tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35873213.post116819915718731321..comments2023-06-01T07:42:09.896-05:00Comments on Ruminations: Cossackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00173376043295568270noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35873213.post-1168275823511486562007-01-08T11:03:00.000-06:002007-01-08T11:03:00.000-06:00I once heard a Veterans for Peace speaker say that...I once heard a Veterans for Peace speaker say that about 75% of our "foreign aid" takes the form of military aid. Even if the number is closer to half, that's a damning contradiction of our own delusional self-image. We support somewhere between 700 and 1000 military bases around the world, in addition to carrier strike forces, patrols of nuclear-armed subs, and ongoing covert operations; how many humanitarian missions do we support?<BR/><BR/>But don't expect many people in the military to acknowledge their mission, any more than we can expect it from some anonymous technocrat at Sandia Labs or Los Alamos, diligently pouring millions of tax dollars into secretive projects to develop new tactical nukes or bioweapons; none of these people will ever accept any responsibility for their actions. They're ALL just "doing their jobs," "following orders," and "trying to support their families." <BR/><BR/>I read "Backpacker" magazine, and I saw a letter in a recent issue from an Iraq vet who talked about how great it is that he could help rebuild Iraqi schools, as if those schools didn't exist before they were bombed by his own comrades, and as if the US had never supported Saddam Hussein. The same guy would have been sending home pictures of himself posing with Saddam in front of his palace <BR/>20 years ago. It's an obscene and dangerous form of willful ignorance.<BR/><BR/>But the Pentagon and all its attendant crony agencies and vendors are the engine of this state-socialist war economy, and without it American capitalism would have long since collapsed, so don't expect the fake peace advocates in the Democratic Party to suggest cutting military spending. Better to play along with the myths of "crazy Ayrabs" who hate us for our freedoms than to challenge the status quo. After all, we can't possibly do anything that might threaten our chances of putting another fake liberal DLC hack like Obama or Hillary into the White House in '08 can we?timberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02952468615836434195noreply@blogger.com