"WHY WE FIGHT"
Last night I saw the film "Why We Fight" at the local Unitarian/Universalist Church I have been attending and I wanted to recommend it highly for those of you who have yet to see this. The movie will provide some very disturbing insights in the politics and big business of modern warfare. Very scary stuff indeed!
When ever you mention the military-industrial complex many people dismiss you as being a paranoid crackpot and a perpatrator of unfounded conspiracy theories. While some of that may be true their is definately a military-industrial complex in this country whose reach is world wide. It's big business and it is all about big profits, shareholders and American superiority.
My father is one of those pre-baby boomers who still look at films such as this as being made by "liberal crackpots" however, even he had to take notice when many of the people interviewed in the film such as Senator McCain are Republican (moderate as he may pretend to be) and conservative. McCain was an early supporter of the war in Iraq and some of his changes in attitude can possibly be attributed to future political aspirations as are Hilary Clintons (another early supporter.) who claims now to have been "mislead." Read into this: "Whoops...look what happened to Lieberman..better change my stance."
Why We Fight goes way beyond 9/11, the War on Terror and our Invasion of Iraq. It deals with the heart of the problem and that is the collusion between the military and industrial. The film even shows a representative of a Halliburton subsidary admitting to a crowd of conventioners that "collusion is our buisness" and that "we are in collusion with the military." John McCain at one point refers to this system as our system of "legal corruption." Because while we may consider this to be immoral or at best amoral it is legal and not going away until we make it go away at the legislative level.
The movie starts with a clip of President Eisenhower's fairwell address in 1961. In it he warns us of the danger of the emerging Military-Industrial Complex. This fascinates me because Eisenhower was the man who set this in motion. Following the Second World War he believed that it was necessary to militarize our country for our better defense. Given the state of our military at the time we entered the war the attitude is understandable. What many of us don't realize is that heroic generation were fighting great odds and it was touch and go for a long time.
The problem was that it soon got out of control. One interview in the film remarked that Eisenhower's warning was not only prophetic but that "every word had come true." At one point we see Eisenhower discussing the cost of various items such as fighter jets and then compared them to the number of houses that could be built to house over 8,000.00 people. Eisenhower believed that a strong military was necessary in this modern world to protect our way of life but that "militarism" should not become a way of life because "it is no life at all." According to the late president's son, Retired Brig General John Eisenhower his dad felt that this militarism impoverished us and ignored the hungry and the homeless. A military man to his core, Eisenhower understood the limitations and the place of the military. Towards the end of his presidency he was heard remarking, "God help the next person who sits at this desk and who doesn't know the military as well as I do."
The 1950's, a time that my poor addled mother likes to consider the "good old days," was a very dangerous time. Military spending worldwide tripled from 1948-1952.
During the presidential race between Bush Sr and Clinton there was a lot of discussion and attempts by both sides to claim the spirit of Harry Truman to which his daughter commented by stating that neither man had her father's character. Yet I am unable to view Truman as anything but a mass murder. The only president in modern history since the start of the atomic age to order not one, but two, atomic devices to be used against another nation. America was lied to and told that this would save millions of American lives yet what we didn' know at the time was that Japan had been trying to surrender all summer. They were done in by the war but Truman refused to listen. He wanted to drop the bombs.
Presumably it was to put a scare into Stalin and others. Truman wanted to show off what America had and wanted to let the world know we would not hesitate. Yet the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki showed no compassion (which good warriors are supposed to possess) and took no concern for so-called colatoral damage that term in modern warfare that determines how much "civilian" or non-military/political damage will be done by the attack. In other words how many "innocent lives" will be murdered in the process. Truman's act is on par with those of Stalin and his successor Kruschev. Both Soviet dictators committed acts of attrocity that in some cases even out did Hitler.
Brig Gen Eisenhower described his dad as being conflicted and emotional when, still a general during the War, learning of the Atomic Bomb. He later would say he wished we had never invented the damn thing. This sentiment was shared by Einstein who was, at first, a proponent of developing nuclear technology.
Some other interesting items WHY WE FIGHT presents to us include George W. Bush. We think of him along with Rumsfeld and others as being the architect of our present war in Iraq. Yet they were simply implementing part of an existing foreign policy that had been on the table long before George W. Bush became president. The events of 9/11 provided an excuse to begin to implement this new foreign policy
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Dick Cheney, then Defense Secretary, put plans in motion to ensure that the United States was the "new Rome." He very clearly states that the world should only be a one superpower world and the United States is to be that superpower.
