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TechnoratiCross of Irony: Defense Spending of The Absurd
"Down the long lane of the history yet to be written, America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect. . . . Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose."
So is it time to start doing this now, 48 years down that road?
These words were part of Dwight Eisenhower's 1961 presidential farewell speech, in which he famously warned that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence . . . by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
Were Ike's words simply part of the wisdom-on-leaving-office syndrome that keeps idealism and long-range thinking permanently separated from the political process? I couldn't help but feel them summoned a few days ago by Rep. Barney Frank, who called, in an article in the Nation, for an unheard of 25 percent gouge out of the bloated, influence-besotted - insane, sacred - U.S. Defense budget.
No, it ain't going to happen, not this year, but without at least one politician taking a risky stand for common sense, the possibility of doing so won't even be part of the general awareness, much less the public debate about how the United States should spend its money in an economic crisis, or what kind of nation we should be.
Frank chastises those who are quick to criticize and cut government social spending but "fail to talk about one area" - the Department of Defense - "where substantial budget reductions would have the doubly beneficial effect of cutting the deficit and diminishing expenditures that often do more harm than good."
Yeah, to put it mildly. He goes on to talk about the Pentagon's ongoing, undebated plans not only to keep bleeding our treasury in Iraq (and, I would add, Afghanistan), but also to keep spending billions to design and build Cold War-era weapons "that lack not only a current military need but even a plausible use in any foreseeable future."
And that's just the tip of the festering, special-interest insanity that is U.S. "defense" spending. The consequences, if not the calculated goal, of this unchecked force is the exacerbation, not the elimination, of threats (global terrorism, let us say), guaranteeing that more spending will be necessary to deal with them ad infinitum, or until everything collapses and reality comes to collect its due.
Many of the costs we've brought on ourselves from our past military follies are unavoidably here to stay, e.g., the care for physically and emotionally injured vets of our two current wars, which economists Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes estimate will run to more than $700 billion (and the whole Iraq fiasco will ultimately cut $3 trillion from the flesh of the body politic, they surmise).
Other expenditures in the war on terror are money lost for good, in the rampant waste and fraud of occupied Iraq. Some $125 billion is unaccounted for in the "reconstruction" of Iraq, Patrick Cockburn reported a few days ago in Counterpunch. Pallets of cash have just disappeared, with senior U.S. officials among the suspects, in what Cockburn calls "the biggest fraud in U.S. history." And Iraq has not been reconstructed; most Iraqis don't even have running water, reliable electricity or decent sewage disposal.
Do we dare begin excising the budget that brought all this to the nation and the world? Interestingly, neoconservative columnist Robert Kagan, writing in the Washington Post, has accused the Obama administration of contemplating just such a thing: a 10 percent Defense budget reduction. Oh, the horror. Such an outrage would "unnerve American allies" and "embolden potential adversaries," he warned.
In point of fact, the new administration is reportedly planning to propose a $14 billion increase - to $527 billion - in the Defense budget; Kagan and his ilk are claiming this is a cut because it's 10 percent below the bloated figure the Pentagon had asked for.
The fact that the neocons, from their forums in the nation's most respected media outlets, can simply wave the flag and stoke our fear and keep defense spending politically holy, no matter how malignant it is to American, not to mention the rest of the world's, interests, exemplifies "the disastrous rise of misplaced power" Ike warned us about.
For instance, we accounted for fully 46 percent of the $1.2 trillion in world military expenditures in 2006, and 80 percent of the increase from 2005, according to globalissues.org. This brings to mind another famous Eisenhower speech, his 1953 "Cross of Iron" remarks to the American Society of Newspaper Editors:
"All these war-weary peoples shared too this concrete, decent purpose: to guard vigilantly against the domination ever again of any part of the world by a single, unbridled aggressive power."
The hellish vision of unchecked military spending he invoked 55 years ago is now here, and humanity is hanging, and I paraphrase, from a cross of irony.
