End Perpetual War

On our nation's getting out of Afghanistan--if you as a nation have been there 20 years and not achieved your goals, it's time to get out. End perpetual War. And while we're at it, cut the so bloated, very wasteful defense budget. It will actually and honestly make the nation stronger. As it is, we, the US, are the world's warmonger.

Huge, Excellent Breaking National News

It was just announced at the Washington Post that President Biden will announce tomorrow he plans to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks later this year.

Excellent, even intelligent and the right thing to do, at long, long last, for America. God help Afghanistan in general but more specifically, the women of that nation.

Still, Still Nothing From This President In Response to Russia's Bounty on American Soldiers

Still, to this day, July 2, 2020 and this Republican Party President has done nothing, nothing whatever to even come close to punishing Russia and Vladimir Putin for putting a cash bounty on our American soldiers in the field in Afghanistan.

Thanks, Mr. President.

Thanks, Republicans.

Links:

How the US could respond to Russia's support of the Taliban

3 in 4 say US 'pretty seriously' off right track: poll

Quote of the Day -- Prescient, Foreshadowing Version

Hillary Clinton  @HillaryClinton  ·Aug 8, 2016

Just imagine Donald Trump in the Oval Office facing a real crisis. 

We can’t afford that kind of risk.

#shewasright

Thanks, Republicans!

Every Adult American Needs to See This Youtube Video

If this information, that Russia was paying bounties to the Taliban in Afghanistan to kill American soldiers and this President did nothing about it doesn't bring this President down, nothing will.

Link:

Trump a ‘coward or complicit’ over Russia bounty claims, says ex-Navy SEAL in new ad

Seriously, How Is This Man Still President?

So either last week or a month or two ago this President Trump learned Russia and his buddy Vladimir Putin actually put a cash bounty on our own American soldiers over in Afghanistan, to be paid to Taliban members who killed them, again, our American soldiers.

The revelation was bad enough, certainly.

Then we learned our President hadn't done anything about it.

Nothing. 

Did nothing whatever to punish Russia for putting a cash reward for killing our soldiers in the field.

At least as bizarre, if not more so, to this day, this Republican Party President Trump still, still has done nothing. Done nothing to punish Russia in any way.

Stunning.

Thanks, Mr. President.
Thanks, Republicans.

I ask again, how is this man still President?

No one can or does say it any better than an American Veteran.



How long, Republians?

How long, America?

How long?

Is This Not, Then, the Very Definition and Act of Treason?

On the subject of Russian bounties paid to the Taliban in Afghanistan for any and all of our American soldiers killed by them there, this broke yesterday.

White House aware of Russian bounties in 2019 and Trump was briefed, officials say

And still, from that day to this, from whatever day this President Trump learned of these bounties paid by the Russians for killing our American soldiers, still, still, to this day, this President has done nothing, nothing to punish Russia for this act, for these acts.

What is that, ladies and gentlemen, if not treason?

Is that not, as I asked, the very definition of treason?

It certainly seems to clearly be a betrayal of our American military, of all our American soldiers.

TR45SON

I honestly do think and believe and feel this President Trump has now committed treason, yes, absolutely. But it's treason by ignorance and recklessness and even stupidity, not by design.  It's unbelievable this is where we are.

Thanks, Republicans.

Remember Hillary's 11 Hour Testimony on "Benghazi!"?

Me.  I'm right here.  My hand is up.

Thanks, Mr. President

Thanks, Republicans.

How Is Donald Trump Still President?

This President Trump learned, at some point, either last week or months ago, that Vladimir Putin and Russia put out a bounty to pay the Taliban in Afghanistan to kill our American troops, our soldiers over there.

His first response to this information

First he said he wasn't told, that he knew nothing of or about it.

Trump Says He Was Not Briefed 

On Russian Bounties

Now he says what he was told, the intelligence, wasn't credible.

Trump claims intel on Russian bounties 

was deemed not credible

Which is it?

Now it's June 29 and still, to this minute, that same President Trump has still done nothing about these bounties to Russia.

That is at least gross, gross dereliction of duty if it isn't, in fact, treason, no exaggeration.

trea·son
/ˈtrēzən/
noun
the crime of betraying one's country

Finally, there's this, breaking today. So much for the "I didn't know" and "No one told me" defense.

Spies and Commandos Warned Months Ago of Russian Bounties on U.S. Troops

Given this and everything else, honestly, this man Trump has done and said while in office, I'm one more who has to ask..