One things that is sad about the so called war on terror is what it has done to our collective psyche as a people. Following the events of 9/11 the world was on our side, even in places that had not always been allies. People took to the streets in Tehran in show of support and outrage for this attack. Iran, a hard line Isamic country since the Carter Admimistration and one that had not been friendly toward us in years, empathized with the United States. Other Islamic nations such as Turkey did as well. Yet know we have turned our back and become even more hated then ever before. After 9/11 we were presented with the image of the terrorist as being black hearted and evil and while their attacks certainly may be classified that way no one answered the question that Americans wanted to know, "Why do these people hate us so much?"
During the Soviet era our CIA covertly assisted the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden until it was no longer politically expedient to do so. When it no longer suited us we pulled out and left them to their own devices. Rumsfeld is seen in photographs with Saddam Hussein during the 80's when we tried to "normalize" our relations with Bagdhad due to our escalaiting problems with Iran. This is only the tip of the ice berg.
Over the years I met a few South Vietnemese who came to this country in the early 70's who feel that the United States ultimately bailed on them in their hours of need. Fortunately many of them separate the American people from the actions of our goverment. Unfortunately not everyone can do that and anger such as the kind that the terrorists are turning on us burns hot and deep. It will be years before some of these attitudes change.
Our government has always lied to us in some fashion regarding military operations. It is something that can't be denied. They usually had behind the shadow of "national security" to hide some of their more amoral acts. Every president since FDR has used American Military force at some point. Truman had the end of the 2nd World War, Eisenhower had Korea and the start of the Vietnam conflict, a conflict that spanned the presidencies of Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. I am not sure about Ford but Carter had at least the botched attempt at rescuing the hostages in our embassy in Tehran. Reagan had Granada, Bush had Operation Desert Storm and the Clinton Administration was involved in Bosnia et al. Let's not forget that after the botched assasination attempt of former President Bush's life Clinton ordered an air strike on a suspected terroist strong hold in retaliation.
This film shows us what happens when national policies are based on what is good for corporation instead of what is good for the citizens. The problem that we face is that our economy is so enmesshed with the military-industrial complex that trying to unravel or slow it down is a daunting task. Companies sush as Boeing, Mc Donell Douglass and Lockheed-Martin, make sure their contracts are fulfilled by production in as many states as possible. If these jobs start going away even the most so-called liberal senators will start howling as they see their constituents economic fortunes shift. More jobs mean votes for these men and women.
As a final note I want to issue a sort of "warning" of my own. Both the Quaker and Untiarian movements have deep pacifist sentiments. But this could be our undoing. While we should always stand up for peace and diplomacy and speak out against unjust military actions we need to look very closely at the complex socio-economic problem that is the Middle East. We are deeply entrenched and it will be years before we will ever 'get out' of this situation regardless of how badly we desire this to be so. Even when we finaly remove our military presence our "presence" will still be there.
Our desire for peace and diplomacy needs to be tempered with discernment and common sense. If the present plan being argued and tossed about Congress and subsequently Vetoed by the President is implement as currently suggested it will be considered by many world wide as another example of how America does whatever the hell it wants. We have literally shot up the countryside and our policies are at the root of some of the several insurgencies currently taking place. Once again we are going to appear leaving our supposed allies high and dry when it no longer suits us. Trust me...the world may want us out of there but they will resent the hell out of us when we are gone. This needs to be done right.
The present Iraqi government will not survive long after we live. Iran and Syria, both nations we are not friendly with (to say the least) will swoop in. It may stabalize the region but it will be a stability that not only threatens our ally Israel but the rest of the world as well. The so-called insurgents hate us and probably for very good reason in some cases. They are intelligent, dedicated, fnatical and are determined. They will not turn away from their plans anytime soon.
This war was foolish and lacked any moral justification. We are paying dearly for this and will continue to do so for years to come. It is quite possible that our grandchildren's children will still be feeling the effects of our present administrations choices. But let us not succumb to rhetoric of our own. Lets' not toss about words such as evil and point the finger at anybody. War and empire is apart of human history and our present leaders are no more evil than leaders of the past. Change will come with the change in our own consciousness first.