25 Comments so far
Show AllThe Air Force is likely to get 60 more F-22s:
http://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/02/17/af-likely-to-get-60-more-f-22s-allies-out-of-luck
This jet may be the most expensive piece of junk ever built. Setting aside arguments about war spending, this purchase should be making nationalistic right-wingers angry, as well.
It's not safe or reliable, performs poorly, and constantly requires expensive maintenance.
Here is a panel of military experts talking about the F-22 (audio):
http://images.military.com/Audio/FTED29.mp3
It's worth listening to, it helps explain the corrupt and dysfunctional procurement process of the Pentagon.
I grew up under Eisenhower - maybe why that's why I'm now accused of being a 'liberal' - although I am indeed a conservative (not a fascist, though)
Eisenhower made plenty of mistakes - but he did take war seriously, having seen the same devastation of Europe that I did. And my father turned against the US military precisely BECAUSE they embraced the Nazis (especially Patton, whom he dispised.) The writing was on the wall during WWII - and it was even worse during the Vietnam Era - today, we are doomed if we do not stop this madness.
It's time to stop the war machine before the US looks like WWII Germany - and faces the same fate. I am convinced that the only reason Reagan got elected was because he promised the American people that there would be no apologies for the heinous war crimes committed in South East Asia, which were every bit as heinous as those committed by the Nazis - as we see today with the death and devastation rained down in a totally innocent Iraq and Afghanistan.
The only way to bring 'democracy' - freedom - to any country is to ensure the common people have a high standard of living - and that's not what happened in Iraq or what is being planned for Afghanistan. The Taliban would disappear if the Afghan people were prosperous - it's poverty that engenders religious extremes and Right-Wing insanity. That's why so many intelligent (educated) people are afraid that the current global DEPRESSION will lead to fascism taking hold throughout the world. Ignorance and superstition reign when poverty prevails - when all hope for a decent life on this earth ends, there is nothing else but fantasy, and that's where people turn.
If the way to bring democracy to any country is to ensure the common people have a high standard of living----that let's us out!! The top 1% own the whole damn place. And the bastards want more!! It is a sickness to want more and more and never be satiated.
Another requirement of Democracy is that the elected officials act on the advice of their constituents. That is - they represent the people. You find me anyone in this country who is working class who wants to expand the unwinnable war in Afghanistan, or any one that wants to give the damn banksters more of our funds while they throw people out of their homes, or find me anyone who wants to 'reform entitlements' (cut Social Security and Medicare) then I will believe our 'elected officials' are not corrupt to the bone. Only our elected officials and the pharmecuedical and HMO's don't want Single Payer Health Care. It is not a democracy when money buys votes and the voice of the public is ignored.
Another requirement for democracy is education and the free flow of information so that a person can vote intelligently. Have you any idea how bad our schools are being made by all the budget cuts? Free flow of information on the major media? You gotta be kidding me. The more you watch FOX news, the less you know.
I appreciate your post and your perspective.
Eisenhower built the highways! Now that sort of thing is called Socialism. It's amazing how far to the right we have shifted.
Building the highways wasn't about socialism - it was about military transportation, which was a problem during WWII. Otherwise, I'm not sure Eisenhower would have been on board - you didn't hear him call for national housing, or national healthcare - but then things were more affordable in those days, before inflation became the norm through Nixon's crazy idea of taking us off the Gold Standard. Since then, government manipulation of inflation and unemployment statistics has muddied the pond - I believe inflation runs normally around 15% and unemployment at 12% (before the current debacle, that is) and is hidden from the public ON PURPOSE. Just like poverty stats, cost-of-living, and other important statistics. I'd stick to the GINI co-efficient for accuracy...
guntotinganglion February 19th, 2009 3:47 pm:
I just wikied Shiro Ishii. Horrific. All I can say.
It's interesting that there are other articles on CD on the military today. See the others for my comments, as they apply here also.
I'm very depressed right now...