How is Donald Trump still President?
___________________________________

Breaking developments today, this morning:

Pelosi requests US intelligence leaders brief House on reports of Russian bounties
White House says Congress will be briefed on reports of Russian bounties

House Armed Services leaders demand briefing on reported Russian bounties on US troops

Voters must strongly reject the president's abuses by voting him out this November

Intelligence suggests Russian bounties led to deaths of several US troops in Afghanistan: report

Expert Wonders Why GOP Silent, Not Angry, on Russian Bounty Scandal

Seriously, Honestly, For Whom Is This Republican Party President Donald J Trump Working?

I ask again, for whom is this President working?

I'll show and post 3 different examples of just why I ask. First this. This President Trump proposed this in August last year, 2019.

Trump Again Pushes For 

Russia's Readmittance To G-7

The other nations of the G7 don't want Russia and Mr. Putin in the group but Mr. Trump is working for it. Our known, self-declared, public enemy but he wants them in the group. 

Alrighty, then.

Next up, the President proposed this in early June this year.

Trump Directs Pentagon to Pull 9,500 Troops 

from Germany

Who, exactly, is that going to help but Russia and their leader Vladimir Putin?

And understand, this is from me, a guy who has said we need to shrink our defense budget drastically and it would still actually strengthen our nation.

Finally, there was this that broke this week from and in the New York Times.

Report: Russia paid Taliban bounties 

for killing US troops

A foreign leader and again, a known enemy of our nation, put a cash bounty on the lives of members of our American military. The administration knew about it...and did nothing.

"Benghazi!", my *ss.

Following that report were these responses.

Russia is paying the Taliban to kill American soldiers and Trump has known for months

Naturally, his response.

Trump Denies Reports Russia Paid Taliban 

To Kill U.S. Troops

Not only did they---he, President Trump--do nothing about this information but even after this story broke, to this minute, Trump has done nothing about it against that foreign enemy, Russia.

And then, stunningly, stunningly, there is this.

Since Learning Of Russian Bounty On U.S. Troops, Trump Continued To Court Putin

As proof, there is this.

U.S. Sends Ventilators To Russia In $5.6 Million Coronavirus Aid Package

So again I ask---just who, exactly, is this Republican Party President Donald J. Trump working?

This President doesn't take any time to take action against our known enemy paying out bounties to kill our American soldiers in Afghanistan but he does take time out from his busy week to retweet this.

Trump retweets video of apparent supporter shouting 'white power'

Trump Promotes Video of His Supporters Yelling ‘White Power’: Says They Are ‘Great People’

Republicans?

Would you answer that for us?

And maybe get some control on your boy there?

Finally here today, whether you agree or not, this is how Germany's Der Spiegel pictures our own United States presently, under this leadership so here's an international take.

Links:

‘Owned by Putin’: Trump accused of ‘literal treason’ after bombshell NYT report on Russian assassination unit

‘Tre45on’ Trends After Report That Trump Knew Putin Put Bounty On U.S. Troops

Craig Unger: Trump is owned by the Russia mob

The Now Frightening United States of America

Richard Nixon made me mad.

Exposing Nixon’s Vietnam Lies

Nixon Prolonged Vietnam War for Political Gain

The Watergate Scandal

Ronald Reagan upset me, made me mad.

The Iran-Contra Affair: Ronald Reagan’s Arms Sales Scandal

The Enduring Lies of Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan's wartime lies

George W. Bush was depressing--and made me mad.

If only we Had that $6.4 Trillion we wasted on Iraq

Bush squandered surplus 

Bush: God told me to invade Iraq

Yes, Bush lied about Iraq

No, really, George W. Bush lied about WMDs

Donald J Trump is, no exaggeration, frightening.

Trump Attacks our Democracy

New study says Trump has ‘dangerously undermined truth

Trump's Attacks on the Constitution

Trump undermines democracy with media attacks

Trump Attacks Post Office While Carriers & Clerks Die

The Trump Administration Is Reversing Nearly 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List.

Trump's attacks on the First Amendment and the press

Donald Trump attacks the First Amendment . . . again

Appeals court rules Trump violated First Amendment

Trump Comes Unglued And Humiliates Himself At Press Conference

Trump Comes Unglued In Saturday Twitter Freakout

We're concerned, sure, but even those around him get and and are concerned.

Melania Trump ‘Concerned’ Donald Comes Across As ‘Unhinged

And then there was this beauty, not that long ago.

Trump says he's treated worse than Lincoln (who was assassinated)

I could go on.

Frightening.  This President is honestly frightening. And in more than one way.

God help us. Again, God help us.

Happy Veterans Day: Let's Start REALLY Honoring Them

So yes, first thing, absolutely, HAPPY VETERANS DAY. First and foremost.