It is unfortunate that the history of human civilization is one of empire. In every era there has been an empire right up to our modern age. Whether it is warlike and agressive such as Rome, The British Empire and the Naploenic Empire of France, the modern economic and military based empire of the United States or the quiet empire of the European Union empire has been a way of human life. As long as their exist people who have political and economic ambitions there will be some form of empire. This certainly is no justification for such acts but it something to consider when attempting to resolve these boggling problems.Last night I saw the film "Why We Fight" at the local Unitarian/Universalist Church I have been attending and I wanted to recommend it highly for those of you who have yet to see this. The movie will provide some very disturbing insights in the politics and big business of modern warfare. Very scary stuff indeed!
When ever you mention the military-industrial complex many people dismiss you as being a paranoid crackpot and a perpatrator of unfounded conspiracy theories. While some of that may be true their is definately a military-industrial complex in this country whose reach is world wide. It's big business and it is all about big profits, shareholders and American superiority.
My father is one of those pre-baby boomers who still look at films such as this as being made by "liberal crackpots" however, even he had to take notice when many of the people interviewed in the film such as Senator McCain are Republican (moderate as he may pretend to be) and conservative. McCain was an early supporter of the war in Iraq and some of his changes in attitude can possibly be attributed to future political aspirations as are Hilary Clintons (another early supporter.) who claims now to have been "mislead." Read into this: "Whoops...look what happened to Lieberman..better change my stance."
Why We Fight goes way beyond 9/11, the War on Terror and our Invasion of Iraq. It deals with the heart of the problem and that is the collusion between the military and industrial. The film even shows a representative of a Halliburton subsidary admitting to a crowd of conventioners that "collusion is our buisness" and that "we are in collusion with the military." John McCain at one point refers to this system as our system of "legal corruption." Because while we may consider this to be immoral or at best amoral it is legal and not going away until we make it go away at the legislative level.
The movie starts with a clip of President Eisenhower's fairwell address in 1961. In it he warns us of the danger of the emerging Military-Industrial Complex. This fascinates me because Eisenhower was the man who set this in motion. Following the Second World War he believed that it was necessary to militarize our country for our better defense. Given the state of our military at the time we entered the war the attitude is understandable. What many of us don't realize is that heroic generation were fighting great odds and it was touch and go for a long time.
The problem was that it soon got out of control. One interview in the film remarked that Eisenhower's warning was not only prophetic but that "every word had come true." At one point we see Eisenhower discussing the cost of various items such as fighter jets and then compared them to the number of houses that could be built to house over 8,000.00 people. Eisenhower believed that a strong military was necessary in this modern world to protect our way of life but that "militarism" should not become a way of life because "it is no life at all." According to the late president's son, Retired Brig General John Eisenhower his dad felt that this militarism impoverished us and ignored the hungry and the homeless. A military man to his core, Eisenhower understood the limitations and the place of the military. Towards the end of his presidency he was heard remarking, "God help the next person who sits at this desk and who doesn't know the military as well as I do."
The 1950's, a time that my poor addled mother likes to consider the "good old days," was a very dangerous time. Military spending worldwide tripled from 1948-1952.
During the presidential race between Bush Sr and Clinton there was a lot of discussion and attempts by both sides to claim the spirit of Harry Truman to which his daughter commented by stating that neither man had her father's character. Yet I am unable to view Truman as anything but a mass murder. The only president in modern history since the start of the atomic age to order not one, but two, atomic devices to be used against another nation. America was lied to and told that this would save millions of American lives yet what we didn' know at the time was that Japan had been trying to surrender all summer. They were done in by the war but Truman refused to listen. He wanted to drop the bombs.
Presumably it was to put a scare into Stalin and others. Truman wanted to show off what America had and wanted to let the world know we would not hesitate. Yet the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki showed no compassion (which good warriors are supposed to possess) and took no concern for so-called collatoral damage that term in modern warfare that determines how much "civilian" or non-military/political damage will be done by the attack. In other words how many "innocent lives" will be murdered in the process. Truman's act is on par with those of Stalin and his successor Kruschev. Both Soviet dictators committed acts of atrocity that in some cases even out did Hitler.
Brig Gen Eisenhower described his dad as being conflicted and emotional when, still a general during the War, learning of the Atomic Bomb. He later would say he wished we had never invented the damn thing. This sentiment was shared by Einstein who was, at first, a proponent of developing nuclear technology.
Some other interesting items WHY WE FIGHT presents to us include George W. Bush. We think of him along with Rumsfeld and others as being the architect of our present war in Iraq. Yet they were simply implementing part of an existing foreign policy that had been on the table long before George W. Bush became president. The events of 9/11 provided an excuse to begin to implement this new foreign policy
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Dick Cheney, then Defense Secretary, put plans in motion to ensure that the United States was the "new Rome." He very clearly states that the world should only be a one superpower world and the United States is to be that superpower.
