Americans Turn Skeptic
Five years ago, immediately after 9-11, American support for how the Bush Administration was responding to terrorism was nothing short of extraordinary. Today, support has plummeted, and more than a third of Americans believe their government was complicit in the events of that day.
According to an ABC news poll, in October 2001, 92% of us approved "of the way Bush is handling the U.S. campaign against terrorism." Today, that number has dropped to 53%. The numbers mirror those in a CBS and a Gallup poll.
In October 2001, 71% of us believed "the United States is doing all it reasonably can do to try to prevent further terrorist attacks." Today? Only 38%. And one-in-three of us believe we are less safe from a terrorist attack than we were five years ago. (ME, +- 3%)
According to a May Zogby survey, 42% of us believe the government concealed evidence contradicting official accounts of the events of that day, and 45% believe there should be another investigation.
And according to an August Scripps Howard-Ohio University survey, 36% of us believe it is "very or somewhat likely that federal officials either participated in or allowed the attacks to happen to justify war in the Middle East." More
According to an ABC news poll, in October 2001, 92% of us approved "of the way Bush is handling the U.S. campaign against terrorism." Today, that number has dropped to 53%. The numbers mirror those in a CBS and a Gallup poll.
In October 2001, 71% of us believed "the United States is doing all it reasonably can do to try to prevent further terrorist attacks." Today? Only 38%. And one-in-three of us believe we are less safe from a terrorist attack than we were five years ago. (ME, +- 3%)
According to a May Zogby survey, 42% of us believe the government concealed evidence contradicting official accounts of the events of that day, and 45% believe there should be another investigation.
And according to an August Scripps Howard-Ohio University survey, 36% of us believe it is "very or somewhat likely that federal officials either participated in or allowed the attacks to happen to justify war in the Middle East." More
Defense Spending Today
In 2005, US corporate profits after taxes (as well as inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments) were $931.4 billion, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The official defense budget this year is more than $500 billion and may be as much as $900 billion, based on analysis of 2002 spending. Another conservative guess is that it's at least $750 billion.
A large part of this cost is the run-up in defense spending since 2001. Even though Iraq was not involved in the attacks on the US five years ago, an enormous amount of that unaditable expense is tied to our presence in Iraq. (Note, too, that much of the Iraq expense is unaditable and/or full of abuses, according to the GAO.)
Experts project the cost of the Iraqi war at "$750 billion to $1.2 trillion in Iraq, assuming that the US begins to withdraw troops in 2006 and maintains a diminishing presence in Iraq for the next five years."
Earlier this year, the Congressional Budget Office told the Senate the current defense spending exceeds the Cold War average (deflated dollars). Not only that, it's more than half of global defense spending.
More
The official defense budget this year is more than $500 billion and may be as much as $900 billion, based on analysis of 2002 spending. Another conservative guess is that it's at least $750 billion.
A large part of this cost is the run-up in defense spending since 2001. Even though Iraq was not involved in the attacks on the US five years ago, an enormous amount of that unaditable expense is tied to our presence in Iraq. (Note, too, that much of the Iraq expense is unaditable and/or full of abuses, according to the GAO.)
Experts project the cost of the Iraqi war at "$750 billion to $1.2 trillion in Iraq, assuming that the US begins to withdraw troops in 2006 and maintains a diminishing presence in Iraq for the next five years."
Earlier this year, the Congressional Budget Office told the Senate the current defense spending exceeds the Cold War average (deflated dollars). Not only that, it's more than half of global defense spending.
More
Where it Stands
But There Is No Al Qaeda Link In Pre-War Iraq
A newly-declassified (but redacted) 400-page Senate Intelligence Committee analysis of pre-war Iraq reports no evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. It concludes that Hussein "distrusted" al Qaeda and "viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime."
It includes a CIA determination that prior to March 2003, Saddam Hussein ''did not have a relationship, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward [Abu Musab al Zarqawi] and his associates.'' Instead, he "attempted, unsuccessfully, to locate and capture al Zarqawi." A US airstrike killed al Zarqawi this summer.
The document is a scathing indictment of the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), the document which presents a unified (some say political) front, reconciling or brushing over difference of opinion among various intelligence agencies. The NIE was used to justify attacking Iraq in March 2003.
Both post-war and pre-war intelligence show "no credible information that Iraq was complicit in or had foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks or any other al Qaeda strikes." Nevertheless, Iraq is the most visible -- and costly -- US action since 9-11. In the name of protecting the US against terrorism, far more money is going to Iraq than to this nation's infrastructure.
More
A newly-declassified (but redacted) 400-page Senate Intelligence Committee analysis of pre-war Iraq reports no evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. It concludes that Hussein "distrusted" al Qaeda and "viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime."
It includes a CIA determination that prior to March 2003, Saddam Hussein ''did not have a relationship, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward [Abu Musab al Zarqawi] and his associates.'' Instead, he "attempted, unsuccessfully, to locate and capture al Zarqawi." A US airstrike killed al Zarqawi this summer.
The document is a scathing indictment of the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), the document which presents a unified (some say political) front, reconciling or brushing over difference of opinion among various intelligence agencies. The NIE was used to justify attacking Iraq in March 2003.
Both post-war and pre-war intelligence show "no credible information that Iraq was complicit in or had foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks or any other al Qaeda strikes." Nevertheless, Iraq is the most visible -- and costly -- US action since 9-11. In the name of protecting the US against terrorism, far more money is going to Iraq than to this nation's infrastructure.
More
