The Military

Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle sent a fastball right under the chin of Congress this weekend when he said that the president would veto the multibillion-dollar omnibus spending bill being put together by congressional Democrats.

The deal being put together by the Democrats is pretty amazing: We will drop our opposition to this war (at least for now) if you give us more pork.

This strategy will infuriate their base and energize Republicans. Nussle rightly called it legislative blackmail. Read more...

We wanted you to assess the chances of a significant draw down of American forces in Iraq by the time voters go to the polls next November. We asked: "Will there be fewer than 100,000 US troops in Iraq on Election Day next year?" For a while, voting was fairly close, but in recent days, ballots have come in mostly to the No column. The end result — 67% of you saying there would be 100k or higher, and only 33% expecting big reductions.

I've just put up our latest Quick Poll! question: "Will there be fewer than 100,000 US troops in Iraq on Election Day next year?" Scroll down the page and vote. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is contemplating legislation that would give Republican senators electoral cover to change administration policy while not pulling the rug out from beneath President Bush (See story in The Hill, Thursday, Nov 15).

A report put together by some Democratic staffers of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) said war costs would hit $1.6 trillion by the end of next year, doubling the $804 billion spent or requested by the administration. This includes both the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan.

Democratic leaders unveiled the report as they plotted their latest bid to force Bush's hand on Iraq, warning he would not get any more money for the war this year — unless he agreed to troop withdrawal timetables. Read more...

We often hear about the number of American casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. As of yesterday, 454 killed in Afghanistan; 3,849 killed in Iraq — and a total of 30,205 young Americans severely wounded. That cost in young American lives is unacceptable.

But there’s another cost, equally unacceptable: the actual cost in dollars and lost productivity — which is a lot higher than the Bush administration would have us believe. In fact, a new congressional study, released yesterday, concludes that the total cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is almost double what the White House claims. Read more...

Who are we kidding? While a lot of Americans are understandably nervous that the recent saber-rattling at Iran is really the run-up to another attack, we probably don't need to worry.

Not that the macho men in the White House and blustering around it don't want to continue their warring ways. It's just that they can't. They don't have many real sabers left to rattle.

Left in the dust of this Bush administration is a depleted U.S. military. It's already stretched nearly to the breaking point. Where are the warmongers going to get their warriors? In a word, they can't, not without a draft. If they impose that, then they'll have another war on their hands with rioting young men and women. Read more...

The Hill's pundits Peter Fenn and Frank Donatelli debate what Democrats should do with President Bush's Iraq war supplemental.

Here we go again.

George Bush is up to his old tricks on funding the war. At the last minute, he’s asking for an additional $196 billion in emergency spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He insists that Congress grant the money immediately. If not, he warns, they will be putting the lives of our troops in danger ... When, of course, he’s the one who put their lives in danger by sending them to Iraq in the first place. Read more...

There’s a strong probability that no matter who’s elected to the White House, there will be a draft reinstated and there are strong whispers about it. Before this happens, I think, while we’re still in Israel we’ve found the answer to the fact that many people aren’t volunteering for the U.S. Army because of the Iraq conflict and the way veterans are treated when they return home. Read more...

What is it with the new majority in the House of Representatives and their failure to grasp the importance of diplomacy and national security issues? First we have Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) cozying up with leaders in Syria after being asked not to travel to the country. Then we had the latest embarrassment earlier in the week in which the Speaker sought to bring a measure to the floor to discuss genocide in a country that no longer exists (the Ottoman Empire) 90 years ago. Read more...