Curry reminded the President that his wife had once said, "No one
suffers more than their president. I hope they know the burden of worry
that's on his shoulders every single day for our troops." The
conversation continued thusly:
"Bush: And as people are
now beginning to see, Iraq is changing, democracy is beginning to
tak[e] hold. And I'm convinced 50 years from now people look back and
say thank God there was those who were willing to sacrifice.
"Curry:
But you're saying you're going to have to carry that burden... Some
Americans believe that they feel they're carrying the burden because of
this economy.
"Bush: Yeah, well --
"Curry: They say -- they say they're suffering because of this.
"Bush: I don't agree with that.
"Curry: You don't agree with that? Has nothing do with the economy, the war? The spending on the war?
"Bush: I don't think so. I think actually, the spending on the war might help with jobs.
"Curry: Oh, yeah?
"Bush:
Yeah, because we're buying equipment, and people are working. I think
this economy is down because we built too many houses."
In
other words, in honor of the soon-to-arrive fifth anniversary of his
war without end, the President has offered a formula for economic
success in bad times that might be summed up this way: less houses,
more bases, more weaponry, more war. This, of course, comes from the
man who, between 2001 and today, presided over an official Pentagon
budget that leapt by more than 60% from $316 billion to $507 billion,
and by more than 30% since Iraq was invaded. Looked at another way,
between 2001 and the latest emergency supplemental request to pay for
his wars (first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq), supplemental funding
for war-fighting has jumped from $17 billion to $189 billion, an
increase of 1,011%. At the same time, almost miraculously, the U.S.
armed forces have been driven to the edge of the military equivalent of
default.
It's clear that as a "war president" our
Commander-in-Chef has really whipped up a storm in the White House
kitchen between the moment he launched his invasion on March 19, 2003
and the present. Think of it as a tale of two recipes:
George Bush's Commander-in-Chef Mission Accomplished Baghdad Victory Stew
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons, Iraqi extra virgin oil [no olives]
A "sea" of crude oil (and the necessary no-bid contracts to protect it)
Misinformation and disinformation (including Iraqi mushroom [clouds] and 9/11 Saddam [pork] links)
Shock 'n awe-tichoke cruise missiles and B-1 bombers (in quantity)
130,000
American troops (Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki suggested that,
for this victory stew, "several hundred thousand" American troops were
needed, but he was hustled out of the kitchen.)
1 head of Saddam Hussein
Spices:
1 bunch, coalition of the dilling, finely chopped
1 cup, Congressional authorization for war
2 sprigs of Iraqi exiles
Embedded reporters (to taste)
Dough
for accompanying Iraqi flatbread, $50-60 million worth (Top Bush
economic advisor Larry Lindsey suggested that $200 billion might be a
more reasonable figure, but he, too, was promptly ousted from the
kitchen.)
Flower petals (edible and in season)
To prepare:
In a heavy casserole, heat extra virgin Iraqi oil over a medium flame.
Add disinformation (mushrooms and links) and sauté until brown; repeat process. (You cannot repeat too many times.)
Add sprigs of Iraqi exiles.
Pour in cup of Congressional authorization for war. Stir vigorously as this tends to evaporate.
Pour
in sea of crude oil. Raise heat to high. Quickly add shock 'n
awe-tichoke cruise missiles and B-1 bombers. Cover tightly and bring to
a boil. (If this "decapitation" cooking process works and you suddenly
find yourself with the head of Saddam Hussein, add it as well.)
Stir
in 130,000 American troops. Grind in embedded reporters (to taste). Add
chopped coalition of the dilling. Bring back to a boil.
Cover, lower the heat, and simmer, stirring periodically, for three weeks.
Remove
to a platter. Serve piping hot, otherwise "stuff happens." If possible,
hire Shiite waiters to strew edible flower petals atop the victory stew
at the table for dramatic effect.
In fact, we know who sat
down to that "table" in the years after 2003 to eat more than their
fill. It was, of course, a cast of characters from the war economy.
