By S. Ambrose

This week, the Bush administration projected that the U.S. budget deficit will reach $427 billion this year. Roughly $80 billion of that deficit will be in the form of money spent on the Iraq war, which is on top of $25 billion spent through the end of last year.

Now I must admit that I supported President Bush in invading Iraq and still believe that it was a good idea even if it was not carried out in the best manner. What I have a problem with is the continued spending of money in Iraq, when there are better uses for that money at home. This massive deficit is one of the factors behind the declining U.S. dollar, and a weak dollar means that imported goods are more expensive. In a recovering economy one of the worst things that can happen is an increase in prices.

Yes, it would be irresponsible to abandon Iraq, but President Bush must be more concerned with the Americans who elected him than with the Iraqis who he liberated. That is why I propose that he withdraw most of the troops from Iraq following the Jan. 30 election and hand security over to the indigenous Iraqi forces.

As Condoleezza Rice pointed out in her confirmation hearings, there are over 100,000 trained Iraqi security forces. Therefore why is America still in Iraq? We invaded Iraq with a force of 125,000, not much larger than the force the Iraqis have now. Do we really need a force twice the size of what conquered Iraq to protect Iraq?

A point can be made that the large numbers of soldiers were necessary when America was invading and occupying Iraq, but now that Iraq will have a democratic government, America must step back and let the new leadership run the country. In Afghanistan, another country Bush liberated that is about the size of Iraq, we have less then 10,000 U.S. soldiers. I believe this number would be appropriate in Iraq as a training force to expand the Iraqi army and advise the new government.

America must recognize that it cannot build the infrastructure of the rest of the world without bankrupting itself in the process. The money being spent in Iraq is needed at home to strengthen the economy and create jobs. Otherwise, what was the purpose of the tax cuts other than to maintain a long-term state of recovery? And if that was the point, then why was he re-elected? I say that was because the American people have confidence in the President to do what is needed to protect America’s interests.

What America needs now is a strong economic plan, and that plan cannot include deficit spending to rebuild Iraq.

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