"Significant Progress"

"Significant progress" ~ words that have been used often in our present conflict. It calls to mind other wars. Korea, Viet Nam, and our present conflict in the middle east. In each, question has been often raised with respect to the enemy ~ ours is a powerful country. We plastered our enemy with the most modern weapons of death, on the ground and in the air. Korea ended as a "draw" to many since we failed to defeat them. Viet Nam endured our best destructive efforts but many of us remember our rapid evacuation by sea and by air as the enemy troops advanced into the South and assumed control of the country.

Each war had its public purpose that is debated back and forth. Many believe that our present war in Iraq is a war to control middle east oil. Not our oil, middle east oil. There are a dozen of other reasons and causes that are put forward but at the bottom the issue always seems to boil down to control of oil. Words used by politicians is that we are there to "protect our interests". Or "bring democracy" . . words that are sometimes close to acceptable truth but do ring hollow. At the same time we all know that we are desperately in need of oil and some suspect we will do almost anything to control management of it ...even to the invasion of another country. Those who own the oil are not fools. They know our desperation. They know our greed. They also know that our economy is in serious trouble. We cannot even take serious actions against China for their inferior products, some of which has poisoned and killed our citizens ~ Certainly we can shout at them and be angry but aggressive "either-or" actions cannot happen. This simply because they own our paper ... they have our bonds ...we are using their credit, along with credit granted by other countries to fight our wars in Iraq and elsewhere. . . and to finance other basic functions of our government. As one well known CPA stated: "...they own us...have you noticed taxpayers don't have to pay for the war here, now, today? Think about it". That's probably a exaggeration. I hope it is an exaggeration.

Military-Industrial-(Congressional) Complex

President of the United States (and former General of the Army) Dwight D. Eisenhower used the term listed above in his Farewell Address to the Nation on January 17, 1961. In part he urged us

"...In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist..."

It is important to note that in the penultimate draft of the address, Eisenhower initially used the term military-industrial-congressional complex and thus indicated the essential role that the United States Congress plays in the propagation of the military industry. The President chose to strike the word congressional in order to placate members of the legislative branch of the federal government.

Others have noted that the "Power Elite" class of military, business, and political leaders, driven by mutual interests, were the real leaders of the state and were effectively beyond democratic control.

All of this creates confusion and uncertainty for most people who are trying to decide which direction our country should move. Perhaps what we do or say has no real meaning whichever direction we move. Still, we are asked to choose, regardless of political games, what is best in our opinion.

War: Bits and Pieces

Pick some dates: November 2007 ~ to the present time, just for an example. Significant things have been said about our War but time does pass rapidly and new issues replace the old. And we forget. Well, some do remember, especially those families that have lost their sons and daughters to death and handicap.

Torture of prisoners comes up now and again ... not too long ago Andrew Sullivan observed in the Sunday Times of London that our "enhanced interrogation" techniques have a grotesque provenance: "Verscharfte Vernehmung, enhanced or intensified interrogation, was the exact term innovated by the Gestapo to describe what became known as the third degree. It left no marks. It included hypothermia, stress positions and long-time sleep deprivation." A US Marine told me that as we use this, it is certain that it will be or has been used against us. We can only trust your family will not be so dealt with.

We've been told that our contractors in Iraq (financed by unlimited taxpayer dollars) are actually on their own within their own organization ~ our military does not have oversight despite alleged illegal murders. ... Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq war combat veteran, said that should Baghdad implode, our contractors, not having to answer to the military chain of command, can simply drop their guns and go home. Vulnerable American troops could be deserted by those "who deliver their bullets and beans".

This is a familiar thing in recent years. Our government transfers tax money and oversight responsibility to corporations that in turn by their own nature will do what is best for the corporation ~ and incidentally the taxpayer may or may not be well served. In the meantime, we are told to praise the fact that our government reduces staff that historically have attempted to keep corporate waste & mismanagement to a minimum. A dangerous thing, I think, as we look to the terrific greed, misfeasance & malfeasance that is brought to light on a regular basis.