The Feasters (a non-inclusive list):
Kellogg,
Brown & Root (KBR): Until April 2007 a subsidiary of Halliburton,
KBR garnered $20.1 billion in Iraq contracts from the Bush
administration. The company reported a $2.3 billion profit in 2006.
According to a Center for Public Integrity investigation, KBR was the
single biggest corporate winner from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In terms of the dollar value of its Iraq contracts, it received nine
times as much as the second largest Iraq contractor, DynCorp.
Halliburton:
In 2002, Halliburton was number 37 on the Pentagon's list of top 100
contractors with $500 million in contracts. By 2006, it was number six,
with $6.1 billion in contracts, an increase of more than 1,000%.
Brookings
Institution Senior Fellow Peter W. Singer puts this in context, noting
in a September 2007 policy paper that "the amount paid to
Halliburton-KBR for just that period is roughly three times what the
U.S. government paid to fight the entire 1991 Persian Gulf War. When
putting other wars into current dollar amounts, the U.S. government
paid Halliburton about $7 billion more than it cost the United States
to fight the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American
War, and the Spanish American War combined."
Bechtel: In all,
Bechtel was granted about $3 billion in contracts for work in Iraq
between 2003 and 2007. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, some
of its projects included: $1.075 billion for repairs to power stations
and the electrical grid; $210 million for water and sanitation
projects; $109 million for surface transportation repairs, including
roads and railways; and $90 million for repairing or replacing
buildings. The company ran afoul of investigators for not finishing
many of the jobs it started. Stuart Bowen, the U.S. special inspector
general for Iraq reconstruction, issued a report in 2006 that
repeatedly cited Bechtel mismanagement, including for the construction
of the Basra Children's Hospital, a project that was supposed to be
completed by December 2005 at a cost of $50 million. By July 2007,
costs had soared to between $90 million and $131 million. The company
was dropped from the project which to this day remains uncompleted.
Blackwater:
According to investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill, Blackwater, the
notorious private security company, has won about $1 billion in State
Department contracts.
Lockheed Martin: This company is the
largest recipient of Pentagon contracts. It received $26.6 billion in
contracts from the Pentagon in 2006, a 36% increase over 2005. Since
2003, when the war against Iraq began, the company has seen its
Pentagon contracts jump 20% or nearly $5 billion. Lockheed Martin's
slogan, "we never forget who we're working for," clearly refers to the
Pentagon, the company's best customer by a long shot. According to the
Orlando Business Journal, "Lockheed Martin Corp. reported profits up
9.6 percent last quarter… The Bethesda-based defense contractor posted
fourth-quarter [2007] net income of $799 million, or $1.89 per share,
compared with $729 million, or $1.68 per share in the same quarter a
year ago… Sales rose in every category of Lockheed's business except
its aeronautics division."
Boeing: In 2003, the number two
recipient of Pentagon contracts received $17.3 billion worth of them.
By 2006, the Pentagon had upped that figure to $20.3 billion. According
to the Chicago Tribune, "Boeing's net income rose a
better-than-expected 4 percent, to $1.03 billion, or $1.36 per share"
in the fourth quarter of 2007. The paper went on to note that the
company "expects to build on its strong results from 2007, when its net
income jumped 84 percent…to $4.07 billion… on sales of $66.39 billion."
Northrop Grumman: The third largest recipient of Pentagon
contracts recorded a net profit of $454 million for the last quarter of
2007, according to Reuters. In 2003, the company took in $11.1 billion
in Pentagon contracts. Three years later, that figure had jumped nearly
50% to $16.6 billion.
General Dynamics: According to analysts,
because the work of General Dynamics is concentrated on Army systems,
it has reaped the most direct benefits of all the large weapons makers
from the Iraq war. "The combat-systems business... it's a cash cow for
them, it's a solid business," said Eric Hugel, an industry analyst for
Stephens Inc. The New York Times reported that fourth-quarter 2007
earnings for General Dynamics were up 42%. "For all of 2007, General
Dynamics had net earnings of $2.1 billion," up 11% from $1.86 billion
in 2006.
