Progress Report: The Toll of War

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> Wed, 08 Sep 2004 08:30:48 -0700

> Progress Report: The Toll of War

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DON'T MISS

NATIONAL SECURITY: Safety Second

POLITICS: WP reports Bush likely will skip the

presidential debate that has a town meeting-style

format.

 

LABOR: Write your representative today to tell him or

her to vote for the amendment restoring overtime

rights to more than 6 million American workers.

 

GUARD: More questions about whether Bush fulfilled his

obligations to the National Guard.

 

 

DAILY GRILL

" I did my duty [in the National Guard]#8230;I showed

up in Alabama " during the summer of 1972.

 

- President Bush, 2/8/04

 

VERSUS

 

" Bush fell well short of meeting his military

obligation [in the National Guard]#8230;Bush's service

records do not show him logging any service in Alabama

until October of that year [and] no one has come

forward with any credible recollection of having

witnessed Bush performing guard service in Alabama or

after he returned to Houston in 1973. "

 

- Boston Globe, 9/8/04

 

 

DAILY OUTRAGE

The Republican running for Senate in Illinois, Alan

Keyes, said that " Christ would not vote for [the

Democratic candidate] Barack Obama. "

 

 

ARCHIVES

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STUDENTS

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Become a member of our network of campus publications

and student journalists.

 

by David Sirota, Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and

Jonathan Baskin

 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2004

IRAQ 'Not Everything Has Gone As We Would Have Liked

It To'

TERRORISM Vote for Us or Die

POLITICS 'Didn't Meet His Commitments'

MEDICARE Scully Should Pay Up For Medicare, Just Like

Taxpayers

UNDER THE RADAR

 

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IRAQ

'Not Everything Has Gone As We Would Have Liked It To'

 

Brutal fighting over the past week brought a new,

grisly milestone in Iraq, as the number of troops

killed in Iraq passed the 1,000 mark. Also, as an

indication of the intensity of battles in urban areas,

about 1,100 U.S. soldiers and Marines were wounded in

Iraq last month, " by far the highest combat injury

toll for any month since the war began. " So far, over

7,000 soldiers have been wounded in combat. Attacks in

sovereign Iraq have been on the rise: Since the

transfer of power on June 28, U.S. forces have been

attacked an average of 60 times a day, up 20 percent

from the three-month period before the transfer of

power on June 28; more troops have died in the months

after the transfer of power than in the months just

before.#160; Condoleezza Rice admitted yesterday, " Not

everything has gone as we would have liked it to. " And

in a press conference yesterday, Secretary of Defense

Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged that the situation in

Iraq is likely to get worse, not better, in the coming

days. The efforts of American troops, the Wall Street

Journal writes, have " been made all the harder by the

hesitancy of their civilian leaders in the White

House. " (Americans can remember our fallen soldiers

with a new, poignant exhibit, " Eyes Wide Open. " )

 

THE HESITANT LEADER: President Bush's leadership in

Iraq is often hesitant. This has huge ramifications

for the war, as now, according to top Pentagon

officials, insurgents are in control of crucial

sections of central Iraq. According to the New York

Times, the U.S. military has decided to pull out or

stand back from many of these towns, even if that

means the town will fall to rebels. " That certain

Iraqis believe their cities and neighborhoods would be

better off without American soldiers is neither new

nor surprising; that is what the guerrillas'

insurgency, now in its 17th month, is all about. What

is new, however, is that the Americans, in certain

cases, appear to agree or have decided that the cost

to prove otherwise would be too high. " As the WSJ

writes, the hesitance in towns like Fallujah has set a

terrible precedent, as " other Sunni towns like Ramadi

and Samarra now appear to be slipping away from the

control of legitimate authority, and Fallujah

continues to serve as a haven for the terrorists and

bomb-makers targeting American forces and Iraqi

civilians. "

 

ELECTORAL POLITICS: The New York Times reports that

the Bush administration, citing the need to use Iraqi

troops, has decided to delay using force in retaking

areas in Iraq which have been seized by the insurgents

for a couple of months: a two-month hiatus " would also

mean a delay until after the American presidential

election. " Jane's Defense Weekly reports, " a U.S.

officer in Sadr City, a restive Shia area of Baghdad,

speaking on condition of anonymity, said: 'We're

supposed to turn our zones over to the [iraqi

government] by October. They're not ready for that, so

unless it's a coincidence it seems politically driven,

bearing in mind the presidential election in

November#8230;everything we do is driven by political

considerations. We don't have enough forces to stay

here. We move into Sadr City and then we leave and

each time the Mahdi Army comes straight back in. "

 

IRAQI ELECTIONS AT RISK: Another possible casualty of

war: elections in Iraq. UN Secretary-General Kofi

Annan yesterday " warned that violence in Iraq could

make it more difficult to create the conditions for

successful elections in January 2005. Officials say

there is increasing concern that " if significant parts

of the Sunni areas cannot be secured by January, it

may be impossible to hold a nationwide balloting that

would be seen as legitimate. Putting off the

elections, though, would infuriate Iraq's Shiite

majority. "

 

TERRORISM

Vote for Us or Die

 

Speaking in Iowa yesterday, Vice President Cheney took

fear mongering to a new level when he indicated that

the United States risked suffering another terrorist

attack if voters make " the wrong choice " in November.

