Iraq Contracts

There is a silver lining report in every dark cloud – even electing a Democratic Congress. Federal investigators report $10 billion – and probably a lot more – has been squandered in Iraq on contractor overcharges, unsupported expenses and payments for work never done. The bottom line, they say, is no accountability and no oversight. Who’s in charge of that? Well, the Departments of State and Defense, which the Republican Congress was – shall we say – less than enthusiastic to investigate. (After all what Republican Congressman worth his salt wants to grill Condoleezza Rice?) The Democrats have no such qualms. They know a good scandal when they see one. They’re already holding hearings.

Our Allies

The new crisis in the war in Afghanistan is peculiar: Our allies, the Pakistani’s, have granted the Taliban and Al-Qaeda a safe-haven in their mountains and told our troops to keep out. The Taliban is flourishing and President Bush, anticipating a spring offensive, has asked our NATO allies to send help. Our old friends the French and Germans said they’d be glad to lend a hand as long as their soldiers were stationed in quiet provinces out of harms way – leaving the Americans to do the fighting. As Winston Churchill said of the French in another war, ‘The only thing worse than fighting a war with allies is fighting one without them.’

Freedom of Speech

Speaking of the Germans, they just dealt with a 67 year old “Holocaust denier” by throwing him in prison for five years (N&O; 2-16-07). Now, granted, anyone who denies the holocaust is a nut. But here in the United States we laugh at our nuts. In Germany they throw them in jail.

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