The Oil Majors: The oil majors have not actually
entered Iraq (yet) in any significant way, but they have profited
enormously from the havoc the Iraq War has unleashed in the Middle East
as well as from the fact that, in these years, less Iraqi oil has been
heading to market than in the worst years of the Saddam Hussein era.
The Washington Post reported, for instance, that Exxon Mobil set new
records for quarterly and annual corporate profits in 2007, breaking
its own 2006 record by making $40.6 billion. Chevron was next in line
with an almost 30% increase in profits from 2006 to 2007. The Post went
on to note that profits from the five biggest international oil
companies have tripled since 2002.
Parsons: This
Pasadena-based engineering and construction company has been awarded
more than $5 billion in contracts to rebuild the country's health care
and security facilities as well as its water and sewage systems. With
Worley Group of Australia, Parsons has also received $800 million in
contracts to restore Iraq's northern oil infrastructure. In negotiating
its Iraq reconstruction contracts, Parsons built in an additional bonus
of up to 12% for good performance. Fortunately for taxpayers, good
performance has been in short supply. Awarded a $75 million contract to
build a police academy, Parsons typically cut corners. In the
"completed" project, the bathrooms leaked waste water into student
barracks to such an extent that one room was dubbed "the rainforest."
The Pentagon terminated one contract when an audit found that, after
two years' work, only six of the 142 health clinics Parsons had signed
on to build were completed.
All in all, the Commander-in-Chef
whipped up quite a meal back in 2003. As late as March 2006, he was
still trying to serve a version of it at a "strategy for victory" event
(though he was no longer accompanying it with a desert of Cakewalk Ice
Cream Cake).
Finally, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of
the invasion, the war economy seems to have had its fill. Now, the rest
of us are being seated at a table with an oil-stained tablecloth,
uncleared places, dirty dishes, used silverware, and bones strewn
everywhere. Of course, it's for a multi-trillion dollar meal and, for
us, it's a pay-as-you-go affair. (Bring your home mortgage papers with
you.) Oh, and when you get your bill, note that the tip, a 150%
gratuity, is already included. (Another thing, skip the ice water in
those dirty glasses. Cholera is passing around Baghdad right now.) This
time, however, the President is offering us a new dish, a special
anniversary recipe:
George W. Bush's Commander-in-Chef Losing Mulligatawny Soup
Ingredients:
At least 140,000 American troops
Tens of thousands of private security contractors
Nearly 4,000 dead Americans
Tens of thousands of wounded Americans
From several hundred thousand to a million or more dead Iraqis
4.5 million Iraqi refugees or internally displaced persons
4 million hungry Iraqis
Assorted Shiite militias and death squads
Assorted Kurdish militias
80,000 U.S.-armed Sunni "concerned citizens" (militias)
At least 24,000 Iraqi prisoners in American jails
Thousands of Sunni insurgents.
Hundreds (or thousands) of Al-Qaeda-in-Mesopotamia militants
Hundreds of foreign jihadis and suicide bombers.
Up to 10,000 Turkish troops.
Numerous Iranian agents
Crude oil (where available)
Water (polluted)
Hundreds of IEDs (roadside bombs)
361 U.S. Army unmanned drones operating in Iraqi airspace
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of explosives released by U.S. Air Force planes
Dough for accompanying Iraqi flatbread, now possibly $3 trillion -- and rising.
To prepare:
Heat
whatever crude oil is available in the largest kettle you can find
until smoking. Dump in all ingredients in whatever quantities in any
order you choose. (Warning: popping oil, shield eyes.) Add polluted
water. Bring to a roiling boil at highest heat. Cook for as much -- or
as little -- time as you want. Pour the soup, boiling hot, across the
table (no need for bowls) and dig in.
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