From what I understand, the reason the Pentagon (which I like to refer to as the Pentangle) survived as it did against the airliner that hit it, is that it's original specifications assumed that it would be used as a warehouse when the war was over. It's floors were made stronger than an office building, to hold higher static loads resulting from stored materials.
You see, there was an "insane" mindset that wars come, armies arise to meet the threat, and then when that threat is gone, the army disbands. And it's infrastructure reverts to, or is given over to, civilian use. However, the war never ended...it continues to this day. The evidence for that is the standing army and military establishment that have been in place (and very handsomely budgeted every year since) ever since. World War 2 never ended, they just changed it's name to the Cold War, and when that one went away, it took a few years to re-establish the next phase of the same war...the Global War on Terrorism (aka the war on badness). Each variation ramped up the US governments (using American's tax money) blank check's value to military industrialists who literally own this country.
The timing of the atom bomb drops on Japan is very telling...in that the Soviet Union declared war on Japan precisely in-between the two bomb drops. It is my opinion, and many others, that the bomb drops were for the sake of the Soviet Union, not to end the war in Japan (which was already lost to the Japanese). The timing of the events was a massive threat specifically aimed at the Soviet Union...and a challenge to join the US in establishing a permanent state of (very profitable) war.
It is my opinion that the work on the atomic bomb, and specifically Edward Tellers comments regarding the need for a vast infrastructure to support the H bomb, was a klaxon call to war profiteers/mongers in every corner of Amerika. What they saw was the greatest (and most profitable) industrial opportunity of the 20th century!
The development of the atomic bomb, and later the hydrogen bomb, indicated a commitment to massive infrastructure for R&D, testing, and utilization with (hopefully) no end. Of course, utilization quickly became impossible, with the threat from the Soviet Union, but that was ok, because the SU was the facilitator of MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) which created the stalemate that fed the nuclear monster for decades, without it actually being used as a weapon.
Then someone had the bright idea to use nukes to generate electricity, and off they went on another extremely profitable tangent, care of the American taxpayers, who continue to this day to used as collateral for every "peaceful" nuke built in this country. It's called "tax incentives" and it is being pursued now to once again put the financial burden on the US taxpayers. Trillions of dollars have come and gone...and the curious thing is, none of the weapons systems budgets have ever been audited by the Congress, because they are protected from scrutiny by the "national security" umbrella that has been used to cover up many many crimes of fraud, deception and outright theft. And it has not changed...the nuclear monster continues to this very day.
Using nuclear energy for 'peaceful' endeavors was one of Eisenhower's worst mistakes. But the apathy of the American people - and their collective ignorance - is what allows the madness to continue. (like the lies about the USSR being so far ahead of the US, as told during the Cold War)
I meet too many people who sincerely believe that the US would fall if the military budget were reduced - they're insane, obviously. Their entire economy is crashing down on their heads and they still insist on maintaining their ignorance - as if it were some sort of 'badge of courage' to be stubborn, destructive, violent, and ignorant. Guess that's what so many of them liked about Bush, McCain, and Palin.
It's painful to be a true conservative these days - but I soldier on, knowing that neither fascist Democrats nor the fascist GOP will ever give us the answers to a prosperous and sustainable future - which I still do believe is possible.
WWII Never Ended That is a bumper sticker right there! IMO we also still suffering from the Nazis brought into our government by operation paper clip:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Paperclip
I know about Operation Paperclip...and I agree about the Nazi's brought into our intelligence community. Operation Paperclip only deals with the Nazi's though...the Japanese had their fair share of vicious psychopaths that the US protected as well, my favorite being the nightmarish Shiro Ishii and Unit 731. He, and his fellow insects, were protected because of their biological warfare data (gathered at the expense of Chinese nationals lives and humanity)...the US wanted those data. The place they went to was Fort Deterick, which remains the center of biological warfare research in this country. Herr Bush, violated the ban on these weapons that Nixon signed into law, but covered his tracks by claiming the research was defensive...to the tune of around 40 billion dollars from what I have read!