One things that is sad about the so called war on terror is what it has done to our collective psyche as a people. Following the events of 9/11 the world was on our side, even in places that had not always been allies. People took to the streets in Tehran in show of support and outrage for this attack. Iran, a hard line Isamic country since the Carter Admimistration and one that had not been friendly toward us in years, empathized with the United States. Other Islamic nations such as Turkey did as well. Yet now we have turned our back and become even more hated then ever before. After 9/11 we were presented with the image of the terrorist as being black hearted and evil and while their attacks certainly may be classified that way no one answered the question that Americans wanted to know, "Why do these people hate us so much?"
During the Soviet era our CIA covertly assisted the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden until it was no longer politically expedient to do so. When it no longer suited us we pulled out and left them to their own devices. Rumsfeld is seen in photographs with Saddam Hussein during the 80's when we tried to "normalize" our relations with Bagdhad due to our escalaiting problems with Iran. This is only the tip of the ice berg.
Over the years I met a few South Vietnemese who came to this country in the early 70's who feel that the United States ultimately bailed on them in their hours of need. Fortunately many of them separate the American people from the actions of our goverment. Unfortunately not everyone can do that and anger such as the kind that the terrorists are turning on us burns hot and deep. It will be years before some of these attitudes change.
Our government has always lied to us in some fashion regarding military operations. It is something that can't be denied. They usually had behind the shadow of "national security" to hide some of their more amoral acts. Every president since FDR has used American Military force at some point. Truman had the end of the 2nd World War, Eisenhower had Korea and the start of the Vietnam conflict, a conflict that spanned the presidencies of Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. I am not sure about Ford but Carter had at least the botched attempt at rescuing the hostages in our embassy in Tehran. Reagan had Granada, Bush had Operation Desert Storm and the Clinton Administration was involved in Bosnia et al. Let's not forget that after the botched assasination attempt of former President Bush's life Clinton ordered an air strike on a suspected terroist strong hold in retaliation.
This film shows us what happens when national policies are based on what is good for corporation instead of what is good for the citizens. The problem that we face is that our economy is so enmesshed with the military-industrial complex that trying to unravel or slow it down is a daunting task. Companies sush as Boeing, Mc Donell Douglass and Lockheed-Martin, make sure their contracts are fulfilled by production in as many states as possible. If these jobs start going away even the most so-called liberal senators will start howling as they see their constituents economic fortunes shift. More jobs mean votes for these men and women.
As a final note I want to issue a sort of "warning" of my own. Both the Quaker and Untiarian movements have deep pacifist sentiments. But this could be our undoing. While we should always stand up for peace and diplomacy and speak out against unjust military actions we need to look very closely at the complex socio-economic problem that is the Middle East. We are deeply entrenched and it will be years before we will ever 'get out' of this situation regardless of how badly we desire this to be so. Even when we finaly remove our military presence our "presence" will still be there.
Our desire for peace and diplomacy needs to be tempered with discernment and common sense. If the present plan being argued and tossed about Congress and subsequently Vetoed by the President is implement as currently suggested it will be considered by many world wide as another example of how America does whatever the hell it wants. We have literally shot up the countryside and our policies are at the root of some of the several insurgencies currently taking place. Once again we are going to appear leaving our supposed allies high and dry when it no longer suits us. Trust me...the world may want us out of there but they will resent the hell out of us when we are gone. This needs to be done right.
The present Iraqi government will not survive long after we live. Iran and Syria, both nations we are not friendly with (to say the least) will swoop in. It may stabalize the region but it will be a stability that not only threatens our ally Israel but the rest of the world as well. The so-called insurgents hate us and probably for very good reason in some cases. They are intelligent, dedicated, fnatical and are determined. They will not turn away from their plans anytime soon.
This war was foolish and lacked any moral justification. We are paying dearly for this and will continue to do so for years to come. It is quite possible that our grandchildren's children will still be feeling the effects of our present administrations choices. But let us not succumb to rhetoric of our own. Lets' not toss about words such as evil and point the finger at anybody. War and empire is apart of human history and our present leaders are no more evil than leaders of the past. Change will come with the change in our own consciousness first.
It is unfortunate that the history of human civilization is one of empire. In every era there has been an empire right up to our modern age. Whether it is warlike and agressive such as Rome, The British Empire and the Naploenic Empire of France, the modern economic and military based empire of the United States or the quiet empire of the European Union empire has been a way of human life. As long as their exist people who have political and economic ambitions there will be some form of empire. This certainly is no justification for such acts but it something to consider when attempting to resolve these boggling problems.
