Imagining Survival,...
Imagining Survival
By Nolan K. Anderson
How anyone imagines this country can survive at this uniquely Republican rate of spending is beyond me. . . . Ben Tripp The Cost of War.
What is Mr. Tripp talking about? Why does he call this universal truth of both parties a "uniquely Republican rate of spending"? In large measure he is talking about the cost of George's war in Iraq. However, he doesn't stop with just George's Iraq boondoggle. Mr. Tripp worries about the other things George and our Congress find to fund that we don't have money to cover - things like cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina.
Mr. Tripp is not trying to imagine surviving a "Willy Pete" barrage, the new thermobaric rounds or DU "blowing in the wind". I have no idea about Mr. Tripp's background or experience, but no one outside the military (or Iraq) can even imagine being on the receiving end of any of these nightmarish weapons. We Americans read in the Administration's "pet media" what the military allows to filter thru the Pentagon's sieve of deceptions, half-truths and lies and we feel well informed. But we aren't well informed - we aren't even informed. Even the little we do know is a mishmash of simultaneous admission and denial concerning everything happening in Iraq - including the use of these horrific chemical weapons in civilian areas.
Thank the Lord we Americans are so ill informed. Thank the Lord we are not trying to learn about "Willy Pete" burns in order to treat a loved one. Thank the Lord we have not lived through a "shake and bake" attack.
On the other hand, how can we Americans live with the knowledge that it is we who gave the present collection of monsters in Washington the power to pursue their war crimes, funded their illegal activities with our tax dollars and then turned our backs on their machinations - with the inevitable outcome? How can we individuals admit complicity in the invasion of a virtually militarily powerless country using armaments that would terrify the most hardened military professional. How can we individuals live with the hypocrisy of exporting our brand of democracy at the point of DU tipped artillery rounds while we implement a "Patriot Act" that is designed to suppress the freedoms and human rights of Americans guaranteed by our own constitution?
So, Mr. and Mrs. America how do we redeem ourselves? How do we "take back" our country? A first step would be stopping an illegal war started by a moral degenerate operating under the cloak of hysteria that he and his criminal comrades created within the American populace. Oh, yes, I know we are bringing democracy to the Iraqis. Oh, yes, I know we can't leave before we finish the job of "giving Iraqis their freedom". We have to stay so long as there is one more barbaric torture prison to be found (or one more Iraqi to be tortured). We have to stay so long as there is one more American military person to be wounded or killed. We can't give up while Halliburton is on a "roll". We can't give up while our mercenaries are doing so well. (Our mercenaries are making almost as much as the congressmen that allowed their president to declare the war that makes the mercenaries necessary).
57 percent of we Americans today might be ready to ask, "What can I do to stop this grotesque war against innocent people and take back our country" from the professional politicians who have no interest in stopping the flow of body bags - or the flow of taxpayer dollars into the coffers of favored corporations? (If there were any real value to a body bag, all our politicians would be trampling each other trying to get fitted for one). Uh oh, I think we are onto something here. Let's back up. Let's stop and think about money for a moment. What do you suppose would happen if we Americans who support this war machine were to stop supporting "our" war machine? Suppose we stopped funding the beast? Suppose we forced our politicians to "earn" the last pay raise they gave themselves. Suppose we forced these politicians to impose total "economic" sanctions on the Carlyle Group and cancel all the Halliburton/Iraqi no-bid contracts. What would happen? How long do you think it would take "George's War" to come a grinding halt? I rather imagine we would find plenty of rationales for returning home and allowing the Iraqis to pursue whatever democracy they chose - within a day or two at most. Does anyone really believe that any more terrorists would invade our country than have already crossed our "wide-open" borders? Would we be any more liable to the dangers of remote controlled aerial drones with chemical sprayers than we were in 2002? What would happen if WE, the people, forced our government to secure our borders instead of invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 - in spite of what our president has so long maintained?
If the impossible were to happen and momentary peace were to descend upon America, how would we grapple with the distinct possibility that we could reduce our defense budget and even view the possibility of a balanced federal budget within our lifetimes? What a shock it would be to find we could reconstruct our country after natural disasters without having to cut food stamp benefits for our active military and medical benefits for our veterans. What a shock it would be to find we didn't have to borrow from our international competitors to perform infrastructure maintenance for our rusting and eroding cities and states. Yes, I know, one would also have to ask ones self where we are going to find jobs for our young people with only a government high school education if we don't use them in the military to chase the Bin Ladens of the world. It is going to be very embarrassing for us to try to come to grips with the realization that the only way we can compete in the "global economy" right now is through the export of war and its inherent suffering for everyone.
Conclusion:
Taking our country back from the professional politicians has innumerable advantages, but can we live with the difficulty of the task or the consequences? Can we Americans imagine boycotting the defense industry by refusing to work in these killing corporations as they make a "killing" by killing? Can we imagine grappling with the corrupt politicians who sell their souls and our children's economic future to the highest bidding lobbyist? Can we imagine not electing an "evil" whether lesser or greater, but rather trying to elect a candidate outside the party machinery that places America before personal or contributor well being? Can we imagine voting and working with politicians who are interested in the good of our country instead of their self-interest or that of Israeli lobbyists? No, there is not one facet of our imagined utopia that would be easy to implement. We would have to vote. We would have to participate in the democratic processes. We would have to listen with an open mind and be prepared to flip the OFF button after a few seconds of listening to the harangues of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Neal Boortz. We would have to view with extreme skepticism the REAL motives behind the obscene amounts of money given to the two political machines in the United States. We would have to vote AGAINST any candidate supported by either political machine. We would have to take back our founding father's goals for America from the "Rabid Right" and the "Looney Left" fringes. Are we up to it? Or, do we all need to spend a tour in Iraq to see the REAL alternatives to cleaning up our political act?
Nolan K. Anderson is a retired engineer and a veteran of Korea who was once a “conservative” until he found there was nothing left to conserve.
(He may be reached at nkanders@bellsouth.net )
