Wednesday, August 17, 2005

I've been browsing the articles on the website of the Cato Institute, often quoted on Fox news. Sometimes they attack Bush for not being libertarian enough, but this article is way above most of what I have seen there. Even if Bush was right to invade Iraq, he 'misunderestimated' the costs. Yes we have his explanations - but would they satisfy the standards he sets for others?

President Bush would have to hope for a similarly high burden of proof if his own decisions were tested under the Sarbanes-Oxley standards. Did the president deceive Company USA's investors (a.k.a. the American public) when he led the country to war in early 2003? Even if the deception was unintentional, CEO Bush would be required to account for the disparities between the predicted and actual costs of the Iraqi "investment."

Personally I'm more concerned about the cost in blood, but surely little stretching is required to say a Commander in Chief CEO must be as forthcoming about expenditures of blood as of money.

Keep in mind this isn't necessarily an anti-war sentiment. If he had told the country to expect to make sacrifices, he might have had more trouble getting us to go to war, and getting reelected, but he would be having less trouble following through now.

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