When ever you mention the military-industrial complex many people dismiss you as being a paranoid crackpot and a perpatrator of unfounded conspiracy theories. While some of that may be true their is definately a military-industrial complex in this country whose reach is world wide. It's big business and it is all about big profits, shareholders and American superiority.
My father is one of those pre-baby boomers who still look at films such as this as being made by "liberal crackpots" however, even he had to take notice when many of the people interviewed in the film such as Senator McCain are Republican (moderate as he may pretend to be) and conservative. McCain was an early supporter of the war in Iraq and some of his changes in attitude can possibly be attributed to future political aspirations as are Hilary Clintons (another early supporter.) who claims now to have been "mislead." Read into this: "Whoops...look what happened to Lieberman..better change my stance."
Why We Fight goes way beyond 9/11, the War on Terror and our Invasion of Iraq. It deals with the heart of the problem and that is the collusion between the military and industrial. The film even shows a representative of a Halliburton subsidary admitting to a crowd of conventioners that "collusion is our buisness" and that "we are in collusion with the military." John McCain at one point refers to this system as our system of "legal corruption." Because while we may consider this to be immoral or at best amoral it is legal and not going away until we make it go away at the legislative level.
The movie starts with a clip of President Eisenhower's fairwell address in 1961. In it he warns us of the danger of the emerging Military-Industrial Complex. This fascinates me because Eisenhower was the man who set this in motion. Following the Second World War he believed that it was necessary to militarize our country for our better defense. Given the state of our military at the time we entered the war the attitude is understandable. What many of us don't realize is that heroic generation were fighting great odds and it was touch and go for a long time.
The problem was that it soon got out of control. One interview in the film remarked that Eisenhower's warning was not only prophetic but that "every word had come true." At one point we see Eisenhower discussing the cost of various items such as fighter jets and then compared them to the number of houses that could be built to house over 8,000.00 people. Eisenhower believed that a strong military was necessary in this modern world to protect our way of life but that "militarism" should not become a way of life because "it is no life at all." According to the late president's son, Retired Brig General John Eisenhower his dad felt that this militarism impoverished us and ignored the hungry and the homeless. A military man to his core, Eisenhower understood the limitations and the place of the military. Towards the end of his presidency he was heard remarking, "God help the next person who sits at this desk and who doesn't know the military as well as I do."
The 1950's, a time that my poor addled mother likes to consider the "good old days," was a very dangerous time. Military spending worldwide tripled from 1948-1952.
During the presidential race between Bush Sr and Clinton there was a lot of discussion and attempts by both sides to claim the spirit of Harry Truman to which his daughter commented by stating that neither man had her father's character. Yet I am unable to view Truman as anything but a mass murder. The only president in modern history since the start of the atomic age to order not one, but two, atomic devices to be used against another nation. America was lied to and told that this would save millions of American lives yet what we didn' know at the time was that Japan had been trying to surrender all summer. They were done in by the war but Truman refused to listen. He wanted to drop the bombs.
Presumably it was to put a scare into Stalin and others. Truman wanted to show off what America had and wanted to let the world know we would not hesitate. Yet the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki showed no compassion (which good warriors are supposed to possess) and took no concern for so-called colatoral damage that term in modern warfare that determines how much "civilian" or non-military/political damage will be done by the attack. In other words how many "innocent lives" will be murdered in the process. Truman's act is on par with those of Stalin and his successor Kruschev. Both Soviet dictators committed acts of attrocity that in some cases even out did Hitler.
Brig Gen Eisenhower described his dad as being conflicted and emotional when, still a general during the War, learning of the Atomic Bomb. He later would say he wished we had never invented the damn thing. This sentiment was shared by Einstein who was, at first, a proponent of developing nuclear technology.
Some other interesting items WHY WE FIGHT presents to us include George W. Bush. We think of him along with Rumsfeld and others as being the architect of our present war in Iraq. Yet they were simply implementing part of an existing foreign policy that had been on the table long before George W. Bush became president. The events of 9/11 provided an excuse to begin to implement this new foreign policy
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Dick Cheney, then Defense Secretary, put plans in motion to ensure that the United States was the "new Rome." He very clearly states that the world should only be a one superpower world and the United States is to be that superpower.
