Three quarters of one trillion dollars, at least, for weapons and killing and attacking other nations--far beyond what any other nation spends, in fact, far beyond what virtually all other nations spend--but we don't take care of the people.

How does anyone think this is sustainable for the nation?

How long with these wars, America?

The cost of war:

6714 - Number of Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central Command.

7 more dead this week:

- Army Sgt. Stefan M. Smith, July 23, 2013 - 24, of Glennville, Ga

- Army 1st Lt. Jonam Russell, July 23, 2013 - 25, of Cornville, Ariz

- Army Spc. Rob L. Nichols, July 23, 2013 - 24, of Colorado Springs, Colo

- Army Spc. Caryn E. Nouv, July 27, 2013 - 29, of Newport News, Va

- Army Sgt. Eric T. Lawson, July 27, 2013 - 30, of Stockbridge, Ga

- Army Sgt. Stephen M. New, July 28, 2013 - 29, of Bartlett, Tenn

- Army Spc. Nicholas B. Burley, July 30, 2013 - 22, of Red Bluff, Calif.


 Another week and another $2 Billion spent in Afghanistan. 

Total bill to U.S. Taxpayers = $1,461,095,349,726.


You want to "support the troops"?

Bring them home.  Demand that we bring them home.

You want to cut our wasteful--grossly wasteful, obscene--deficit spending?

Cut the Department of Defense budget by half.

We would still outspend the rest of the world several times over.

Great ideas to cut defense spending---from Conservatives

I am extremely heartened by the fact that I found an article from a very Conservative magazine--The American Conservative--on how we, the US, could and should cut our very bloated defense spending.

Sure, you can always find this kind of thing from those (us) Lefties but here was one with 16 terrific ideas from Conservatives for cutting defense spending and having it all make far more sense:



16 Ways to Cut Defense Spending

 

The greatest threat to our national security is how much our militarism costs.

 

A synopsis of those 16 ideas:

 

1) The military is top-heavy with officers and generals;

 

2)  If every missile and bomb hits its target—unlike in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam—why do we need so many planes, tanks, and warships?

 

3) Combine military medical services. Each of the armed forces has its own medical corps;

 

4) Former Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England urged cutting 100,000 civilian employees from the Defense Department when it had 700,000 employees, the same number as during World War 2. Now the number has grown to 800,000;

 

5) Tricare costs the Pentagon budget over $50 billion per year to provide almost free healthcare to all military retirees and their families for life, even if they are working in other jobs with health insurance. Former Secretary of Defense Gates tried in vain to establish reasonable co-pays and reforms;

 

6) Senator Coburn complained that the military schools were costing $50,000 per student. He urged reforms such as using more local civilian schools near military bases;

 

7) The military maintains some 4,000 bases inside the U.S. and 1,000 overseas with personnel in 140 nations; many installations have fewer than 100 troops. (see The Hidden Cost of Empire);

 

8) The military is paid vastly more than civilians. Officers and enlisted men earn an average cash income some 80 percent higher than civilians with similar skills and education. Their pension and medical benefits put them far beyond what any worker in the private sector earns;

 

9) Retirement ages were set well over a hundred years ago when life spans were under 60 years;

 

10) Retired generals and admirals should be prohibited for five years from working for the military-industrial complex so that they will use their skills elsewhere to help the civilian economy;

 

11) It’s not just Pentagon waste. The CIA and other intelligence agencies have virtual blank checks without oversight;

 

12) It cost half a million in Iraq and nearly a million dollars in Afghanistan to maintain each soldier per year. Obviously fewer foreign interventions would save hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars. (Imagine that--fewer wars);

 

13) Weaponry is the greatest money sink of all. Weapons are designed to be built in key congressional districts, not to be the most efficient or cost effective, as during the Second World War;

 

14) Half of defense manufacturing workers are unionized, many with outdated work rules and few of the efficiencies instituted by competitive private industry, e.g., cutting out much middle management and using labor to maximum efficiency. (This one, personally, I'm staunchly against--breaking up unions but that's another matter);

 

15) America maintains duplicate forces: two armies (i.e., Army and Marine Corps.) and four air forces (the Air Force, Marine Corps aviation, Naval Air Forces, and the CIA’s fleet of aircraft and drones). (This is at least irresponsible, if not insanity);

 

16) Rand Paul has demanded that the Pentagon be audited, something Congress has so far been unable to do. The Defense Department does not even know all the cash, supplies, foreign bases, and inventory it has. Much more vast and incredible waste remains to be discovered.

 

A great start. This should be the beginning of an excellent, long term conversation.

 

And then we need to get busy.