But then, after that, let's start really, actually honoring them, as a nation.

Let's:

• End the war in Afghanistan. This is our 18th year there. We are gaining nothing. It is our longest war in the history of the nation.
• End perpetual war
• End the empire
• Bring more of our soldiers home from across the globe. 
• Let's stop creating new wars to send them off to

Check this out:

The United States still maintains nearly 800 military bases in more than 70 countries and territories abroad—from giant “Little Americas” to small radar facilities. Britain, France and Russia, by contrast, have about 30 foreign bases combined.

It's insane.



Let's bring all we can, home.

The Singular Most Important Article Any Adult American Could Read Today

There is a fantastic, long, long overdue article in today's Sunday New York Times that says everything I and a lot of us have ever thought about present day America, our defense spending and our insane, inane perpetual, endless war.

The Only Way to End ‘Endless War’

First, America has to give up its pursuit of global dominance

Dr. Stephen Wertheim

As I said, I think all Americans should read it, all of it, absolutely but herewith, I'll post just a few of the most important quotes and clips. I'll begin with a stunner from none other than Republican Party President Donald J "the John" Trump.

“Great nations do not fight endless wars.”

“We have got to put an end to endless war,” declared Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., during the Democratic presidential primary debate on Thursday. It was a surefire applause line: Many people consider “endless war” to be the central problem for American foreign policy.

But vowing to end America’s interminable military adventures doesn’t make it so. Four years ago, President Barack Obama denounced “the idea of endless war” even as he announced that ground troops would remain in Afghanistan. In his last year in office, the United States dropped an estimated 26,172 bombs on seven countries.

President Trump, despite criticizing Middle East wars, has intensified existing interventions and threatened to start new ones. He has abetted the Saudi-led war in Yemen, in defiance of Congress. He has put America perpetually on the brink with Iran. And he has lavished billions extra on a Pentagon that already outspends the world’s seven next largest militaries combined.

Dominance, assumed to ensure peace, in fact guarantees war.

In theory, armed supremacy could foster peace. Facing overwhelming force, who would dare to defy American wishes? That was the hope of Pentagon planners in 1992; they reacted to the collapse of America’s Cold War adversary not by pulling back but by pursuing even greater military pre-eminence. But the quarter-century that followed showed the opposite to prevail in practice. Freed from one big enemy, the United States found many smaller enemies: It has launched far more military interventions since the Cold War than during the “twilight struggle” itself. Of all its interventions since 1946, roughly 80 percent have taken place after 1991.

Why have interventions proliferated as challengers have shrunk? The basic cause is America’s infatuation with military force. Its political class imagines that force will advance any aim, limiting debate to what that aim should be. Continued gains by the Taliban, 18 years after the United States initially toppled it, suggest a different principle: The profligate deployment of force creates new and unnecessary objectives more than it realizes existing and worthy ones.

In the Middle East, endless war began when the United States first stationed troops permanently in the region after winning the Persian Gulf war in 1991. A circular logic took hold. The United States created its own dependence on allies that hosted and assisted American forces. It provoked states, terrorists and militias that opposed its presence. Among the results: The United States has bombed Iraq almost every year since 1991 and spent an estimated $6 trillion on post-9/11 wars....
Armed domination has become an end in itself. Which means Americans face a choice: Either they should openly espouse endless war, or they should chart a new course.

...the United States should pursue the safety and welfare of its people while respecting the rights and dignity of all. In the 21st century, finally rid of colonial empires and Cold War antagonism, America has the opportunity to practice responsible statecraft, directed toward the promotion of peace. Responsible statecraft will oppose the war-making of others, but it will make sure, first and foremost, that America is not fueling violence.
On its own initiative, the United States can proudly bring home many of its soldiers currently serving in 800 bases ringing the globe, leaving small forces to protect commercial sea lanes. It can reorient its military, prioritizing deterrence and defense over power projection. It can stop the obscenity that America sends more weapons into the world than does any other country. It can reserve armed intervention, and warlike sanctions, for purposes that are essential, legal and rare.

Shrinking the military’s footprint will deprive presidents of the temptation to answer every problem with a violent solution. It will enable genuine engagement in the world, making diplomacy more effective, not less. As the United States stops being a party to every conflict, it can start being a party to resolving conflicts...

Today a world with less American militarism is likely to have less militarism in general.

...there’s a reason no one can connect the dots from unceasing interventions to a system of law and order. After decades of unilateral actions, crowned by the aggressive invasion of Iraq, it is U.S. military power that threatens international law and order. Rules should strengthen through cooperation, not wither through imposition.

