You Want Austerity? End the F*cking Wars, Already

[kpete]

You Want Austerity? End the F*cking Wars, Already
by Situational Lefty
Sat Dec 11, 2010 at 12:21:14 AM PST

Our war in Afghanistan has entered it's ninth year, and we've accomplished very little in that time-frame. We've wasted billions of dollars, hundreds of American lives and countless mortar shells and auxillary rounds. We are no closer to victory than we were when we got into this mess in the first place. We are sacrificing money and lives at the altar of a war with no end.

And now our elected officials are trying to trim our National Debt, and they are targeting our Social Safety Net to bring us "Austerity".

.........................

Why are we spending so much money to fight these wars when we could be using that money to fight an economic recession on the home-front?

Why are we spending so much money on foreign wars, when we could be providing the American people with stimulus checks that would actually be spent on revitalizing our economy?

more:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/12/11/924177/-You-Want-AusterityEnd-the-F*cking-Wars,-Already

[elocs]

1. We all know the reality is that the wars are not going to end already, now, or anytime soon.

Evidently it doesn't matter what flavor of president we elect. War and the billions poured into the military will eventually collapse this nation.

[glitch]

41. Not as long as the people who own our governments are making money on them. nt

[social_critic]

61. The war won't end because we don't get drafted

if we were getting drafted and sent to the wars, the protests would shut down the country, and the wars would be over. Because the wars have a direct impact only on the soldiers and their families, and they tend to be from a less educated background, it's easier to lie to them and convince them the wars are really meant to defend the country. Because the media, as well as democratic and republican politicians, give us a paradigm which make it unthinkable for people to go protest the wars, then the result is what we got today, an entrenched military industrial machine tied in to other special interest groups with the power to grind this country down to nothing. And believe me, they will grind the country down into poverty the way they are going. And we will do nothing to stop it.

[IcyPeas]

70. social_critic - i totally agree about the draft.....

I'm old enough to remember all the protests, sit-ins, moratoriums - that went on during the Vietnam war when there was a draft.... People (men) were terrified their "number would come up". I think until the people get ANGRY nothing is going to happen. I think if there was a draft that's when a lot of people would start protesting.



END THE WARS NOW = END THE DEFICIT NOW

[NNN0LHI]

2. If we had decent jobs for them here no one would be enlisting to go off to those hell holes

I think we all need to learn something from that.

Don

[theHandpuppet]

66. Endless war creates a false economy

It keeps millions of the poor off the "official" unemployment rolls while fattening the pocketbooks of those driving the war machine. Only when the children of the rich are sent off to war will this end.

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. UnHappycamper threads on just the wastes are amazing

You can't stop a Vampire sucking the blood out of the Nation
unless you put a stake through its heart.

Its not DEFENSE it is a scam.

[madmax]

5. Has a nice ring to it.

The Department of Scam. I like it.

To you Ichingcarpenter :toast:

The DailyKos :thumbsup:

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. Almost everyday he records BILLIONS OF WASTE

He's a jewel and he should write a book.

[ExTheUnknown]

4. While I am all for packing up and leaving today...

I wonder what would become of the people living in Afghanistan who are at the mercy
of the taliban types who love to chop off hand and heads and shoot infidels in public?
Should their 7th century barbarism be left in place to murder and maim anyone they desire?

[madmax]

7. Why stop in Afganistan - let's change the world....

where do you suggest we start another war? Iran?

Wait, there must be a few countries in Africa in which there is a need. The Sudan comes to mind off the top of my head. C'mon help me along here. :sarcasm:

[eShirl]

10. how could you forget North Korea

everywhere in the world there is a wrong, Team America World Police shall right it

[Unknown Liberal]

33. F*ck Yeah!

lol, sorry. I love that song!

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[madmax]

26. Because...........

my reply was to post #4 not yours.

In additon did you notice the :sarcasm: icon? Hope your less befuddled.

[Enthusiast]

37. War with Iran is inevitable.

The right wing just has to acquire enough influence and power. They are well on their way.

[social_critic]

63. Pro war is not right wing or left wing

check carefully who is speaking out to back a war against iran, many on the left support it. Now please scratch your head, and think hard, and figure out why.

[Enthusiast]

68. Why don't you just tell me.

I'm not so good at guessing games.

[Ichingcarpenter]

13. Meanwhile.... Hundred ofThousands of Americans die for lack of health insurance

Then louse their homes, live in cars, can't find jobs and die



I think charity and your concern starts at Home and not some god forsaken place , halfway around the world

where EMPIRES DIE.

WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP your concern about what the hell the Taliban are doing.

[Dappleganger]

24. WE are in a state of emergency...

WE need the $$$ first, not everyone else.

[msongs]

20. no and YOU should go there right now and stop it :-) nt

[Ichingcarpenter]

25. Forget He is the the new Patrick Daniel "Pat" Tillman

And I really doubt his story either what this guy said
or what the government said about Patrick Daniel "Pat" Tillman's
DEATH OR MURDER.

[L0oniX]

30. alternate sentence...

I wonder what would become of the people living in the USA who are at the mercy
of the corporate types who love to chop off income and get big bonuses and send jobs overseas?
Should their Machiavellian barbarism be left in place to control our government and destroy social security?