" It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from

today, on November 2nd, we make the right choice, "

Cheney said, " because if we make the wrong choice then

the danger is that we'll get hit again. We'll be hit

in a way that will be devastating. " In January, 2002,

President Bush assured Americans he had " no ambition

whatsoever to use [national security] as a political

issue. "

 

SCARE TACTICS " IRRESPONSIBLE " : Madeleine Albright,

former Secretary of State, weighed in on Cheney's

comments: " I have heard a lot of outrageous statements

at various times in my president's elections, but I

think this kind of scare tactic by the vice president

of the United States is irresponsible. "

 

POLITICS

'Didn't Meet His Commitments'

 

One day before CBS's much-anticipated segment on

President Bush's record in the National Guard, the

Boston Globe published a major expose that concludes

he " didn't meet the commitments " of service. As the

story points out, " Bush fell well short of meeting his

military obligation " in two separate periods during

his Guard service. The White House has insisted it

released all documents to prove otherwise, but a new

report today proves those denials were false. As the

Associated Press reports, " Months after insisting it

could find no more records of President George W.

Bush's Air National Guard service, the Defense

Department has released more than two dozen pages of

files " #8211; though still none which prove the

president fulfilled his obligations. The documents

also show, " Bush was not with his Texas Guard unit

#8211; the 147th Fighter Interceptor Group #8211; in

1972 when it joined in a '24-hour active alert mission

to safeguard against surprise attack' in the southern

United States. "

 

IN DESPERATION, MCCLELLAN ATTACKS HIS OWN MOTHER'S

BACKER: CBS's 60 Minutes II will interview former

Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, who now admits to helping

Bush get into the Texas National Guard and avoid

combat during Vietnam. In anticipation, White House

Press Secretary Scott McClellan attacked Barnes,

saying " It is not surprising coming from a longtime

partisan Democrat. " Barnes, however, gave his

endorsement to and is a top fundraiser for Republican

Texas State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn #8211;

Scott McClellan's mother.

 

NATIONAL GUARD COLLEAGUE SAYS BUSH WASN'T THERE:

Texans for Truth, a 20,000-member online activist

group, has produced a new 30-second television

advertisement featuring Robert Mintz #8211; one of

many who served in Alabama's 187th Air National Guard

unit when Bush claims to have been there. Mintz

testifies that he has no memory of Bush on the base,

even though he sought him out. Watch the ad.

 

MEDICARE

Scully Should Pay Up For Medicare, Just Like Taxpayers

 

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) yesterday

charged former Bush administration Medicare official

Thomas Scully broke the law and should repay his

government salary after ordering his actuary to

withhold high estimates of the president's

prescription drug plan from Congress last year. The

GAO said, " Federal law prohibits a federal agency from

paying the salary of an official who prevents another

federal employee from communicating with Congress. "

Since the law probably would not have passed if

Congress had known of the higher estimates, the GAO's

ruling means the Bush administration achieved passage

of landmark domestic legislation by unlawfully

withholding information. (Act now to try to undo the

harm done to Medicare: Send a letter to your member of

Congress calling to bring the Medicare legislation

before the House for debate and a fair vote.)

 

THE TRUE STORY: Though previous investigations have

stopped short of charging Scully with criminal

behavior, the facts of the case have been known for

some time. An internal investigation by the Department

of Health and Human Services (HHS) in July confirmed

that Scully threatened to fire Richard Foster, his

chief Medicare actuary, if Foster told Congress that

drug benefits would cost much more than the White

House acknowledged. At the time, the Bush

administration was struggling to convince Senators

from both parties the bill was worth its supposed $395

billion price tag, even though it included massive

benefits for health care providers and private

insurers, failed to allow Medicare to negotiate drug

prices and prohibited the importation of low-cost

drugs from Canada. Foster's numbers indicated the law

would cost nearly $150 billion more than lawmakers had

been told by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

His estimate was above President Bush's self-imposed

" ceiling, " and likely would have " led to several

conservative Republicans voting against the bill. " The

measure passed narrowly, with lawmakers knowing of no

alternative to the CBO's estimate.

 

FOSTER SPEAKS OUT: In a public statement, Foster

revealed he had been ordered to withhold the data by

Scully, for what he considered " inappropriate "

political reasons. He said Scully's decision to

" restrict the practice of our responding directly to

Congressional requests " was part of a " pattern of

withholding information " which surrounded the bill.

