The Katrina exit / Tending to a home tragedy is reason to leave Iraq

[RamboLiberal]

Editorial in Pittsburgh Post Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05252/568146.stm

The stark needs at home revealed by the Katrina flooding disaster can and should serve as a determining reason for winding up the Iraq war now.

What happened on America's Gulf Coast last week and the weakness of government's response to it can serve as a very reasonable basis for ending America's involvement in this futile military adventure.

The 138,000 National Guard and other U.S. troops that are in Iraq, trying to assure security in Fallujah or even along the road from Baghdad to the airport, should have been in New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama instead, providing relief, assuring the safety of rescue workers and deterring looters.

President Bush has already obtained $10.5 billion from the Congress for disaster relief and reconstruction and is requesting another $51.8 billion. The estimates for the total needed may rise to $150 billion. All of that is deficit spending, on top of the currently estimated $330 billion budget deficit.

Why is the United States spending billions a week in Iraq when it is having to borrow $62.3 billion so far to help Americans recover and rebuild from a major domestic tragedy? The death toll from Hurricane Katrina and the post-storm flooding has yet to be known, but thousands of body bags have already been delivered to the stricken area in anticipation of what the total will be.