 

(It's a terrific article, folks. You would do yourself--and your country--well to read it all. There isn't that much more to it beyond the above, too, but it is beyond worth it and important, I think).

Ignorant, sick, twisted, unhealthy American priorities, Part II

As the now old saying goes, wouldn't it be great if the military had to have bake sales, instead of schools? Not literally but darn near.

Keeping in mind Staff Sergeant Bales (the Afghan shooter)

Keeping in mind what's happening right now with the Staff Sergeant who is just an easy 45 minutes or so away from Kansas City right now, up in Fort Leavenworth's military prison for having reportedly, suspectedly shot 16 civilians and then set at least some on fire, check out what the military's goal is for "treating" service members.

Afghan shooter, Part II

Everyone's out getting drunk while there's this: Military Sources Name Army Sergeant Suspected in Afghanistan Massacre 4 deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, lost part of his foot, had a traumatic head injury, wife and 2 kids at home, troubles there, on the home/marriage front: Suspect in Afghan Attack Snapped, US Official Says. Poor guy. Sure, I feel for the innocent Afghanis, too, absolutely. But this guy needs needs his wife, kids and country behind him. What he did was wrong but the war is wrong and he needs help, at least. It pains me that he's only about 45 minutes from home. I feel sick for him and have since I heard about it. Happy St. Patrick's Day, America. A man's life may well be ruined for you. Links: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/military-sources-name-army-sergeant-suspected-afghanistan-massacre-224453357.html; http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/world/asia/suspect-in-afghan-attack-snapped-us-official-says.html?_r=1.

Senator McCaskill, pushing for accountability at the Pentagon

Our own Senator Claire McCaskill posted a fantastic column today on her Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/notes/senator-claire-mccaskill/the-time-is-now-to-reform-wartime-contracting/386134884732785), calling for the Pentagon and Department of Defense to get far more responsible and accountable with its "wartime contracting." Who can't be behind that? Our military gets billions upon billions of dollars from us, the citizens of the country, and it seems the least they could do is to be responsible with it and spend it wisely and with tight accountability. As it is, far too many millions and billions of dollars get either lost completey--nearly unbelievably enough--or just spent poorly. That actually ends up weakening even the military itself, let alone the nation.

It seems that she--Senator McCaskill--and Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, a combat veteran and former Secretary of the Navy have teamed up to propose S2139, "the Comprehensive Contingency Contracting Reform Act of 2012. The legislation strengthens contracting practices and improves accountability across government by: ■Elevating oversight responsibility, improving management structures, expanding planning requirements, and reforming contracting practices during overseas military contingencies; ■Requiring the government to identify how it will pay for military operations overseas; ■And improving the contracting process through greater transparency, competition, and professional education. So good for you, Senator McCaskill, and good for us. Thank you for this and keep more of this kind of thing coming, especially if you could make the next step cutting Defense spending by great amounts and as soon as possible.

Sec. of Defense: Iran not developing nukes

From Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta himself: So if our own Secretary of Defense is certain Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, could we please not have any further talk of possible war with same said nation. Please? And while we're at it, would you get those 1,000 American soldiers--or CIA agents or whatever they are--out of Israel? Link: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/01/09/secretary-of-defense-leon-panetta-says-iran-is-not-developing-nuclear-weapons-video/

Looking forward, looking back

Today in History: U.S. Supreme Court upholds forced relocation and detention of Japanese-Americans during World War Two. That's the looking back part. Looking forward? Congress just passed the National Defense Authorization Act which is said to have made possible--legal--the "indefinite detention" of American citizens without formal arrest charges or trial. As the song goes "when will we ever learn?"

One more reason we shouldn't go to war with Iran

Look at this map. Besides the fact that we're already in too many wars internationally and that we've lost far too many American soldiers, this is how many bases we have, surrounding Iran.

Each red star represents a military base. Enough, you think?

War? With yet another country? Now?

So simple. So right. So intelligent. Why, then, is he an "outsider" and why are these ideas of his not more common in Washington, especially right now? Insane. I don't get it. We should all be brighter than where we are and what we're doing.

