Looks like president Bush is in a negotiating mood and may be preparing for a more "can-do" type conversation with Congress. I was discussing corporate financial reporting with a colleague when I saw this story, which made me wonder whether there was a proper accounting of the war on the part of the government. I know the war is "off budget" and just lurks in the shadows of Washington D.C. while contributing to our national debt and ever increasingly having an inflationary effect. But is there a proper accounting?

This seems eerily familiar. Was it not Enron that in recent years fell from grace (once the 9th largest public company) because, in part, it juggled its books when the numbers did not look favorable? Strangely, it too had many "off budget" items not properly accounted for, hidden from shareholders -- are we not shareholders in our nation?

Like Enron, we find ourselves falling from grace. Not to be to bleak about the subject, but it concerns me that if the true figures were known to the public in a way they could relate to, we might lose more people to heart failure and depression than our military has lost to date fighting in Iraq. See: National Priorities Project Cost of Iraq War Notes and Sources for some figures and discussion on the subject.