In answering questions before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton acknowledged what she called the "tragic humanitarian costs of conflict
in the Middle East, and the pain and suffering of Palestinian and
Israeli civilians." She continued by saying that "we cannot give up on
peace."
"Mr. Ban said too many people had died and there had been too much civilian suffering."
That almost bears repeating, but I won't because I don't believe it. Too many? In the moral dead zone of the human heart, perennially justified as "war" (evoking honor, triumph, glory), there's no such thing as too much suffering. There's no bleeding child or shattered family or contaminated water supply that can't be overlooked in the name of some great goal or strategic advantage, or converted to fodder for the next round of hatred, revenge and arms purchase.
It was 1968, and Frank Rochelle was 20 years old and fresh out of Army boot camp when he saw notices posted around his base in Virginia asking for volunteers to test uniforms and equipment.
That might be a good break after the harsh weeks of boot camp, he thought, and signed up.
There is nothing about the absolute size of a half-trillion dollar Pentagon budget that should concern Americans if that expenditure is necessary for the defense of the nation and if, as a nation, we are rich enough to foot the bill. But in the shadow of 9/11 and subsequent wars, that budget has been exempted from the type of scrutiny it received during the 1990s. Still it constitutes so much of our discretionary spending and has contributed so much to our deficit spending that we can no longer afford to look the other way.
A $7 billion missile-defense system for the United Arab Emirates. An estimated $15 billion potential sale of Lockheed Martin’s brand-new fighter plane to Israel. Billions of dollars in weaponry for Taiwan and Turkey. These and other recent deals helped make the United States the world’s leading arms-exporting nation.
In 2007, U.S. foreign military sales agreements totaled more than $32 billion — nearly triple the amount during President Bush’s first full year in office.
The water churned and pushed against the ice with a dark
seriousness that reminded me of prayer.
Subzero Chicago night at the edge of the year, the edge of
change, the edge of what's bearable. I stood on an old breakwater, a
long, crumbling construction of concrete and steel that jutted into Lake
Michigan — just stood, feeling the wind scrape my face. Whatever thoughts
came to me were honest ones. Or maybe I just needed to grieve.
"Courage grows strong at the wound."
Is it possible that one of the Pentagon's contractors has a tripartite
business model for our tough economic times: one division that
specializes in crock-pots, another in adult diapers, and a third in
medium caliber tactical ammunition? Can the maker of the SaladShooter,
a hand-held electric shredder/dicer that hacks up and fires out sliced
veggies, really be a tops arms manufacturer? Could a company that
produces the Pizzazz Pizza Oven also be a merchant of death?
U.S military contractor KBR, a former subisidary of Halliburton, is
facing a number of lawsuits over its activities in Iraq, and elsewhere.
KBR is the largest contractor for the United States Army and a top-ten contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense.
SOUTH NASHUA, N.H. - Across the nation, companies are lopping off hundreds of thousands of jobs, retailers are shuttering stores, and automakers are tottering on the edge of bankruptcy.
But here in the Merrimack River Valley, and over the state line at several industrial sites around Massachusetts, defense contractor BAE Systems is hoisting "Help Wanted" signs.
President-elect Barack Obama introduced his principal national security Cabinet selections to the world Monday and left no doubt that he intends to start his administration on a war footing. Perhaps the least well known among them is retired Marine Gen. James Jones, Obama's pick for national security adviser. The position is crucial -- think of the power that Henry Kissinger wielded in Richard Nixon's White House. A look into who James Jones is sheds a little light on the Obama campaign's promise of "Change We Can Believe In."
