Joseph E. Stiglitz writes: "The September 11, 2001, terror attacks by Al Qaeda were meant to harm the United States, and they did, but in ways that Osama bin Laden probably never imagined. President George W. Bush's response to the attacks compromised America's basic principles, undermined its economy, and weakened its security."
Ricky Parada visits the grave of his brother, US Marine Corporal Nicholas Rodriguez, at Arlington National Cemetery after news of Osama bin Laden's death, 05/03/11. (photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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AGREED! why did we have to take on an EXPENSIVE military operation in reaction to a CRIME??? (a BIG crime, yes, but still a "crime")
I fully agree, and hope you will be on Freedom Plaza, Wasington DC, 6th October.
See you there!
Real security comes through education, community, and sharing our creativity with each other in ways which build trust, and healthy relationships. Is "Love your neighbor" just too hard?
Our current crop of politicians are mostly corporate creeps who are in it for individual profit and empire, and seem to care little for anybody or anything outside of their greed. Few of them work for or care about being stewards for the future, or leaving the world a better place for those who follow.
We need to put better folks into office.
Eisenhower said it best, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.
Aside: regarding senior officers' incompetence: Medals, yes. Stigma, no.
Since "The ME wars' onset, no flag or general officer has VOLUNTARILY resigned his commission in protest to ANY illegal, immoral or irregular decree, act or judgement made by Bush, his appointed officials or other senior military officers. However, to their great credit, General Eric Shinsiki corrected Donald Rumspeld's low-ball estimate of ME troop requirements, and Admiral Fox Fallen flatly opposed & criticized irresponsible loose talk from the White House about invading Iran. Both were quickly forced into retirement. All remaining general & flag officers, choosing a "go-along-and-g et-along" policy received medals, promotions & prosperity.
Judicial resignations by prominent Flag Officers WOULD certainly have meant a different & shorter ME war.
Alternative hypotheses should also be entertained and investigated without being tagged with pejoratives like "conspiracy theory".
Yahoo is running a headline today:
"AP Poll: OK to trade some freedoms to fight terrorism"
Our country no longer deserves the Constitution our forefathers put their lives on the line to defend.
America, it was fun while it lasted.
A true "Department of Defense" should NOT be bigger than the rest of the world's armed forces combined. It should be a very well-trained, disciplined, transparent and accountable set of forces small but vital in number but mobile and ready to actually defend the county AND PROMOTE DEMOCRACY AT HOME FIRST! IT SHOULD NOT be a cumbersome force hugely draining on the economy as the article stated, and over-armed with deadly force like nukes and depleted-uraniu m bombs, in the hands of young people at the whim of an often stressed and pressured president, or a psychopath like Cheney or Nixon.
And I disagree that Bin-Laden could not have imagined the extended damage which the attack on the Twin Towers (and the mysterious "collapse" of Building seven) wrought under Bush/Cheney. Their response was entirely predictable and don't forget that the Bush dynasty (die-nasty!) was entirely familiar with the Bin-Laden similarly dynastic family of construction professionals and must have been a subject of study for the perpetrators all the way down the line through the Saudi connections.
Stiglitz is consistently "on the money".
Bush is gone - but 3 years of Obama are even worse - military spending, wars and deficit growing - we have to STOP militarism in 2012 elections.
Does anyone else see that the stage we are at in our nation's evolution has been a long time coming?
Aren't the more educated people writing these comments aware of the US's deep historical complicity in countless actions that have been occurring for decades in clandestine actions and efforts to repress people throughout the world by supporting their dictatorial rulers and training their security forces in tactics that undermine democratic rule?
Are we aware of the contradictions between our nation's words and our actions?
When We the People have allowed our choices to be restricted to two parties beholden to the Corporate Oligarchy, what should we expect?
We have had better choices in the past that were rejected by We the People because we accepted the social programming and indoctrination to respond to our fear not our strength.
Perhaps that is the human condition - to self-deceive and blame others when we, as a nation, have chosen to protect our interests at the expense of others'.
We have other choices but do we have the courage to make those choices? Or do we think blaming others will solve our problems?
1) Short of a desired Constitutional Convention, an amendment to allow only public financing of elections;
2) Reducing our overseas presence to diplomatic embassies;
3) Halving (at least!) our military budget;
4) Eliminating the politically controlled Commission for Presidential Debates, replaced by an independent commission;
5) Revamping the tax code, eliminating all corporate subsidies, lifting the cap on FICA;
6) Instituting Single-Payer healthcare;
7) Spend what we save on the proposed defense budget cuts to cover tuition costs for deserving students;
8) Increase gasoline costs to cover their true environmental costs;
9) Fund far more R&D into alternative, sustainable energy sources;
10) Increase public transportation.
There are far more solutions than the above. Everyone reading this is encouraged to add their own suggestions.
Agreed! here are a few (but not limited to) more:
11) Eliminate life appointments to the supreme court and make them accountable for abuse of their appointments.
12) Take away "Corporate person-hood".
13) Eliminate the "Patriot Act".
14) Eliminate the Black Budget.
15) Eliminate private military contractors.
16) Save public education and subsidize youth travel as fact-finding parts of the curriculum.
17) Establish a high-speed rail network country-wide.
18) Establish stiff penalties on large companies who move jobs overseas without a "Mother -ship" anchored in the USA and divert the funds to small businesses.
19) Encourage multi-culturali sm and teaching immigrants via English as a second language.
20) Eliminate Corporate "Grants (a.k.a. "Advertising"" to Public Broadcasting and return it to the public domain.
REPORT: U.S. Military Spending Has Almost Doubled Since 2001 ...
thinkprogress.org/politics/.../military-spending-doubled-since-2001/ - CachedApr 11, 2011 – A new report released today by SIPRI, a Swedish-based think tank, reveals that U.S. military spending has almost doubled since 2001
look at present deficit and economy. Wars now became Obama's employment machine. Example Boeing - 30+ billions military contract ..
VOTE for candidates who want to cut military - at least 50%
Why not let your presidency have a new try as from the 6th October, Freedom Plaza. Washington DC.
Take the hand of LEE LOE, granmother
for peace and let her guide you.
She knows the way, you have lost yours.
And don´t say no because of a tight schedule, it is only a few hundred meters from the White House!
Come on, Come on, you will be in a good
company with a lot of nice people.
P.S. - It would be great if those of us on the west coast could organize a simultaneous rally in SF.
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