As the war has dragged on, it is hard to give Americans a free pass. We are too slow to notice, let alone protest, the calamities that have followed the original sin ~ the original sin in question is the invasion of another country and failure to pursue the real dangerous folks in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

This is America's longest War & perhaps we as citizens must examine our own responsibility for the hideous acts committed in our name.

Religion in Politics

We hear lately much heated discussion of certain religions or statements. One can almost feel the anger expressed. . . or perhaps more often the deliberate manipulation that is evident since the "anger" is directed most often to a political candidate. It is certainly nothing new since such has been the case for many years - Catholics, Mormans, Jews & many others have felt the vicious whips of the bigot and those who would believe differently and do anything to "win". The things we see and hear today are bound to create frustration since, after all, our present purpose is to elect someone who has the ability to lead our nation into the future, not attempt to shift the focus to some harangue about religion. After the disasters our present leadership has created, the next election is more important than ever ~ It is a vital survival issue.

American Politics of the Moment

The Republicans have settled upon their candidate for the US presidency and so many now turn seriously to the Democratic Party as it struggles to be coherent. It is often said that the bumbling about is actually a process wherein individuals are enabled say what they believe ~ as opposed to the Republican process that has at its root a single pattern that represents what every one should believe. . . deviate from the core belief system and you are suspect. That's probably a generalization but there is an uneasy "fit" to the thought.

On top of it all is a President of the United States who has established his total incompetence in the management of the Country. If that seems an unfair statement, take the time to look around you at our dangerous decline in so many ways under his administration. Obviously, our decline at home and in the world is not all our President's fault or the fault of the Republican Party. We have all had a part. We have watched how corporations have taken over public policy and have said nothing. We blame China. We supply deadly arms in huge numbers to every part of the world and then pretend sorry at the slaughter they cause. Our enemies constantly refer to our unending "greed" as a nation of consumers. They are right, you know. We talk about change and fixing the problems once there is a change in the Congress. Perhaps. And perhaps we'll experience the same timid incompetence we have experienced in the present Congress. If we cannot lead, China, Russia, India, and others will.

We do know that the coming Summer and Fall will shape our future.

After all, he's just an old man ....

A while back in this Blog, I quoted a very old member of the Ojibwa saying briefly in reaction to recent events that

" ... I am sorry for you. You whites have only a short time on top of the world. Your greed is destroying you. Your arrogance will guarantee it ..."

I've brought it up again because of the uneasiness the words cause ... and the doubt that we will choose to do nothing about what he implied in his comment. He was right, you know. He was right...and I fear for what we will finally decide to do as a nation.

Who Can We Trust?

I do wonder who we can trust ~ we seem to float along accepting an unconscionable rate of interest demanded by money lenders without a whimper ~ usury in the worst sense ~ health care costs are ought of sight ~ millions cannot afford health care ~ corporate America controls our government, resulting in massive lay-offs of employees and on and on ... and then there is the war ~ more to the point, the wars. As Frank Rich put it in the New York Times: ' It was always the White House's plan to coax us into a blissful ignorance about the war. Part of this was achieved with the usual Bush-Cheney secretiveness, from the torture memos to the prohibition of photos of military coffins. But the administration also invited our passive complicity by requiring no shared sacrifice. A country that knows there's no such thing as a free lunch was all too easily persuaded there could be a free war ... Instead of taxing us for Iraq, the White House bought us off with tax cuts. Instead of mobilizing the needed troops, it kept a draft off the table by quietly purchasing its auxiliary army of contractors to finesse the overstretched military's holes.'

Since Bush took office, he has doubled the federal debt to more than $ 5 Trillion. According to US Treasury figures, on net, foreign investors have purchased close to 100% of that debt. That's $3 Trillion borrowed from the Saudis, the Chinese, the Japanese and others. Very recently, King Abdullah's nephew, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, already the top individual owner of Citibank, joined the Kuwait government's Investment Authority and others to mainline a $ 12.5 billion injection of capital into the New York Bank while at the same time, the Abu Dhabi government and the Saudi Olayan Group are taking a $6.6 billion chunk of Merrill-Lynch. As it has been said, it was no mere coincidence that Bush is in Abdullah's tent when the money-changers made the deal just outside it ..

Who can we trust? In all honesty, I don't know.