One things that is sad about the so called war on terror is what it has done to our collective psyche as a people. Following the events of 9/11 the world was on our side, even in places that had not always been allies. People took to the streets in Tehran in show of support and outrage for this attack. Iran, a hard line Isamic country since the Carter Admimistration and one that had not been friendly toward us in years, empathized with the United States. Other Islamic nations such as Turkey did as well. Yet know we have turned our back and become even more hated then ever before. After 9/11 we were presented with the image of the terrorist as being black hearted and evil and while their attacks certainly may be classified that way no one answered the question that Americans wanted to know, "Why do these people hate us so much?"
During the Soviet era our CIA covertly assisted the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden until it was no longer politically expedient to do so. When it no longer suited us we pulled out and left them to their own devices. Rumsfeld is seen in photographs with Saddam Hussein during the 80's when we tried to "normalize" our relations with Bagdhad due to our escalaiting problems with Iran. This is only the tip of the ice berg.
Over the years I met a few South Vietnemese who came to this country in the early 70's who feel that the United States ultimately bailed on them in their hours of need. Fortunately many of them separate the American people from the actions of our goverment. Unfortunately not everyone can do that and anger such as the kind that the terrorists are turning on us burns hot and deep. It will be years before some of these attitudes change.
Our government has always lied to us in some fashion regarding military operations. It is something that can't be denied. They usually had behind the shadow of "national security" to hide some of their more amoral acts. Every president since FDR has used American Military force at some point. Truman had the end of the 2nd World War, Eisenhower had Korea and the start of the Vietnam conflict, a conflict that spanned the presidencies of Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. I am not sure about Ford but Carter had at least the botched attempt at rescuing the hostages in our embassy in Tehran. Reagan had Granada, Bush had Operation Desert Storm and the Clinton Administration was involved in Bosnia et al. Let's not forget that after the botched assasination attempt of former President Bush's life Clinton ordered an air strike on a suspected terroist strong hold in retaliation.
This film shows us what happens when national policies are based on what is good for corporation instead of what is good for the citizens. The problem that we face is that our economy is so enmesshed with the military-industrial complex that trying to unravel or slow it down is a daunting task. Companies sush as Boeing, Mc Donell Douglass and Lockheed-Martin, make sure their contracts are fulfilled by production in as many states as possible. If these jobs start going away even the most so-called liberal senators will start howling as they see their constituents economic fortunes shift. More jobs mean votes for these men and women.
As a final note I want to issue a sort of "warning" of my own. Both the Quaker and Untiarian movements have deep pacifist sentiments. But this could be our undoing. While we should always stand up for peace and diplomacy and speak out against unjust military actions we need to look very closely at the complex socio-economic problem that is the Middle East. We are deeply entrenched and it will be years before we will ever 'get out' of this situation regardless of how badly we desire this to be so. Even when we finaly remove our military presence our "presence" will still be there.
Our desire for peace and diplomacy needs to be tempered with discernment and common sense. If the present plan being argued and tossed about Congress and subsequently Vetoed by the President is implement as currently suggested it will be considered by many world wide as another example of how America does whatever the hell it wants. We have literally shot up the countryside and our policies are at the root of some of the several insurgencies currently taking place. Once again we are going to appear leaving our supposed allies high and dry when it no longer suits us. Trust me...the world may want us out of there but they will resent the hell out of us when we are gone. This needs to be done right.
The present Iraqi government will not survive long after we live. Iran and Syria, both nations we are not friendly with (to say the least) will swoop in. It may stabalize the region but it will be a stability that not only threatens our ally Israel but the rest of the world as well. The so-called insurgents hate us and probably for very good reason in some cases. They are intelligent, dedicated, fnatical and are determined. They will not turn away from their plans anytime soon.
This war was foolish and lacked any moral justification. We are paying dearly for this and will continue to do so for years to come. It is quite possible that our grandchildren's children will still be feeling the effects of our present administrations choices. But let us not succumb to rhetoric of our own. Lets' not toss about words such as evil and point the finger at anybody. War and empire is apart of human history and our present leaders are no more evil than leaders of the past. Change will come with the change in our own consciousness first.
It is unfortunate that the history of human civilization is one of empire. In every era there has been an empire right up to our modern age. Whether it is warlike and agressive such as Rome, The British Empire and the Naploenic Empire of France, the modern economic and military based empire of the United States or the quiet empire of the European Union empire has been a way of human life. As long as their exist people who have political and economic ambitions there will be some form of empire. This certainly is no justification for such acts but it something to consider when attempting to resolve these boggling problems.Last night I saw the film "Why We Fight" at the local Unitarian/Universalist Church I have been attending and I wanted to recommend it highly for those of you who have yet to see this. The movie will provide some very disturbing insights in the politics and big business of modern warfare. Very scary stuff indeed!
