[Peace-discuss] Re: Suggested text for Main Event flyer

[Barbara kessel]

What are we to make of the black text and the magenta text? Do you think you
can get the entire text on one page?  I like Chalmers Johnson and find the
pentagon budget figure quite a stunner. However, I do not like the following
sentence,"He seems to be unaware that these troops are actually volunteers,
not draftees, and that they joined the armed forces as a matter of career
choice, rather than because the nation demanded such a sacrifice from them."
The words, "career choices" makes it sound like they had a lot of choices,
which is not true for the low income people, particularly those from the
rust-belt. It also ignores that those in the National Guard did not sign up
for fighting foreign wars at all; never before have we fought foreign wars
with the national guard.

....just one opinion.  Barbara


On Tue, Sep 30, 2008 at 5:25 PM, C. G. Estabrook <galliher at uiuc.edu> wrote:

>  WE HAVE THE MONEY - IF ONLY WE DIDN'T WASTE IT ON THE DEFENSE BUDGET
>  by Chalmers Johnson, author of Blowback (2000), The Sorrows of Empire
>  (2004), and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (2006) --
>  all on US militarism and imperialism
>
> There has been much moaning, air-sucking, and outrage about the $700
> billion that the U.S. government is thinking of throwing away on rich New
> York bankers who have been ripping us off for the past few years and then
> letting greed drive their businesses into a variety of ditches. In fact, we
> dole out similar amounts of money every year in the form of payoffs to the
> armed services, the military-industrial complex, and powerful senators and
> representatives allied with the Pentagon.
>
> On Wednesday, September 24th, right in the middle of the fight over
> billions of taxpayer dollars slated to bail out Wall Street, the House of
> Representatives passed a $612 billion defense authorization bill for 2009
> without a murmur of public protest or any meaningful press comment at all.
> (The New York Times gave the matter only three short paragraphs buried in a
> story about another appropriations measure.)
>
> The defense bill includes $68.6 billion to pursue the wars in Iraq and
> Afghanistan, which is only a down-payment on the full yearly cost of these
> wars. (The rest will be raised through future supplementary bills.) It also
> included a 3.9% pay raise for military personnel, and $5 billion in
> pork-barrel projects not even requested by the administration or the
> secretary of defense. It also fully funds the Pentagon's request for a radar
> site in the Czech Republic, a hare-brained scheme sure to infuriate the
> Russians just as much as a Russian missile base in Cuba once infuriated us.
> The whole bill passed by a vote of 392-39 and will fly through the Senate,
> where a similar bill has already been approved. And no one will even think
> to mention it in the same breath with the discussion of bailout funds for
> dying investment banks and the like.
>
> This is pure waste. Our annual spending on "national security" -- meaning
> the defense budget plus all military expenditures hidden in the budgets for
> the departments of Energy, State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, the CIA, and
> numerous other places in the executive branch -- already exceeds a trillion
> dollars, an amount larger than that of all other national defense budgets
> combined. Not only was there no significant media coverage of this latest
> appropriation, there have been no signs of even the slightest urge to
> inquire into the relationship between our bloated military, our staggering
> weapons expenditures, our extravagantly expensive failed wars abroad, and
> the financial catastrophe on Wall Street.
>
> The only Congressional "commentary" on the size of our military outlay was
> the usual pompous drivel about how a failure to vote for the defense
> authorization bill would betray our troops. The aged Senator John Warner
> (R-Va), former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, implored his
> Republican colleagues to vote for the bill "out of respect for military
> personnel." He seems to be unaware that these troops are actually
> volunteers, not draftees, and that they joined the armed forces as a matter
> of career choice, rather than because the nation demanded such a sacrifice
> from them.
>
> We would better respect our armed forces by bringing the futile and
> misbegotten wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to an end. A relative degree of
> peace and order has returned to Iraq not because of President Bush's belated
> reinforcement of our expeditionary army there (the so-called surge), but
> thanks to shifting internal dynamics within Iraq and in the Middle East
> region generally. Such shifts include a growing awareness among Iraq's Sunni
> population of the need to restore law and order, a growing confidence among
> Iraqi Shi'ites of their nearly unassailable position of political influence
> in the country, and a growing awareness among Sunni nations that the
> ill-informed war of aggression the Bush administration waged against Iraq
> has vastly increased the influence of Shi'ism and Iran in the region.
>
> In the past year, perhaps most disastrously, we have carried our Afghan war
> into Pakistan, a relatively wealthy and sophisticated nuclear power that has
> long cooperated with us militarily. Our recent bungling brutality along the
> Afghan-Pakistan border threatens to radicalize the Pashtuns in both
> countries and advance the interests of radical Islam throughout the region.
> The United States is now identified in each country mainly with Hellfire
> missiles, unmanned drones, special operations raids, and repeated incidents