Ironically, in June, 2003 Scully had defended the cost

estimates of his actuaries on some elements of the new

legislation even though they conflicted with CBO

numbers. He told the Senate Financial Services

Committee, " The difference is that our actuaries have

looked extensively #8211; obviously I'm biased towards

my actuaries. "

 

THE PRICE TAG FLIP-FLOP: Less than two months after it

was signed, the Bush administration officially changed

its estimate to confirm closely with Foster's own

prediction, admitting the new law " would cost at least

$530 billion over 10 years, or one-third more than the

price tag used when Congress passed the legislation. "

At the time, several conservatives admitted they would

not have voted for the bill if they'd known the true

cost. Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) told USA Today, " It's

safe to say that the votes would not have been there

with a higher number. It was a bitter enough pill for

many to swallow at $400 billion. At $550 billion, it

would have been a bridge too far. "

 

CAUTION: REVOLVING DOOR: Like many Bush administration

officials, Scully was appointed to his position after

lobbying for the interests he was then asked to

regulate. He represented the nation's for-profit

hospitals as a lobbyist before being joining the

administration in June 2001. Eight months after Scully

landed the job, the agency " moved to settle final

claims involving HCA Inc., a hospital chain that was

the biggest member of Scully's former employer, the

Federation of American Hospitals. " Scully said he'd

stay out of the case, but an attorney who represented

the whistleblowers said the final settlement

represented " a total sellout by Scully, who totally

negotiated it behind Justice's back. "

 

THE POSTGAME SHOW: Scully left the Bush administration

in December 2003, just after the president signed the

Medicare bill, to work for two firms representing drug

manufacturers and Medicare providers who benefited

from the law. As a study by Common Cause points out,

" These jobs did not just drop into his lap in

December. He had apparently been negotiating with

healthcare-related firms at the same time he was

helping the Administration push the controversial

prescription drug legislation through Congress, which

directly affected those industries. " Remarkably,

Scully's conflict of interest was sanctioned by the

Bush administration, which granted Scully an ethics

waiver " so that he could negotiate with potential

employers while he helped write the Medicare law. "

Continuing its permissive stance towards corruption,

HHS spokesman William Pierce said the department does

" not see the need to act " on the GAO's latest

recommendation.

 

Under the Radar

 

BUDGET #8211; ANOTHER RECORD DEFICIT: According to the

non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, " this year's

federal budget deficit will reach a record $422

billion, and the government is now expected to

accumulate $2.3 trillion in new debt over the next 10

years. " Next year's projected deficit " is $46 billion

more than last year's record shortfall. " CBO Director

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former economist for the Bush

White House, made clear, " This is a fiscal situation

in which we cannot rely on economic growth to cause

deficits to disappear. " Rather, " The budgetary outlook

will be dictated by policy choices. " If President Bush

is successful in passing his tax cuts, " the expected

total 10-year deficit would climb from $2.3 trillion

to $3.6 trillion. " The forecast suggests " President

George W. Bush is on track to miss his pledge to halve

the ballooning U.S. budget deficit within five years. "

 

LABOR #8211; TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW: The American

Progress Action Fund is urging Americans to write

their representatives in the U.S. House asking them to

support an upcoming amendment that would restore

overtime rights to more than 6 million workers. The

amendment, sponsored by Rep. David Obey (D-WI) would

force the Bush Labor Department to rescind its harmful

overtime changes. A recent report by three of the

highest-ranking career DOL officials in the Reagan,

Bush, and Clinton administrations found that, with one

exception, all of the Bush changes would strip workers

of their rights. Go to the special American Progress

Action Fund website to fill out a letter to your

representative today.

 

GUANTANAMO #8211; ANOTHER CASE COLLAPSES: USA Today

reports, " Military prosecutors who accused an Air

Force translator at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, of taking

part in a spy ring that tried to pass more than 200

secret documents to U.S. enemies now say that only one

of the documents was secret. " The change comes six

months after the collapse of a case against the Muslim

chaplain James Yee #8211; whom the government

originally threatened to execute #8211; in the same

probe. Now, there are questions " about whether there

ever was a spy ring at Guantanamo. " #160;#160;

 

TERRORISM #8211; LESS THAN 15 MINUTES FOR FEAR FACTOR:

Journalist Josh Marshall points out how quick the Bush

administration was in trying to squelch media coverage

of the fact that 1,000 Americans have now been killed

in Iraq. At 4:27 eastern time, AP put a story on its

wire with the headline, " U.S. death toll in Iraq

passes 1,000 mark. " Just 13 minutes later, a new AP

headline read " Ridge: Terrorists hope to disrupt

election " after a press conference by the Homeland

Security secretary. Ridge offered no new evidence, and

simply reiterated what the administration has been

saying for months, with no apparent new news angle.

 

HALLIBURTON #8211; SCHEMING TO JACK UP PROFIT MARGINS:

After multiple abuses and accounting irregularities,

the government is finally taking steps to end

Halliburton's massive no-bid contract to provide

logistical support in Iraq. Halliburton tried to spin

the move to investors as another way to increase

profits. David J. Lesar, the chief executive of

Halliburton, said at a conference in New York, " If we

do choose to rebid, we're going to jack the margins up

significantly. "