Larger military and widened war in Afghanistan making America "increasingly safer"

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. . . says our national security adviser:

President Barack Obama's decisions to grow the military, broaden the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and focus on 21st century threats are making America "increasingly safer," the president's national security adviser said yesterday.

"I firmly believe that the United States is not only safe, but it will be more secure, and the American people are increasingly safer because of the president's leadership that he's displayed consistently over the last four months, both at home and abroad," James L. Jones Jr. said in a speech at an Atlantic Council event here.

Jones, a former Marine Corps commandant and NATO commander, praised the president's choice to increase the Defense Department budget, grow the Army and Marine Corps and delay planned reductions of the Air Force and Navy. In the meantime, the United States is working to bring the war in Iraq to a close while taking a more comprehensive approach to Afghanistan, he said.

"We are doing everything we can to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end, and we are pursuing a comprehensive strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including a new commitment of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaida and its allies," he said.

read more reasons Mr. Jones believes we're safer: http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=news/news_show.php&id=34234



I disagree with the general. I believe the increased military activity in Afghanistan and Pakistan just plays into the strategy of those who organize the violent resistance against our invading and occupying forces to keep us bogged down where they can both strike out at actual targets of the U.S. and increase the ranks of their 'cause' with those resisting the assault on their homeland.

Further, until we can manage to increase our diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in these occupations (and in the region our forces are operating) to a level close to the resources and manpower we commit to the military ambitions, we'll never realize any of the goals that Mr. Jones and the administration use as justification for their escalated and continuing occupations.


full transcript: http://www.acus.org/event/nsa-james-jones-first-speech/transcript

[L0oniX]

1. Yuh ..living in the street ..no job ..eating out of garbage cans ..no health care ..I feel safer.

[bigtree]

2. that sucks

[leftstreet]

3. Wow. George Orwell had to actually make this stuff up

Good article

[bigtree]

4. the speech was interesting

Mr. Jones outlined a wide host of other initiatives by the president and the Pentagon which look to be new and different approaches to achieve their goals. Underneath all of that, however, is the same grudging military ambition to use our military forces to somehow defeat the ideology which is 'al-Qaeda' and anyone who would identify their resistance to our military advance on their homeland with the moniker of our nemesis. That mission will always dominate and corrupt the diplomatic efforts because, at its heart, it conflates most of the resisting population with the 'enemy' they purport to be pursuing. It is a self-perpetuating cycle of attacks and reprisals which accommodates every scheme (on either side) to keep our military forces bogged down there. Mr. Jones makes a good case for the diplomatic efforts in his address, but he fails to acknowledge that the limits on the effectiveness of the military force makes these escalations a make-or-break proposition, rather than some compounding success over time. There is a degenerating, counterproductive effect to these long occupations, and this one in Afghanistan has already run the course from an artificial high with the government takeover to the present low of what the Pentagon has described as a stalemate at best.

[bigtree]

5. .

[Echo In Light]

6. Classic American euphemistic Orwellianisms

"Larger military and widened war" = Far less safer as additional war is likely

Also:

Fewer Jobs, Slower Growth:
Military Spending Drains the Economy:

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Military_Budget/MilitaryBudget_Economy.html

Report Shows Increased U.S. Military Spending Slows Economy:

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/press-releases/press-releases/report-shows-increased-u.s.-military-spending-slows-economy/

[Karenina]

7. Errraaaaa....

NOT.

[Ezlivin]

8. Death to others so that we may live!

I'll only feel truly safe when everyone else is dead.

Death. It has so much going for it.