When ever you mention the military-industrial complex many people dismiss you as being a paranoid crackpot and a perpatrator of unfounded conspiracy theories. While some of that may be true their is definately a military-industrial complex in this country whose reach is world wide. It's big business and it is all about big profits, shareholders and American superiority.
My father is one of those pre-baby boomers who still look at films such as this as being made by "liberal crackpots" however, even he had to take notice when many of the people interviewed in the film such as Senator McCain are Republican (moderate as he may pretend to be) and conservative. McCain was an early supporter of the war in Iraq and some of his changes in attitude can possibly be attributed to future political aspirations as are Hilary Clintons (another early supporter.) who claims now to have been "mislead." Read into this: "Whoops...look what happened to Lieberman..better change my stance."
Why We Fight goes way beyond 9/11, the War on Terror and our Invasion of Iraq. It deals with the heart of the problem and that is the collusion between the military and industrial. The film even shows a representative of a Halliburton subsidary admitting to a crowd of conventioners that "collusion is our buisness" and that "we are in collusion with the military." John McCain at one point refers to this system as our system of "legal corruption." Because while we may consider this to be immoral or at best amoral it is legal and not going away until we make it go away at the legislative level.
The movie starts with a clip of President Eisenhower's fairwell address in 1961. In it he warns us of the danger of the emerging Military-Industrial Complex. This fascinates me because Eisenhower was the man who set this in motion. Following the Second World War he believed that it was necessary to militarize our country for our better defense. Given the state of our military at the time we entered the war the attitude is understandable. What many of us don't realize is that heroic generation were fighting great odds and it was touch and go for a long time.
The problem was that it soon got out of control. One interview in the film remarked that Eisenhower's warning was not only prophetic but that "every word had come true." At one point we see Eisenhower discussing the cost of various items such as fighter jets and then compared them to the number of houses that could be built to house over 8,000.00 people. Eisenhower believed that a strong military was necessary in this modern world to protect our way of life but that "militarism" should not become a way of life because "it is no life at all." According to the late president's son, Retired Brig General John Eisenhower his dad felt that this militarism impoverished us and ignored the hungry and the homeless. A military man to his core, Eisenhower understood the limitations and the place of the military. Towards the end of his presidency he was heard remarking, "God help the next person who sits at this desk and who doesn't know the military as well as I do."
The 1950's, a time that my poor addled mother likes to consider the "good old days," was a very dangerous time. Military spending worldwide tripled from 1948-1952.
During the presidential race between Bush Sr and Clinton there was a lot of discussion and attempts by both sides to claim the spirit of Harry Truman to which his daughter commented by stating that neither man had her father's character. Yet I am unable to view Truman as anything but a mass murder. The only president in modern history since the start of the atomic age to order not one, but two, atomic devices to be used against another nation. America was lied to and told that this would save millions of American lives yet what we didn' know at the time was that Japan had been trying to surrender all summer. They were done in by the war but Truman refused to listen. He wanted to drop the bombs.
Presumably it was to put a scare into Stalin and others. Truman wanted to show off what America had and wanted to let the world know we would not hesitate. Yet the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki showed no compassion (which good warriors are supposed to possess) and took no concern for so-called collatoral damage that term in modern warfare that determines how much "civilian" or non-military/political damage will be done by the attack. In other words how many "innocent lives" will be murdered in the process. Truman's act is on par with those of Stalin and his successor Kruschev. Both Soviet dictators committed acts of atrocity that in some cases even out did Hitler.
Brig Gen Eisenhower described his dad as being conflicted and emotional when, still a general during the War, learning of the Atomic Bomb. He later would say he wished we had never invented the damn thing. This sentiment was shared by Einstein who was, at first, a proponent of developing nuclear technology.
Some other interesting items WHY WE FIGHT presents to us include George W. Bush. We think of him along with Rumsfeld and others as being the architect of our present war in Iraq. Yet they were simply implementing part of an existing foreign policy that had been on the table long before George W. Bush became president. The events of 9/11 provided an excuse to begin to implement this new foreign policy
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Dick Cheney, then Defense Secretary, put plans in motion to ensure that the United States was the "new Rome." He very clearly states that the world should only be a one superpower world and the United States is to be that superpower.
