Archives: 2008 January

Last night in his thankfully last State of the Union address President Bush spoke once again of the freedom and liberty that the United States has brought to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush spoke once again about the “blue ink stained fingers” of Iraqis oh so happy to be able to vote.

Bush spoke of the accomplishments achieved in Afghanistan as we reconstruct villages, roads, and broken lives as we support the young Karzai government as it builds upon a foundation of freedom and democracy.

From his speech one would think that the battle is about 90% won. That soon two strong and functioning democracies would be on their way to bringing order and stability to the entire Middle Eastern and Southern Asian region.

Yet when one examines the facts one has to wonder what world is Bush living in? How well is he informed by his advisers and generals on the ground in the war theaters? How well does he listen to and understand his advisers? One might even speculate on what Bush has been smoking. And if unlike Clinton whether he actually inhales a few good drags during his working day?

Effectively the US has destroyed Iraq. While it is true that the “Bush Troop Surge” has lowered the level of violence the question is to what level? And what about the political reconciliation that the surge was supposed to buy enough time to be accomplished? Wasn’t that the stated purpose of the surge?

Iraqis are still fearful to go to market for a few fresh vegetables as they well know they may never return. Over 4,500,000 Iraqis, including many skilled professionals like doctors and teachers, have been displaced. Many have left Iraq for neighboring countries where they struggle just to survive.

The Bush administration recently crowed about 50,000 Iraqis who have recently returned to Iraq . Unfortunately, most of them returned because they had run out of money and were starving in Jordon and Syria. Without money and without jobs what can they do? Once their visas expire they really have no place to go except back to a dangerous and unstable Iraq.

How would you like to live out your life of freedom and democracy in a city, such as Baghdad, where a good day is when you have electric power for three or four hours? Where there is no safe clean drinking water. Where there is no garbage collection or any other basic services. Where danger lurks at every corner, much of it supplied by nervous young solders and marines of a foreign occupying army.

How would you like to go to bed each night fearful that ten or so heavily armed men might take a sledge hammer to your front door, than at gun point herd the men into one room, the women including your teen age daughters and wife into another, while they turn your home upside down looking for anything that they deem suspicious? If you are lucky that is all that takes place. If you are unlucky you might be taken away, handcuffed, hood over your head, and never see your wife and daughters again.

The following video showing the generation chickenhawks brave college Republicans at a national convention was originally produced by Max Blumenthal and posted at the HuffingtonPost.

In my view it offers a sad commentary on the mental health of and the ability to reason by a good many of our elitist college chickenhawk generation. These are the type of people who are being groomed to show leadership ability and to lead our nation within a few years. Yet, all they can manage to do when asked questions about the war in Iraq is to spit out Republican talking points.

I heard the same simple minded reasoning about the war in Vietnam. “If we don’t fight them there (the Vietcong) we will fight them here”. Like the poor Vietnamese had the means to invade the US. All they wanted was to have their own country back and to run it their own way. Isn’t that what the Iraqis and Afghans want?

God help us all. The United States is in big trouble from the rot within. Perhaps a return of the draft would bring a good dose of reality back into the American “homeland”. I confess that without the draft I would have never served in Vietnam. But because I did serve I know first hand that war is an ugly business that destroys and ends a lot of lives. Armed with that deep understanding I believe that if I ever had the responsibily for war planning, unlike chickenhawks Donald Rumsfield and Dick Cheney, I would do all in my power to prevent a conflict, not fire one up just because I could.

And most wars are fought for what? So that a few well connected war profiteers can become even more wealthy? Few wars have served any real purpose except for that sad reason. Take World War One, for example, the “war to end all wars”. All that war accomplished, at the expense of over 50 million dead, was to set the stage for World War two.

As long as the majority of the generation chickenhawk elitist young men and women get a free ride when it comes to actually serving their country in the military we Americans will never correct our tendency to bring so much misery and suffering to the peoples of third world nations. All in the name of national security and freedom and democracy, of course.

Watch the video and you will see exactly what I mean.

===== Originally posted on the HuffingtonPost =====

Originally posted on the HuffingtonPost.

On July 13, 2007, I visited Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where the bodies of American soldiers killed in Iraq were freshly interred. Afterwards, I headed across the street to the Sheraton National Hotel, owned by right-wing Korean cult leader Sun Myung-Moon, to meet some of the war’s most fervent supporters at the College Republican National Convention.

The CIA fact book gives a most interesting overview of the USA as well as for just about every nation on earth.

In identifying current US challenges the CIA fact book states that “Soaring oil prices in 2005-2007 threatened inflation and unemployment, yet the economy continued to grow through year-end 2007. Imported oil accounts for about two-thirds of US consumption. Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups. The merchandise trade deficit reached a record $847 billion in 2007. Together, these problems caused a marked reduction in the value and status of the dollar worldwide in 2007.”

The USA fact book summery pages still lists America as the world’s richest country. This is still true for individual countries although the European Union community is now larger than the US in total GDP, the output of goods and services, which would place the EU in the top spot. China is number three and closing the gap fast.

Else where the CIA fact book it notes that the “US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world, with a per capita GDP of $45,700. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace.

US business firms enjoy greater flexibility than their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan in decisions to expand capital plant, to lay off surplus workers, and to develop new products. At the same time, they face higher barriers to enter their rivals’ home markets than foreign firms face entering US markets. US firms are at or near the forefront in technological advances, especially in computers and in medical, aerospace, and military equipment; their advantage has narrowed since the end of World War II.

The onrush of technology largely explains the gradual development of a “two-tier labor market” in which those at the bottom lack the education and the professional/technical skills of those at the top and, more and more, fail to get comparable pay raises, health insurance coverage, and other benefits. Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households.”

What isn’t said is that the US has already experienced a hollowing out of its manufacturing sector as companies have moved production facilities overseas in order to save expenses. The world is more competitive than ever and the US government must put together some long term growth plans for the US and the home folks or we will be pushed off the nation mountain top by China and other nations, like the EU countries, over the next decade or two.

We need enlightened capable leadership as never before in order to stay at or at least close to the top of the prosperity heap. It is not encouraging when you see the pettiness of the candidates for president as they go about their campaigns.