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The following news and editorial pieces have been selected by Boston
Mobilization interns and staff because some articles deserve extra
attention. The opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily
those of Boston Mobilization or its members.
March
of Folly by Paul Krugman (Editorial)
From the New York Times, 7/17/06
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Then & Wow
In Paul Krugman's recent op-ed in the New
York Times, he writes, "Since those who fail to learn
from history are doomed to repeat it — and since the
cast of characters making pronouncements on the crisis in
the Middle East is very much the same as it was three or four
years ago — it seems like a good idea to travel down
memory lane." Here are just a few of the quotes he uses
to remind us that we must learn from our mistakes so we don't
continue to make them.
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Then |
Now |
| Cost of Oil |
"The greatest thing to come out of [invading Iraq] for
the world economy ... would be $20 a barrel for oil." Rupert
Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation (which owns Fox News), February
2003 |
"Oil Touches Record $78 on Mideast Conflict." Headline
on www.foxnews.com, July 14, 2006 |
| Cost of the War |
"The administration's top budget official estimated today
that the cost of a war with Iraq could be in the range of $50
billion to $60 billion," saying that "earlier estimates
of $100 billion to $200 billion in Iraq war costs by Lawrence
B. Lindsey, Mr. Bush's former chief economic adviser, were too
high." The New York Times, Dec. 31, 2002 |
"According to C.B.O.'s estimates, from the time U.S. forces
invaded Iraq in March 2003, $290 billion has been allocated for
activities in Iraq. ... Additional costs over the 2007-2016 period
would total an estimated $202 billion under the first [optimistic]
scenario, and $406 billion under the second one." Congressional
Budget Office, July 13, 2006 |
| Loss of Civilians |
"Peacekeeping requirements in Iraq might be much lower
than historical experience in the Balkans suggests. There's been
none of the record in Iraq of ethnic militias fighting one another
that produced so much bloodshed and permanent scars in Bosnia."
Paul Wolfowitz, deputy secretary of defense and now president
of the World Bank, Feb. 27, 2003 |
"West Baghdad is no stranger to bombings and killings,
but in the past few days all restraint has vanished in an orgy
of 'ethnic cleansing.' Shia gunmen are seeking to drive out the
once-dominant Sunni minority and the Sunnis are forming neighborhood
posses to retaliate. Mosques are being attacked. Scores of innocent
civilians have been killed, their bodies left lying in the streets."
The Times of London, July 14, 2006
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