A telling thing is, it appears that these criminals knew that if the Soviets got their hands on them they would be summarily executed, but they knew that the US would protect them because of what they knew...in Nazi Gen. Reinhard Gehlen's case, they wanted his intelligence data from the eastern front, on the Soviet Union, and thus he received protection. Ishii was tapped for his bio and chemical weaponry...and he lived until 1959, when he died in his bed in his home. Had the Russians gotten their hands on him, he would have ended up in an unmarked grave, where he belonged. As I like to say, the US wanted to pick his brains, but the only proper way to do that would have been after the firing squad sprayed them all of the wall behind him.
"Down the long lane of the history yet to be written, America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect. . . . Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose."
Did a Republican actually say that? It's hard to believe now.
It certainly shows how reactionary and belligerent the US has become, particularly since 1991. This is something that Kucinich or Barbara Lee could hardly say today.
Today, Eisenhower and even Nixon would considered well beyond the leftward limit of electability. Goldwater would be sitting at about the same part of the spectrum as Obama...
Most of the current Republican members of the US congress current would only be found at Ku Klux Klan meetings and would be under investigation by the FBI.
---USAn---
It is hard to believe. I am not defending the feckless, craven, corrupt Democrats, but in my mind today's Republicans are among the most evil people to ever walk the earth.
Wars have always been paid for with borrowed money. The only payback is plunder. Check out the history of the Roman empire, the Crusades, our future Star Wars.
Speaking of the Roman Empire, the following link is a very good read:
"THE END OF WEALTH CREATION"
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/cooke/2009/0209.html
My favorite Eisenhower quote is:
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
According to that, the US military budget is one of the greatest crimes in history. And the US government continues committing that crime every year, even without starting unnecessary wars, though those are of course monstrous crimes on their own.
Sioux Rose
KIVALS: Amen to this post of yours!
The Repugnants are keeping us so occupied worrying about one or two million spent on some environmental project or some item like family planning that we do not have any time left to discuss the billions appropriated for the precious military expenditures. They wave the flag to get all the defense money without any thought of the enormous waste and fraud involved. Then they wave the Bible to push spending for abstinance programs and morality police. The right wingers believe the world is soon coming to an end, and they may be right, as their policies are certainly going to help that notion along. Maybe that explains their constant prattle about cutting taxes, because we may as well spend all we have and all we can borrow while there is still an earth to live on.
I hope you all realize that the money being thrown away by the pentagon is more of that money borrowed by the Fed. 'in our name,' so it is 'our money'.
Are we enjoying it, or what ?
"And that's just the tip of the festering, special-interest insanity that is U.S. "defense" spending. The consequences, if not the calculated goal, of this unchecked force is the exacerbation, not the elimination, of threats (global terrorism, let us say), guaranteeing that more spending will be necessary to deal with them ad infinitum, or until everything collapses and reality comes to collect its due."
I would guess that "reality will be coming to collect its due", given that the entire globe is taking an economic nose-dive. There is no tangible capital to pay for all this. It's coming from the printing press' which will further depreciate every currency on the planet; they are all printing money out of thin air!
The profitable industry of death and misery will not go down easily.
Many Trillions spent on "defense" over the past couple decades, and the "most powerful military the world has ever seen" cannot even "pacify" Baghdad. Yeah. Seems like money well spent to me.
-- ekaton aka d.k.shaw
Perhaps that's why the righties want to boost defense spending even more. Seems they don't mind throwing good money after bad as long as it's spent on killing more people.
Oh but how can you say they don't mind killing people! They save so many babies from abortion and they halt sessions of congress to keep brain-dead people on life support forever!
(Have you noticed that Repugs don't like to talk about their "culture of life" so much any more?)
I've also noticed the repukes don't like to talk about bush anymore. Did you catch the daily show the other day when one of the puke congressmen was talking about tax cuts? The puke refered to 9/11 rather than mention bush the lesser (tho, shouldn't he be the greater? War criminal that is...)