[Enthusiast]

38. Oh baby! Great post! nt

[Skittles]

48. LOL

people who support this war don't give a flying FUCK about the people of Afghanistan

[liberation]

55. Funny, the Taliban were "swell guys" when they were fighting the commies in the 80s.

Why all the "concern" for the Afghani people all of the sudden?

[Jakes Progress]

60. We've always been at war with Eastasia.

Let's not forget when Sadam was our ally and good friend. Oh the times he and Cheney had. But let's move past that. Let's look to the future. More wars and more money to be made.

[Chef Eric]

58. Yes, their "7th century barbarism" should be left in place. Next question? nt

[Golden Raisin]

62. Afghanistan has somehow survived

or thrown out every foreign invader or external policeman since before Alexander the Great, and they will eventually exhaust and throw us out too, as they did most recently with the Russians. The Taliban is horrible but Afghanistan needs to deal with the Taliban, not us. We cannot police the entire world although we keep trying, while literally, everything is falling apart at home for the middle and poor classes --- economy, infrastructure, jobs, manufacturing, Constitutional rights --- all of it. And don't fool yourself. Don't think for one second that there aren't plenty of USA conservatives and "christian" fundamentalists (our own home-grown Taliban) fanatical enough who wouldn't jump at the chance to legally institute stonings, chopping off of hands and heads, etc. right here at home.

[spanone]

6. a men

[Laelth]

8. Hear, hear! k&r n/t

-Laelth

[Paper Roses]

11. Sums it up in a few words. n/t

[dkf]

12. Agree 100%

[lonestarnot]

14. K & R

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. We lost. Get out. Get over it.

[eridani]

42. It's worse than that

With no functional definition of "victory," how in bloody hell are we ever going to figure out if we have "won" or "lost"?

[The Wizard]

64. DING DING DING

Winner.
Any mission without a defined goal is nothing more or less than pissing into the wind.
The war profiteers are doing just fine.

[slackmaster]

17. K&R. It's so fucking obviously the truth.

:kick:

[ladjf]

18. We are too dumb to make such a smart and obviously good

move. Thanks for the suggestion anyway. nt

[ladjf]

21. I've got another idea. The 98% of Americans with the incomes

of less than $250,000 per year could take control away from the 2%. As a total group, we have more money, more people and therefore more power. We just haven't figured out how to organize ourselves.
It wouldn't be simple but, it is definitely doable.

[TheKentuckian]

32. Only if the next 38% join in. The bottom 40% doesn't have a pot to piss in.

[ladjf]

34. But, they do have votes. And with some support, many of those

could be given some starter boosts. nt

[Poll_Blind]

19. K&R for sanity! n/t

PB

[NorthCarolina]

22. K&R

[soryang]

23. Going for broke

It's a difficult tome, but everyone should read Adam Tooze's Wages of Destruction, which describes in excruciating detail how, in Nazi Germany, the balance of payments deficit combined with militarism leads to a go for broke strategy of world domination. This is where the military industrial financial elites decide that it's now or never based upon a calculation that their relative economic power would never improve without military conquest of resources. They recognized that the balance of payments deficit would not be resolved with their economic rivals on the playing field of international commerce because of their commitment to military rearmament. Their military and industrial elites decided that the military must make a play for total domination of the world because they would otherwised be compelled to roll back their military power to accompany the relative economic decline forced by finite resources, international debt and the insurmontable current account deficit.

They gave up on peaceful economic commerce and decided to force their way on the world.

[Raksha]

27. "Go for broke" strategy, huh? I never heard that theory before,

but it sounds very plausible, and also very much like what's happening right now. Thanks for the book recommendation.

[soryang]

28. That is my thumbnail characterization of his analysis

The book is 673 pages long. The military industrial complex in Germany's strategy might also have been called a "now or never" strategy with respect to international debt and the choice to go to war.
It is a circular argument of course. Once you make the decision to build warplanes and tanks to the detriment of commerce and the standard of living of your people, the downward trends in commerce and international trade, force the recognition that an apex in military power is imminent and the opportunity cost will be a "loss" if it is not exploited with invasions and occupations.

[L0oniX]

29. +1

[undergroundpanther]

49. Rec times a trillion for your post!!!

Spot on..And this is why war is bullshit and I will NEVER support any war the pigs start.and the military is corrupt and evil.I think if the soldiers should hear the truth and can break free of their military conditioning,and if they did understand they'd turn their guns on the corrupt evil assholes exploiting them and the rest of the people over HERE instead of destroying Iraq Afghanistan and wherever else the pigs point and yell terra over there oooga booga bin laden...I hate the military corporate/religious/wall street/empire monster and the fucking wastes controlling humanity through it.

I want them to die for the crimes they have done against the world..

[Gregorian]

31. My only talking point. For everything.

Thanks for all you post, kpete.

[chill_wind]

35. A resounding K & R.

What is it going to take to get every American with empty pockets to WAKE UP?

[Enthusiast]

36. The war in Afghanistan

has accomplished nothing of value and will not accomplish anything of value.

