PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

And How Should We Pay For That?
by Sudhama Ranganathan Wednesday, Mar. 28, 2012 at 3:31 PM
uconnharassment@gmail.com

There are times when you have to wonder why people in important positions say the things they say. They can reveal things about themselves that make no sense quite frankly. Not all politicians are elected officials, most are appointed, but in the world of politics they play the same game among themselves and have to consider those that appointed them – at least most do. Much of what they say is a way of backing up, deferring to or defending those they owe their job to.

The dual wars we have been forced to suffer through until the pullout this past December of American troops from Iraq, have drained us terribly. We have lost lives and have lost money by way of trillions we have poured into them.

There were the budgets of each military branch and they were extensive and super inflated as a result of our involvement in Afghanistan and the unnecessary involvement in Iraq. Those costs don't include all the intelligence money poured into the wars. Remember, regarding intelligence budgets there are two sets of books, there are the billions of dollars budgeted going through congress that are on the record.

Then there is the classified budget afforded by a piece of legislation Congress passed over sixty years ago called the CIA Act of 1949. They never talk about it and so most people don't even know it exists, and may even believe it to be the stuff of internet myth, but if you file a Freedom of Information request with the CIA, it clearly states you are not allowed to ask any questions that pertain to monies received by authorization of the CIA Act of 1949 or activities funded by the act. (http://www.foia.cia.gov/txt/Annual_Report_2007.pdf)

That act specifically authorizes the CIA to take money from the coffers of any other government agency without having to report it because it's classified and the agency they have taken it from may not report it either as it's classified. There was a time when politicians were screaming about millions missing from various agencies and decrying government accounting. Notice how those complaints stopped? God only knows how much stimulus money was blown on intelligence and military contractors charging two and three times what government employes get paid for the same service. What a racket! These guys are fleecing us coming and going.

Nevertheless, we finally pulled out of Iraq, but the current administration tried to keep forces there even after repeatedly deriding the Bush administration for going in. This includes statements from President Obama as a candidate saying in 2007for instance, “I am proud of the fact that way back in 2002, I said that this war was a mistake.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/21/iraq-rejects-us-plea-bases) (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/26/us/politics/26obama.html?pagewanted=all) As the Bush administration's justification for the war - weapons of mass destruction and a link between Saddam and Al Qaeda – turned out to have been bogus, by their own logic regarding the invasion, the war was indeed a mistake.

As a candidate for president, Barack Obama declared he would pursue a goal of finishing the job in Afghanistan of getting justice for the attacks on 9-11 and then leaving. He did that and in splendid fashion – except perhaps for tossing the body of Bin Laden out at sea, but no one’s perfect. The Bush administration specifically dropped the ball on Bin Laden going so far less than a year after the attacks as describing him as no longer posing a threat to the American public. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PGmnz5Ow-o) President Obama did what the Bush administration could have done had they not been so close to the oil industry and tangential industries and exploited our national grief and patriotism for greed, he got the person responsible for 9-11.

There were cheers and shouting in American streets and the sense of relief like an exhale after holding one's breath for too long. It was ovah!!! Wait... oh that's right somehow it wasn't.

We were told we needed to stay and get rid of the rest of the Taliban and the rest of Al Qaeda. But journalists - real journalists, the few that actually seek the truth then dish it out – have been saying Al Qaeda is no longer working in Afghanistan and the Taliban are no longer there either. In fact we all have known for a long time both are in Pakistan. Are we going to invade Pakistan too?

The Taliban have set up their own state in Waziristan, an area within Pakistan. A journalist for the New York Times, David Rohde, who was held prisoner by the Taliban, reported about it after his time held as a captive in Waziristan, “What really struck me when I was brought there as a captive, was that the Taliban regime that the, you know, U.S. felt it had toppled in Afghanistan in 2001, I found had simply moved a few hundred miles to the East -and it was alive and thriving in the tribal areas of Pakistan, particularly, in two agencies as they're called. They're parts of the tribal areas, North Waziristan and South Waziristan.