In truth, the largest obstacle to ending endless war is self-imposed. Long told that the United States is the world’s “indispensable nation,” the American people have been denied a choice and have almost stopped demanding one. A global superpower — waging endless war — is just “who we are.”

But it is for the people to decide who we are, guided by the best of what we have been. America “goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy,” Secretary of State John Quincy Adams said in 1821. “She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.”

Two centuries later, in the age of Trump, endless war has come home. Cease this folly, and America can begin to take responsibility in the world and reclaim its civic peace.

Benefits to the nation, to us all, if we were to do this?

• First and foremost, it would save our military soldiers' lives..
• As the article points out so clearly, it would reduce war and terror in the world.
• Next, it would cut our spending, our obscene government spending
• We could spend far more wisely on our infratstructure--schools, bridges, roads, HEALTHCARE. 
• In short, we could support and invest in our people, in the nation. Imagine better roads, smarter healthcare, better schools, no poverty, fewer, in not zero Americans on the street, impoverished, sick, etc. 
• Finally, on this short list, we could also SAVE MONEY.

Any of those, let alone all, are worthy and all are possible, honestly, if we only ended this insanity of perpetual war, the path we're on now.

We have been in Aghanistan EIGHTEEN YEARS. Does anyone really think we've improved things over there? Worse, does anyone think we will (improve things there)?

Finally, here today, for anyone who says we must keep up our "defense spending" because have a "war on terror", I quote the following:

"We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security."  --Dwight D. Eisenhower

"The catch-all phrase "the war on terrorism", in all honesty, has no more meaning than if one wants to wage a war against "criminal gangsterism". Terrorism is a tactic. You can't have a war against a tactic. It's deliberately vague and non-definable in order to justify and permit perpetual war anywhere and under any circumstance."  --Ron Paul

"Always there has been some terrible evil at home or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it."  --Douglas MacArthur

"Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich." --Peter Ustinov

"Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear - kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor - with the cry of grave national emergency."  --Douglas MacArthur

"We cannot simply suspend or restrict civil liberties until the War on Terror is over, because the War on Terror is unlikely ever to be truly over."  --Gerald Bard Tjoflat

"Terrorists can endanger some of us, but the war on terror endangers us all. How much more can the Constitution be diminished before it is completely replaced by arbitrary government power?"  --Paul Craig Roberts

And the best, most true quote on the "war on terrorism" nonsense comes, for me, from Gore Vidal:

“You can’t have a war on terrorism because that’s not an actual enemy, it’s an abstract. It’s like having a war on dandruff. That war will be eternal and pointless. It’s idiotic. That’s not a war, it’s a slogan. It’s a lie. It’s advertising, which is the only art form we ever invented in America. And we use it to sell soap, war and presidential candidates in the same fashion.”

Missouri's Sad State of Infrastructure

I've written about Missouri's sad state of infrastructure here before. Our roads and streets and bridges, not just here in Kansas City but statewide.

It seems clear, with Republican-led government, on the state or national level, either one, we--read: they--just don't want to fund the basics like education or, again, infrastructure. Millions and billions for perpetual war in foreign countries but far too little for our own nation.

So along comes this study:

Bridge safety: It'll take More Than 80 Years to Repair the 47,000 Structurally Deficient Bridges in America, Report Finds

Check out these statistics from the article:

More than 47,000 bridges in the United States are in crucial need of repairs, says the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, or ARTBA. The group, which advocates for investment in transportation infrastructure, analyzes data from the Federal Highway Administration and releases an annual Deficient Bridge report.

This year's report, released Monday and based on 2018 data, found:

• There are 616,087 bridges in America
• Of those, 47,052 (nearly 8%) are "structurally deficient" and need urgent repairs
• 235,020 bridges (38%) need some sort of repair
• Americans cross structurally deficient bridges 178 million times a day, including such landmarks as the Brooklyn Bridge and the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge over the San Francisco Bay
• The average age of a structurally deficient bridge is 62 years

Now, check out our own state of Missouri’s ranking in all this.

The states with the highest number of compromised bridges are:

Iowa (4,675)
Pennsylvania (3,770)
Oklahoma (2,540)
Illinois (2,273)
Missouri (2,116)

We're one of the worst, one of the top 5 states with bridges in poor repair in the nation.

Meanwhile, this is our current status:

“President Trump has said repeatedly that he wants to upgrade America's crumbling infrastructure. Even though some Democratic leaders have expressed a willingness to work with him on a plan, little progress has been made on the issue.”

