stay the course, whatever the cost in dollars or lives.
As far as the debt goes, his solution is more tax cuts, raise the debt limit and reduce social spending, while increasing military spending.
I do not know where all this will end but it does seem that if we "stay the course," that we, as well as our children and grandchildren, will have a very heavy load to carry.
WINSTON SWAN
Hubbard
Time for Jim Traficant to make like a boomerang
EDITOR:
As one of Jim Traficant's supporters, I believe the good he did for our community far outweighs anything bad.
I will always find it strange that not one person from the district he represented was selected to serve on his jury. It appears to me those prosecuting him could not take the chance of having one of his supporters as a jurist that could cause the trial to end in a hung jury.
I believe very strongly in justice, but I feel the sentence given him was unfair and excessive. To my knowledge Jim Traficant never killed anyone, nor did he rob a bank, and I'm 100 percent certain that he never started a war.
Justice should be administered fairly, and I feel Jim Traficant served enough time and should be released from prison.
In a conversation about Jim, I believe one man said it best. "You could love him, or hate him, but he's like a human boomerang, he will keep coming back. He's temporarily out of sight but not forgotten." I strongly agree.
MARY LOU JURINA
Youngstown