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An interesting nugget sent in by Mike O:

The most fascinating fact to emerge from the Sept. 11 commission staff
reports last week is that al Qaeda spent a mere $400,000 to $500,000 to bring
off the attacks [front page, June 17].

The United States has spent more than $118 billion to date on the war in Iraq
and billions more on other aspects of our response to the attacks.

No one would argue against spending money on an effective program to battle
terrorism and deal with its causes. But with the commission staff finding
that Iraq had nothing to do with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and American
businessmen, tourists and diplomats around the world less secure than ever,
we can rightly wonder whether the Bush administration is spending our dollars
wisely or well.

Contrary to what the administration says, there were alternatives to the way
the "war on terrorism" has been carried out, especially when the war in Iraq
is considered to be a part of it (as the administration insists it is).

Voters should hold the administration accountable for the cost-effectiveness
of the choices it has made.

THEODORE C. JONAS

Washington

The State Dept is in the process of issuing a report (that was embarassingly botched and had to be corrected) that will indicate that terrorism incidents rose pretty dramatically last year. I'm sure we will get some spin about "violent reaction to direct US efforts to interrupt terrorist patterns and cut off their sources of support" - a "stirring up the beehive in order to destroy it" argument.

But the legacy will tell the real story, and it's hard to get a clear picture of what is going on in the Iraq operation. There are lots of indications that it is not going well, though.

Food for thought. I think that the argument can be made that our Afghanistan operation (more easily justified as a response to 9/11) has been stymied by the Iraqi op.

And the thing that kills me recently is that, from a purely Macchiavellian point of view, Iraq was the perfect idea in initiating a Middle East Strategy. But wishful thinking and poor planning - poor tactical execution - has apparently made it damn near impossible that any good that might come of this.

I think that you and I and a small team of technical experts and contract consultants could have fashioned a plan for postwar Iraq that would have far exceeded the plans that were followed - with the 9/11 Al-Quaeda budget.