One things that is sad about the so called war on terror is what it has done to our collective psyche as a people. Following the events of 9/11 the world was on our side, even in places that had not always been allies. People took to the streets in Tehran in show of support and outrage for this attack. Iran, a hard line Isamic country since the Carter Admimistration and one that had not been friendly toward us in years, empathized with the United States. Other Islamic nations such as Turkey did as well. Yet now we have turned our back and become even more hated then ever before. After 9/11 we were presented with the image of the terrorist as being black hearted and evil and while their attacks certainly may be classified that way no one answered the question that Americans wanted to know, "Why do these people hate us so much?"
During the Soviet era our CIA covertly assisted the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden until it was no longer politically expedient to do so. When it no longer suited us we pulled out and left them to their own devices. Rumsfeld is seen in photographs with Saddam Hussein during the 80's when we tried to "normalize" our relations with Bagdhad due to our escalaiting problems with Iran. This is only the tip of the ice berg.
Over the years I met a few South Vietnemese who came to this country in the early 70's who feel that the United States ultimately bailed on them in their hours of need. Fortunately many of them separate the American people from the actions of our goverment. Unfortunately not everyone can do that and anger such as the kind that the terrorists are turning on us burns hot and deep. It will be years before some of these attitudes change.
Our government has always lied to us in some fashion regarding military operations. It is something that can't be denied. They usually had behind the shadow of "national security" to hide some of their more amoral acts. Every president since FDR has used American Military force at some point. Truman had the end of the 2nd World War, Eisenhower had Korea and the start of the Vietnam conflict, a conflict that spanned the presidencies of Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. I am not sure about Ford but Carter had at least the botched attempt at rescuing the hostages in our embassy in Tehran. Reagan had Granada, Bush had Operation Desert Storm and the Clinton Administration was involved in Bosnia et al. Let's not forget that after the botched assasination attempt of former President Bush's life Clinton ordered an air strike on a suspected terroist strong hold in retaliation.
This film shows us what happens when national policies are based on what is good for corporation instead of what is good for the citizens. The problem that we face is that our economy is so enmesshed with the military-industrial complex that trying to unravel or slow it down is a daunting task. Companies sush as Boeing, Mc Donell Douglass and Lockheed-Martin, make sure their contracts are fulfilled by production in as many states as possible. If these jobs start going away even the most so-called liberal senators will start howling as they see their constituents economic fortunes shift. More jobs mean votes for these men and women.
As a final note I want to issue a sort of "warning" of my own. Both the Quaker and Untiarian movements have deep pacifist sentiments. But this could be our undoing. While we should always stand up for peace and diplomacy and speak out against unjust military actions we need to look very closely at the complex socio-economic problem that is the Middle East. We are deeply entrenched and it will be years before we will ever 'get out' of this situation regardless of how badly we desire this to be so. Even when we finaly remove our military presence our "presence" will still be there.
Our desire for peace and diplomacy needs to be tempered with discernment and common sense. If the present plan being argued and tossed about Congress and subsequently Vetoed by the President is implement as currently suggested it will be considered by many world wide as another example of how America does whatever the hell it wants. We have literally shot up the countryside and our policies are at the root of some of the several insurgencies currently taking place. Once again we are going to appear leaving our supposed allies high and dry when it no longer suits us. Trust me...the world may want us out of there but they will resent the hell out of us when we are gone. This needs to be done right.
The present Iraqi government will not survive long after we live. Iran and Syria, both nations we are not friendly with (to say the least) will swoop in. It may stabalize the region but it will be a stability that not only threatens our ally Israel but the rest of the world as well. The so-called insurgents hate us and probably for very good reason in some cases. They are intelligent, dedicated, fnatical and are determined. They will not turn away from their plans anytime soon.
This war was foolish and lacked any moral justification. We are paying dearly for this and will continue to do so for years to come. It is quite possible that our grandchildren's children will still be feeling the effects of our present administrations choices. But let us not succumb to rhetoric of our own. Lets' not toss about words such as evil and point the finger at anybody. War and empire is apart of human history and our present leaders are no more evil than leaders of the past. Change will come with the change in our own consciousness first.
It is unfortunate that the history of human civilization is one of empire. In every era there has been an empire right up to our modern age. Whether it is warlike and agressive such as Rome, The British Empire and the Naploenic Empire of France, the modern economic and military based empire of the United States or the quiet empire of the European Union empire has been a way of human life. As long as their exist people who have political and economic ambitions there will be some form of empire. This certainly is no justification for such acts but it something to consider when attempting to resolve these boggling problems.