[krabigirl]

39. Bingo. K & R.

[Myrina]

40. ... the US is going to end the same way the USSR did ...

... under the weight of it's own military spending, with its people starving in line for a $500 loaf of bread.

Sad that so few in DC really give a shit enough to notice.

[defendandprotect]

44. Unfortunately, many of them are helping to orchestrate it ....!!

GOP's endless dream of a "third world America" ...

[laughingliberal]

45. +1000 nt

[defendandprotect]

43. Bankrupting the Treasury is too much fun .... and one of the fastest ways to destroy democracy--!!

PLUS if there's no war, there's no way to label everyone as a "terrorist" --

that includes peaceful anti-war activists!!

Maybe no Patriot Act and the Homeland Security garbage --

How could you control citizens and pull off all the corruption without the cover

of war!!

Wow -- you're asking a lot --

Next thing, you'll be looking for real universal health care for Americans!!


See: Rahm's comment on the likes of you anti-MIC - health care nuts!!




:)

[democrank]

46. I`ve said it a gazillion times before....

Bring the troops home and send over the Barco-Lounger enablers in Washington and elsewhere. Maybe 5-deferment Cheney might like to volunteer his last breath in one of these wars he loved so much. Maybe AWOL Junior Bush could help out so that some soldiers on their FOURTH TOUR could come home before they`re killed. Surely some of our great Inside-The-Beltway-Warriors in Washington could volunteer to step out of their golf carts and into an armored Hummer. They`d be perfect at the head of a convoy.
In fact, perhaps President Obama himself might like to spend his next vacation in Kabul since he seems so eager to help Republicans out with their pet projects.

[undergroundpanther]

50. I would LOVE

To see these fuckwad chickenhawks doging bullets,pissin pants,cryin for mommy. I hope that somebody captures them freaking out on a camera..getting shot at..& put it on the web.

I think any rich pig or politician who starts a war or continues one that they could end..should be force enlisted to go to the battle like any other soldier and keep going back for more tours even if injured or made insane by trauma until they get shot to death or blown apart.They expect no less from civilian soldiers..
Maybe we should expect it out of them!! War would end real fast if their pampered asses were being shot at.

[rubberducky]

56. Wish I could rec your post! Agree completely.

[lib2DaBone]

47. $36 Million a day 24/7/365.. that's what we are spending in AfghanIraq....

...and the politicians have the balls to cut grandma's Social Security and deny health care to kids....

Soomething very wrong in what's left of this country.

[demigoddess]

51. amen, please

why can't they see this.

[Warren DeMontague]

52. And legalize, regulate, and TAX marijuana while you're at it.

We spend $40 Billion a year- plus incarceration costs- to criminalize pot smoking.

[tomm2thumbs]

53. War is not only a racket, it's a subsidized business

'...another reason why the U.S. government for its own sake keeps the wars going– the massive influx of vets who would come home with no jobs waiting for them if the wars were to come to an end.

With the economy crumbling at home the wars have relieved a large burden from the job market’s shoulders, continuing a perpetual mission in which each soldier is busy fighting insurgencies and drawing taxpayer funded paychecks to do it.'

<snip>

'DHS now demonizes returned veterans along with anti-war and anti-fed activists as potential domestic terrorists. Indeed, veterans have played an important role in social movements that have come about because of the “let them eat cake” attitudes of governments that ignore or perpetuate the plight of their people. The American Revolution was led by former officers of the British Crown, most notable among them General George Washington.'

<snip>

'...war remains the number one government backed industry to hold back the flood of unemployed Americans.

Smedley Butler once said “War is a racket”. Not only that– it’s a subsidized business, and without it the elites sucking America dry would find themselves boxed in by an angry mob of jobless citizens seeking to retake their government and their livelihoods. This is why, if ordinary people do nothing, the wars will never end, and why the government will always find ways to create new ones.'



article link:
http://www.infowars.com/new-veteran-unemployment-figure-shows-war-is-not-only-a-racket-its-a-subsidized-business/

[earth mom]

54. Nothing but greedy lying genocidal warmongers. LIHOP MIHOP-so TPTB could get their trillions

that's the truth.

Social Security is NOT bleeding the country dry-those bastards are.

They must think we're all dumb as rocks to believe their lies and bullshit. :grr:

[Vattel]

57. people are too stupid to see

war as a ridiculous waste of lives and resources.

"War is murder with trumpets" Voltaire

[FlyByNight]

59. Perpetual war for perpetual peace

The cost in lives and treasure is shocking and depressing. Of course, this has nothing to do with bin Laden/al-Qaeda; it's about pipelines, poppies and mineral wealth.

Next stop: Social Security.

[RetroLounge]

65. K & too late to R

RL

[mdmc]

67. ..

[IcyPeas]

69. why don't we BOMBARD the whitehouse with

emails, letters or a petition or something that simply says "STOP THE WARS NOW! = END THE DEFICIT NOW!"?

People seem to forget we have a war going on -- it's hardly ever mentioned on the MSM. I only see headlines on my internet home page.

out of sight out of mind.

elephant in room?


STOP THE WARS NOW = END THE DEFICIT NOW!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact