The cost of being alone

The Bush administration has requested another 70 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, is this money is necessary and vital to victory, it must be spent. But that doesn't obscure the fact that we are spending more money than the Bush told us we would have to in order to win. All perhaps preventable by an actual post war plan.

I think Kerry takes the right attitude, not criticizing the spending, but rather the environment that has created the need for it:

Despite devastating evidence that his administration’s failure here has put our troops and our citizens are in greater danger, George Bush has not offered a single word of explanation. His silence confirms what I have been saying for months: President Bush rushed to war without a plan to win the peace. He didn’t have enough troops on the ground to get the job done. He didn’t have enough allies to get the job done. He failed to secure Iraq and keep it from becoming what it is today – a haven for terrorists.

And now this morning, we learned that the president wants an additional $70 billion early next year for Iraq and Afghanistan – bringing the total cost to nearly $225 billion. This is the incredible price of going it almost alone in Iraq.

Mr. President, what else are you being silent about? What else are you keeping from the American people? How much more will the American people have to pay?

The American people deserve a commander in chief who will tell the truth in good times and bad. This president has failed that fundamental test.

When the President is faced with the consequences of his own wrong decisions, he doesn’t confront them, he tries to hide them.

The truth is, President Bush has never leveled with the American people about why we went to war… how the war is going… or what he is doing to put Iraq on track.

Closing well, John Kerry.