> of the killing of innocent bystanders.
>
>        ###
>
>
> Randall Cotton wrote:
>
>> This goes right along with one of the suggestions made at the meeting
>> (something on the economy), is also strongly anti-war and seems to me to
>> be an excellent idea. Barbara is supplying electronic content for the
>> Kenney events to Durl, who has volunteered to run off the copies, so it
>> should be just a matter of posting the edited text to peace-discuss and
>> Durl could take it from there. Someone pipe up if I'm wrong on any of this
>> 8-)
>>
>> Thanks
>> R
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at uiuc.edu>
>> To: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
>> Cc: <Peace at lists.chambana.net>
>> Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 11:37 AM
>> Subject: Suggested text for Main Event flyer
>>
>>
>> : Randall Cotton wrote:
>> : >
>> : > Someone is needed to create content for AWARE's "Main Event" flyer.
>> : > One side of the flyer will contain publicity for AWARE's upcoming Dan
>> : > Kenney events, but though there were suggestions for content for the
>> : > flipside (see below in the minutes, under "Main Event"), no one has
>> come
>> : > forward yet to put this together.
>> : > Contact: Randall Cotton, recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470
>> :
>> : > ...
>> : > Flyer page 1 will be advertisement for Dan Kenney events
>> : > Suggestions for the other side of the flyer:
>> : > Something on the economy
>> : > Something on local armed forces leaving this week to go to Afghanistan
>> : > Something including the statistics that we disseminate via the
>> anti-war
>> : > electronic billboard
>> : >
>> : > Volunteer needed to assemble a second side for the flyer
>> :
>> : [Page 2 of the flyer should complement Kenney's topic by connecting the
>> war and
>> : the bailout (which is not dead). I'm willing to edit (and format) a
>> selection
>> : from the following piece by Chalmers Johnson (which is too long to fit
>> on one
>> : page).  Johnson is the author of three linked books on the crises of
>> American
>> : imperialism and militarism. They are Blowback (2000), The Sorrows of
>> Empire
>> : (2004), and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic
>> (2006). --CGE]
>> :
>> : We Have the Money.
>> : If only we didn't waste it on the defense budget
>> : Chalmers Johnson
>> :
>> : There has been much moaning, air-sucking, and outrage about the $700
>> billion
>> : that the U.S. government is thinking of throwing away on rich New York
>> bankers
>> : who have been ripping us off for the past few years and then letting
>> greed drive
>> : their businesses into a variety of ditches. In fact, we dole out similar
>> amounts
>> : of money every year in the form of payoffs to the armed services, the
>> : military-industrial complex, and powerful senators and representatives
>> allied
>> : with the Pentagon.
>> :
>> : On Wednesday, Sept. 24, right in the middle of the fight over billions
>> of
>> : taxpayer dollars slated to bail out Wall Street, the House of
>> Representatives
>> : passed a $612 billion defense authorization bill for 2009 without a
>> murmur of
>> : public protest or any meaningful press comment at all. (The New York
>> Times gave
>> : the matter only three short paragraphs buried in a story about another
>> : appropriations measure.)
>> :
>> : The defense bill includes $68.6 billion to pursue the wars in Iraq and
>> : Afghanistan, which is only a down-payment on the full yearly cost of
>> these wars.
>> : (The rest will be raised through future supplementary bills.) It also
>> included a
>> : 3.9 percent pay raise for military personnel and $5 billion in
>> pork-barrel
>> : projects not even requested by the administration or the secretary of
>> defense.
>> : It also fully funds the Pentagon's request for a radar site in the Czech
>> : Republic, a hare-brained scheme sure to infuriate the Russians just as
>> much as a
>> : Russian missile base in Cuba once infuriated us. The whole bill passed
>> by a vote
>> : of 392-39 and will fly through the Senate, where a similar bill has
>> already been
>> : approved. And no one will even think to mention it in the same breath
>> with the
>> : discussion of bailout funds for dying investment banks and the like.
>> :
>> : This is pure waste. Our annual spending on "national security" – meaning
>> the
>> : defense budget plus all military expenditures hidden in the budgets for
>> the
>> : departments of Energy, State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, the CIA, and
>> numerous
>> : other places in the executive branch – already exceeds a trillion
>> dollars, an
>> : amount larger than that of all other national defense budgets combined.
>> Not only
>> : was there no significant media coverage of this latest appropriation,
>> there have
>> : been no signs of even the slightest urge to inquire into the
>> relationship
>> : between our bloated military, our staggering weapons expenditures, our
>> : extravagantly expensive failed wars abroad, and the financial
>> catastrophe on
>> : Wall Street.
>> :
>> : The only congressional "commentary" on the size of our military outlay
>> was the
>> : usual pompous drivel about how a failure to vote for the defense
>> authorization
>> : bill would betray our troops. The aged Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), former
>> chairman
>> : of the Senate Armed Services Committee, implored his Republican
>> colleagues to
>> : vote for the bill "out of respect for military personnel." He seems to
>> be
>> : unaware that these troops are actually volunteers, not draftees, and
>> that they
>> : joined the armed forces as a matter of career choice, rather than
>> because the
>> : nation demanded such a sacrifice from them.