We need to demand more, much more from our legislators, in Jefferson City and Washington, both.

We've been in Afghanistan, either blowing things up or building schools for 18 years.

Even Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has pointed this out.

Chinese Billionaire Jack Ma Says the US Wasted Trillions On Warfare Instead of Investing In Infrastructure

What part of that makes sense?

Let's get back to taking care of the important things.

At home.

We can't be strong over there if we're weak over here.

Links:

Falling apart: America's neglected infrastructure - CBS News

Why do Republicans really oppose infrastructure spending?

What Most Americans Don't Know About Our National Defense Budget--But Should

There is an excellent, even important article out presently at Alternet I wish all adult, voting-age Americans would read. It is this.

How to Blow $700 Billion and Lose Wars

A Guide to America's Exploding Defense Budget and Military Failure

Step 1: Buy the most expensive weapons in history. Step 2: Don’t use them, since they mostly don’t work

And before any military patriots or just disbelievers dismiss the article, out of hand, before reading it, they should know it's written by a Veteran and who served in Iraq, on the ground. It's not from some "Left Wing" "librul" they can or should dismiss.

A bit from the article:

This year, President Trump signed the largest defense budget in our history: $700 billion. The budget includes $13.7 billion for 90 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, which according to CNN are “in service and mission capable only 26 percent of the time.” Not a single F-35 jet has yet to see combat duty.

The budget will provide $4.5 billion for the construction of a new Ford class aircraft carrier, $450 million for three Littoral Combat Ships, $4 billion for two new guided missile destroyers, $5.5 billion for two new Virginia Class submarines, and tens of billions more for upgrades and repairs on various aircraft and naval vessels. Two of the guided missile destroyers already in service were involved in deadly collisions with cargo ships in the western Pacific last year. A Navy investigation revealed that for all of the hundreds of billions spent on defense, there was apparently not enough in the budget to provide for adequate training in standing watch and driving Navy combat ships...

He finishes the article perfectly, to me. It's something I've been saying for some time.

Fifteen years in Iraq. Seventeen years in Afghanistan. There is no end in sight.

From 2011 to today, 2018, we more than doubled our national defense budget from 354 billion dollars to 700 billion.

We have no new enemies. No new group has attacked us or is attacking. Or is going to.

We are weakening, actually weakening our nation with all this absurd, obscenely expensive and very wasteful spending.

Understand this:

Our defense budget is very huge, very bloated and very wasteful and is actually making the nation weaker.  Not stronger.

What are we going to do about this, America?

Links:

The Secret Side of Military Spending & The Wastes of War

We Are Spending a Trillion on War 

and We Need to Own Up to It

The 10 Most Blatantly Wasteful Defense Items

Note this next article is from the American Conservative magazine:

Expanding the Military Budget Is 

Wasteful and Unnecessary'

Pentagon buries evidence of $125 billion 

in bureaucratic waste

The F-35: A Weapon That Costs More 

Than Australia

International Day of Peace, 2017

Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.

The theme for 2017 is “Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for All.”

The theme honours the spirit of TOGETHER, a global initiative that promotes respect, safety and dignity for everyone forced to flee their homes in search of a better life. TOGETHER unites the organizations of the United Nations System, the 193 Member States of the United Nations, the private sector, civil society, academic institutions and individual citizens in a global partnership in support of diversity, non-discrimination and acceptance of refugees and migrants. It was initiated during the United Nations Summit for Refugees and Migrants on 19 September 2016.

See more here:

International Day of Peace 21 September - the United Nations

Congratulations, America, On Your Very Dubious 15 Year Anniversary

Today is the 15th anniversary of the U.S-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Think about that.

15 years of sending mostly young American soldiers---men and women--to a foreign country to fight and die--for....?

How is this not like the Vietnam War?  How is this not a "quagmire"?

#perpetualwar

Link:  U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan begins - Oct 07, 2001

Fifteen years on, the Afghanistan war still rumbles

Afghanistan Needs a Settlement, Not Another Troop-Withdrawal Deadline

Ending the Afghan War

Hoist By Their Own Words

Leslie H. Gelb says the U.S. military has lost its way in Afghanistan.

Forging a Four-Sided Afghan Deal

 Fifteen Years of Lessons Not Learned

With No End After 15 Years, Thoughts Turn to Who Will Inherit Afghan War

Memorial Day

Bring them home.

Memorial Day

Army Rangers in Afghanistan Release Music Video in Commemoration of Memorial Day

First Lieutenants Andrew Yacovone and Justin Wright formed a musical duo called Interstate 10, and this week they released a music video from Afghanistan.