WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told The Associated Press on Thursday that Iraq is “worth the investment” in American lives and dollars and said the U.S. can still win a conflict that has been more difficult than she expected.
In an interview at the State Department, the nation’s highest-ranking black government official also said the United States is ready to elect a black president.
Rice was asked whether an additional $100 billion the Pentagon wants for the Iraq and Afghan wars might amount to throwing good money after bad in Iraq. President Bush and Congress have already provided more than $500 billion for the two conflicts and worldwide efforts against terrorism, including more than $350 billion for Iraq.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of money,” Rice said. “Along the way there have been plenty of markers that show that this is a country that is worth the investment, because once it emerges as a country that is a stabilizing factor you will have a very different kind of Middle East.”
“I know from the point of view of not just the monetary cost but the sacrifice of American lives a lot has been sacrificed for Iraq, a lot has been invested in Iraq,” Rice said.
Bush would not ask for continued sacrifice and spending “if he didn’t believe, and in fact I believe as well, that we can in fact succeed,” Rice said.
Rice said the Bush administration should be remembered for far more than the Iraq war. She ticked off foreign policy commitments and accomplishments including increased aid to fight AIDS and malaria in Africa and a peace deal ending two decades of North-South warfare in Sudan.
I have no words for Rice's "investment" of 3000 American lives and $500 billion of American treasure in Iraq. What have we gotten in return for this "investment?" An ethnic civil war that's raging in Iraq? A broken down military, where soldiers are leaving after being forced into multiple tours, or the broken equipment.
What is our return on this "investment?"
I don't know how many times I've said this, but the war in Iraq is a disaster. It is a failure! This war is a bad investment for the United States--generating incalculable losses for the American people. And yet, here we have Condi Rice continuing the fantasy spin, saying the war is "worth the investment," as we continue to sink more American lives and American treasure in this failure. Rice claims that Iraq will become a "stabilizing factor" which will reshape "very different kind of Middle East." Does Condi Rice even read the newspapers? Iraq has not been stabilizing--but rather de-stabilizing into civil war. And yet, the Bush White House continues their ridiculous spin. It has gotten to the point where Rice claims that the Bush administration should be remembered for more than just the Iraq war, citing such minor accomplishments of fighting the AIDS epidemic in Africa, or talking about a peace deal in the Sudan. What Rice fails to realize is that war in Iraq is the defining policy for the Bush administration. With so much invested into this war--3,000 American dead and $500 billion spent--it is impossible to either downplay this foreign policy failure, or even claim that the Bush administration's other "accomplishments," can make up for this disaster.
And yet, the Bush White House continues spinning.
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