One more insanity of our federal budget

News out yesterday: NOAA Chief: 2011 Weather Was "Harbinger of Things to Come" Pressure to reduce government spending is intensifying, whereas demand for services provided by agencies such as NOAA is at an all-time high. SAN FRANCISCO -- The United States was battered this year by at least 12 natural disasters that each caused at least $1 billion in damages, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said yesterday. The agency said it was adding a June tornado outbreak in the Midwest and Southeast and record-setting wildfires in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico to a list that also includes flooding along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, drought in the Southern Plains and southwestern United States, five previous tornado outbreaks in Southern and central states, and a blizzard. That count could still rise, because NOAA is still tallying damages from Tropical Storm Lee and a late October snowstorm in the Northeast. But this year was not an aberration, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said during a speech here yesterday. "Budgets and politics threaten our observations, our research, our modeling and our delivery of information and other services," Lubchenco added. "The unfortunate thing is that with more and more extreme events, we are being requested with increasing frequency by emergency managers, by citizens, by the business community, by farmers ... for more information on climate-scale events, which we define as anything beyond 14 days," Lubchenco said. "We will not be able to do it as efficiently or effectively as we would like to because we were not able to reorganize." MR: We could and should take it from the defense budget. But we won't. Link: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=noaa-chief-2011-was-harbi

So many bombs, they're showing up on Miami beach now

Seriously, this is how bad it's gotten now in America. Last evening, this story came out: Navy training mine washes ashore A bomb squad has removed a Navy training mine that authorities say washed ashore on Miami Beach in an area dotted by numerous condominiums. It goes on: "A live Navy training mine that washed ashore is shown at Miami Beach, Fla., Monday, Dec. 5, 2011." Think about this. We--the US--has so many mines and bombs of various kinds--since we spend so bloody much on war--that now the bombs are washing back up on our own shores. Seriously. Can we not say "enough!"? Links: http://news.yahoo.com/navy-training-mine-washes-ashore-miami-beach-202623399.html; http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-training-mine-washes-ashore-1323123214-slideshow/

How we can reduce defense spending

Imagine that--a president, speaking on peace

We need presidents that give speeches like this, on peace and intelligence, like JFK gave and like President Eisenhower's final "military-industrial complex" speech. We are the one nation in the world that is fueling more war than any other, honestly, yet we think of ourselves as "peace-loving." We need to defuse that "military-industrial complex" and wean ourselves off the defense spending we are told we need so badly. It must end and it should end as soon as possible for our nation's sake and for the world's, as well.

Andy Rooney on war

Rest in peace, Andy Rooney.

Quote of the day

"I applaud the president's decision and have been advocating that position for quite a while. Our nation has spent hundreds of billions of dollars in recent years protecting the people of Iraq and rebuilding that country. Vermont and America have also paid a very heavy price in loss of life and injuries suffered by our soldiers. Now is the time to bring our troops home, lower our military budget, and use those funds to create jobs by rebuilding our infrastructure and lowering our national debt." --Senator Bernie Sanders (Indep., Vermont). Link: http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=1894e87e-1eaa-40b1-81ac-b2b4563b518e

Truth be told: Even American Soldiers are against our wars

Out of Afghanistan now. Ten years is far too long.

The financial costs of George W. Bush's Wars?

"The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion – a major victory for Osama bin Laden, whose announced goal was to bankrupt America by drawing it into a trap." - Noam Chomsky

A decade of war (guest post)

From the Iraq Veterans Against the War and their site: DECADE OF WAR AWARENESS MONTH published by Jose Vasquez on 09/09/11 11:52am This weekend, our nation will somberly mark 10 years since the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. As we grieve for the victims and their families, another milestone looms: the October 7th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the Global War on Terror. A decade in, the American public still knows very little about the Afghan people or the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Congress continues to increase military spending as we are faced with rising unemployment, a foreclosure crisis, and funding cuts for education, social security, and healthcare. In response, IVAW is working with a coalition of anti-war and social justice organizations to launch a Decade of War Awareness Month from September 7 to October 7. Throughout the month, we will be working with our partner organizations (including Military Families Speak Out, War Resisters League, Veterans for Peace, and Afghans for Peace) to promote relationship-building among people and communities affected by U.S. militarism and the war economy in both the U.S. and Afghanistan. At WarVoices.org, you'll find resources on the U.S. war economy and current on-the-ground realities in Afghanistan, including a full public education curriculum designed for your community. We encourage you to use this curriculum to orchestrate workshops and explore how U.S. militarism and military spending relate to your local campaigns for social and economic justice, both directly and indirectly, across a wide-range of issues. The month will culminate on October 7th in Washington D.C. with a unique forum, War Voices: Building Community After a Decade of Struggle at Home and Abroad. Through story-telling, workshops, discussions, and cultural performances, we will build our power as a movement by meeting one another, building relationships that will inspire us for the long haul, envisioning new directions for the future, and planting the seeds for structures of mutual support and solidarity that will allow us to create a demilitarized world. To register local events in your community to commemorate the 10th anniversary or for more information, please visit WarVoices.com. Link: http://ivaw.org/