When the war in Iraq started 5 years ago, Late Night comedian Jay Leno quipped that government officials feared oil prices could skyrocket during the invasion. The good news, he said, was that once Baghdad had fallen, gas would "be free!"
Wrong.
A CNN story out this morning says that the recent spike in fuel prices has provided Baghdad with a $6.4 million windfall. It seems that we American consumers of gasoline, and providers of security in Iraq, are paying three times – at the pump, as taxpayers and more tragically with our soldiers' lives.
I have always tried to frame this ongoing war in a broad context and struggled to think that it had some redeeming value. However, that approach is crumbling even for the staunchest conservative idealist. The U.S. has spent $600 billion on the war over the last five years. That's in cash alone. We've given the lives of more than 4,000 of our bravest men and women, on which a monetary value cannot be placed. The costs are astronomical.
With crude oil topping out at $112 a barrel yesterday, up $35 since the 2003 invasion, it's becoming ever plainer that we're getting hosed from top to bottom.
Note: I'll have a little more later today about some of our local soldiers who have served their country admirably during the war.
