War adds to dangerous deficits

To the editor:

More than just an unnecessary and costly departure from addressing the real causes of terrorism, the Iraq war is contributing to an impending economic crisis. Tax cuts (overwhelmingly for the wealthy), a burgeoning defense budget and unanticipated war costs, combined with a sluggish economy, have produced massive deficits and a total debt of over $7 trillion. Optimistic projections of additional deficits are estimated at more than $2 trillion for the next 10 years. President Bush is currently requesting another $70 billion-plus for the war, a trend which will likely increase as the insurgency escalates.

The deadly combination of rising deficits together with decades of trade imbalances now threaten a significant devaluation of the dollar. It seems that the Saudis, Japanese and others who typically finance our chronic overspending are growing skeptical of our ability to repay our debts. Partly because of its historical stability, the dollar has also been the primary reserve currency of the global market. This status could change in a moment. There is little standing in the way of this shift, and there are increasing pressures for it to occur. The results, which I increasingly view as more a matter of "when" rather than "if," will be devastating.

It would be unfair to blame this impending crisis entirely on Bush, who inherited a virtual recession and a massive debt. But he has done nothing to slow the critical trends. In fact, a wide range of Bush policies have pushed the situation toward an increasingly certain crisis.

ROBERT POLACK Jr., Cape Girardeau