Paul Krugman five years ago (on the eve of war)

[swag]

Things to Come

excerpt:

Of course we'll win on the battlefield, probably with ease. I'm not a military expert, but I can do the numbers: the most recent U.S. military budget was $400 billion, while Iraq spent only $1.4 billion.

What frightens me is the aftermath -- and I'm not just talking about the problems of postwar occupation. I'm worried about what will happen beyond Iraq -- in the world at large, and here at home.

The members of the Bush team don't seem bothered by the enormous ill will they have generated in the rest of the world. They seem to believe that other countries will change their minds once they see cheering Iraqis welcome our troops, or that our bombs will shock and awe the whole world (not just the Iraqis) or that what the world thinks doesn't matter. They're wrong on all counts.

Victory in Iraq won't end the world's distrust of the United States because the Bush administration has made it clear, over and over again, that it doesn't play by the rules. Remember: this administration told Europe to take a hike on global warming, told Russia to take a hike on missile defense, told developing countries to take a hike on trade in lifesaving pharmaceuticals, told Mexico to take a hike on immigration, mortally insulted the Turks and pulled out of the International Criminal Court -- all in just two years.

Nor, as we've just seen, is military power a substitute for trust. Apparently the Bush administration thought it could bully the U.N. Security Council into going along with its plans; it learned otherwise. ''What can the Americans do to us?'' one African official asked. ''Are they going to bomb us? Invade us?''

Meanwhile, consider this: we need $400 billion a year of foreign investment to cover our trade deficit, or the dollar will plunge and our surging budget deficit will become much harder to finance -- and there are already signs that the flow of foreign investment is drying up, just when it seems that America may be about to fight a whole series of wars.

. . . more

[Richardo]

1. Thanks for that, swag...

...I'll be plastering it on a few RW boards I know. :patriot:

On edit: ...and a rec for you, my good man.

[fascisthunter]

2. We All Knew This Crap Would Happen.... All Except the Brain Dead

or ideologically blind.

[Bozita]

3. Maybe we should tell RWers that God speaks to Krugman late at night, ...

... and that God is merely practicing his stand-up comedy act when He talks to Boosh.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

4. K&R Thank you swag

Remind the world that we were listening, not all of America wanted or believed this war would come to any good. Then again, when you get tagged with a moniker like Focus Groups, you know one thing is certain as well: They were listening, and They knew too.

[Canuckistanian]

5. What a bunch of weak-kneed, socialist drivel

Oh wait, he was right.

And 5 years later, they're still wrestling with that pig to apply some lipstick.

Thanks for posting.

[krkaufman]

6. What drivel... it's just an article. Krugman didn't have to vote on the AUMF/Iraq resolution ...

... so who knows what he would have done if he'd been in that position.

:evilgrin:

[Elspeth]

7. Krugman read it right.

As did Scott Ritter: "They are not Americans."