“There were Taliban road crews repairing the roads, Taliban police patrolling the streets, the Taliban run the schools and Arab and Uzbek foreign militants stroll through the bazaars with complete confidence, and it really is a completely militant-run state.” (http://m.npr.org/news/front/126536285?page=4) These guys are living in their own little theocracy safe and secure across the border, running across to get into fights, launching attacks and engaging in skirmishes with our forces, then running back and they can do this forever.

We aren't going to send large numbers of forces across the border any time soon, and if we did what would it produce? We'd be bogged down in another dual war scenario, one in Afghanistan and another with nuclear missile armed Pakistan, with saber rattling against Iran for a possible third. The effectiveness we've had against Al Qaeda, and there has been success, has been due to drone strikes, special forces along with intelligence gathering. We all know this, and you don't need to be a special operative or one of the last remaining journalists to have the scoop. You and me see it all the time. Things are getting worse in Afghanistan and they'll get better and then they'll get worse again.

We could save money by bringing the troops home to keep us safe here by say having them shore up the shipping ports for example by searching every container for the nuclear and other bomb materials experts keep telling us will be coming in via containers for example. We will never get all the bad guys. They go away from one place and pop up in another. Everybody knows another terrorist attack will happen again whether by Al Qaeda, a Tim McVeigh, a Unabomber or a new element.

How long are we to engage in the Middle East? How long are we to dump money into that vast sandy pit? Where's that money going to come from, China? Didn't the Pentagon just announce a build up of forces around China recently? Are we to borrow money from China so we can buy more ships to blow them up? What are we gonna say it's for when we're sitting in front of the loan officer – home improvements?

How will we build back the middle class that has receded and slipped backwards over the last decade? How are we to ensure we can compete with the rest of the world in the future when the education of our children slips and slips further and further behind the rest of the world? A recent report shows, “Currently, 18 percent of US 15-year-olds do not reach an OECD-set level of of reading proficiency, compared to 10 percent in China-Shanghai and Hong Kong, which are compared with countries because of the size of their populations, said the report.

“The United States has also fallen behind in the percentage of 15-year-olds who are enrolled in school, ranking third from bottom of the OECD countries, above only Mexico and Turkey.

“Only eight OECD countries have a lower high school graduation rate than the United States, and in college education, the United States slipped from second to 13th between 1995 and 2008.“ (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5juGFSx9LiPaur6eO1KJAypB2ImVQ?docId=CNG.5337504e8f65acf16c57d5cac3cfe339.1c1)

Now contrast that stark news about where our country is headed with the news from the Pentagon regarding Defense Secretary Panetta as reported by CBS, “The war in Afghanistan can't be determined by polls, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday, asserting that the U.S. must continue with its strategy in the decade-old conflict despite plummeting American confidence in the war.

“Panetta said that there is no question that the American people are tired of war. But, he said, the public understands the U.S. is engaged in Afghanistan because of the attacks on Sept. 11, and to prevent al-Qaida from again finding safe havens there to launch attacks.” (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501363_162-57405440/panetta-war-strategy-cant-be-guided-by-polls/) Notice how when politicians like Panetta, pundits or oil company funded think tank hawks say we should stay in these places, they never say how we're going to pay, nor what we will have to sacrifice. They never come out and say, “because wealthy corporations that donate to our campaigns and causes want the minerals, oil, cheap labor and strategic location to control some of this, forget your kid's education, forget your Medicare, forget your Social Security, forget your crumbling infrastructure, etc.“

They just kinda act like we have the dough. When is someone going to challenge Mr Panetta like they did the Bush administration, which was nice to see happen, about things like how to pay for such lavishness and extravagance for the department he oversees? We have US Military owned golf courses on overseas bases that cost us over a million a year on maintenance fees alone in some cases, and these guys want us to sacrifice our kids futures to keep that stuff going? (http://www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com/golfcourses.html)

We already have the largest diplomatic corp and embassy in the world located in Iraq expenditures on which will cost us billions per year just so wealthy oil corporations can feel secure. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/16/us-embassy-iraq-state-department-plan_n_965945.html) We've given you people over a decade in lives and treasure, Secretary Panetta. How much more do you guys want from our rapidly calcifying nation. It makes no sense whatsoever.

Who do they think they're fooling?

To read about my inspiration for this article go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.

www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com