>> :
>> : We would better respect our armed forces by bringing the futile and
>> misbegotten
>> : wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to an end. A relative degree of peace and
>> order has
>> : returned to Iraq not because of President Bush's belated reinforcement
>> of our
>> : expeditionary army there (the so-called surge), but thanks to shifting
>> internal
>> : dynamics within Iraq and in the Middle East region generally. Such
>> shifts
>> : include a growing awareness among Iraq's Sunni population of the need to
>> restore
>> : law and order, a growing confidence among Iraqi Shi'ites of their nearly
>> : unassailable position of political influence in the country, and a
>> growing
>> : awareness among Sunni nations that the ill-informed war of aggression
>> the Bush
>> : administration waged against Iraq has vastly increased the influence of
>> Shi'ism
>> : and Iran in the region.
>> :
>> : The continued presence of American troops and their heavily reinforced
>> bases in
>> : Iraq threatens this return to relative stability. The refusal of the
>> Shia
>> : government of Iraq to agree to an American Status of Forces Agreement –
>> much
>> : desired by the Bush administration – that would exempt off-duty American
>> troops
>> : from Iraqi law is actually a good sign for the future of Iraq.
>> :
>> : In Afghanistan, our historically deaf generals and civilian strategists
>> do not
>> : seem to understand that our defeat by the Afghan insurgents is
>> inevitable. Since
>> : the time of Alexander the Great, no foreign intruder has ever prevailed
>> over
>> : Afghan guerrillas defending their home turf. The first Anglo-Afghan War
>> : (1838-1842) marked a particularly humiliating defeat of British
>> imperialism at
>> : the very height of English military power in the Victorian era. The
>> : Soviet-Afghan War (1978-1989) resulted in a Russian defeat so
>> demoralizing that
>> : it contributed significantly to the disintegration of the former Soviet
>> Union in
>> : 1991. We are now on track to repeat virtually all the errors committed
>> by
>> : previous invaders of Afghanistan over the centuries.
>> :
>> : In the past year, perhaps most disastrously, we have carried our Afghan
>> war into
>> : Pakistan, a relatively wealthy and sophisticated nuclear power that has
>> long
>> : cooperated with us militarily. Our recent bungling brutality along the
>> : Afghan-Pakistan border threatens to radicalize the Pashtuns in both
>> countries
>> : and advance the interests of radical Islam throughout the region. The
>> United
>> : States is now identified in each country mainly with Hellfire missiles,
>> unmanned
>> : drones, special operations raids, and repeated incidents of the killing
>> of
>> : innocent bystanders.
>> :
>> : The brutal bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital,
>> Islamabad, on
>> : Sept. 20, 2008, was a powerful indicator of the spreading strength of
>> virulent
>> : anti-American sentiment in the area. The hotel was a well-known watering
>> hole
>> : for American Marines, Special Forces troops, and CIA agents. Our
>> military
>> : activities in Pakistan have been as misguided as the Nixon-Kissinger
>> invasion of
>> : Cambodia in 1970. The end result will almost surely be the same.
>> :
>> : We should begin our disengagement from Afghanistan at once. We dislike
>> the
>> : Taliban's fundamentalist religious values, but the Afghan public, with
>> its
>> : desperate desire for a return of law and order and the curbing of
>> corruption,
>> : knows that the Taliban is the only political force in the country that
>> has ever
>> : brought the opium trade under control. The Pakistanis and their
>> effective army
>> : can defend their country from Taliban domination so long as we abandon
>> the
>> : activities that are causing both Afghans and Pakistanis to see the
>> Taliban as a
>> : lesser evil.
>> :
>> : One of America's greatest authorities on the defense budget, Winslow
>> Wheeler,
>> : worked for 31 years for Republican members of the Senate and for the
>> General
>> : Accounting Office on military expenditures. His conclusion, when it
>> comes to the
>> : fiscal sanity of our military spending, is devastating:
>> :
>> : "America's defense budget is now larger in inflation-adjusted dollars
>> than at
>> : any point since the end of World War II, and yet our Army has fewer
>> combat
>> : brigades than at any point in that period; our Navy has fewer combat
>> ships; and
>> : the Air Force has fewer combat aircraft. Our major equipment inventories
>> for
>> : these major forces are older on average than any point since 1946 – or
>> in some
>> : cases, in our entire history."
>> :
>> : This in itself is a national disgrace. Spending hundreds of billions of
>> dollars
>> : on present and future wars that have nothing to do with our national
>> security is
>> : simply obscene. And yet Congress has been corrupted by the
>> military-industrial
>> : complex into believing that, by voting for more defense spending, they
>> are
>> : supplying "jobs" for the economy. In fact, they are only diverting
>> scarce
>> : resources from the desperately needed rebuilding of the American
>> infrastructure
>> : and other crucial spending necessities into utterly wasteful munitions.
>> If we
>> : cannot cut back our long-standing, ever increasing military spending in
>> a major
>> : way, then the bankruptcy of the United States is inevitable. As the
>> current Wall
>> : Street meltdown has demonstrated, that is no longer an abstract
>> possibility but
>> : a growing likelihood. We do not have much time left.
>> :
>> : ###
>> :
>> :
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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