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Government
$6.4 Trillion And Counting - How The Military-Industrial Complex Hijacked The War On Terror
2020-01-20
[Zero] Congress just passed a near trillion dollar military budget at a time when the United States faces no evident state threats at home or abroad. Ike was right.

Illustrating Ike’s prescient warning, Brown University’s respected Watson Institute just released a major study which found that the so-called ’wars on terror’ in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Pakistan have cost US taxpayers $6.4 trillion since they began in 2001.

The extensive study found that over 800,000 people have died as a result of these military operations, a third of them civilians. An additional 21 million civilians have been displaced by US military operations. According to the Pentagon, these US wars have so far cost each American taxpayer $7,623 ‐ and that’s a very conservative estimate.

Most of this money has been quietly added to the US national debt of over $23 trillion. Wars on credit hide the true cost and pain from the public.

As General Eisenhower warned, military spending has engulfed the nation.
Posted by:Besoeker

#11  Oh, I forgot North Korea. Wouldn't wanna leave Pudgy out of this.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2020-01-20 12:29  

#10  What, are TEH ROOSHINS going to put landing craft ashore in Florida?

No. But the Chinese are building up their military and working hard to gain control of the ocean in a way that certainly does threaten us. Then you have Iran, Pakistan, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala... Oh, you don't see them as threats? I say Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala because they are currently actively engaged in the invasion of our country. Just because Nancy Pelosi denies it and just because they come with women and children instead of tanks and warplanes doesn't mean it's not an invasion. Maybe you need to have your eyes checked.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2020-01-20 12:18  

#9  ^I'm a rank zionist. ☺

In all fairness, Rabin was at the helm while all the sasquatches were reading 'how to jihad against commie' by Jimmy Carter. Fate.

And I still blame mostly India.
Posted by: Dron66046   2020-01-20 11:26  

#8  And the Israelis didn't stop them

You overestimate Israel's influence
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2020-01-20 11:04  

#7  I helped make Mexico safe for American...

In his convenient guilt-trip, I don't see anything wrong that he should beat himself up about it. Why, what wrong do you see in this ? He couldn't have been so full of himself to think America's ambitions would grind to a halt without him ? Would America have done anything different at the time if they knew the ramifications ? No.

Besides, Smedley Butler's perspective has ceased to be relevant in the 21st century because of the Jihad. The oily snake of sunni influence hadn't arisen until the late 50s, Butler was dead by '40. You may tote his plaque around like your colorful triangle, sir; but with all due respect to the late General he wouldn't know jack shit about now.

America made it's first critical long-term strategic error when they fucked around with a desert religion they knew was deadly, inhuman and savage. And the Israelis didn't stop them, which was error compounded. The weaponization of the sasquatch led to this entire snafu, mister. It was not war itself but the political ambitions of hegemony and the irrational fears of politicians that fueled this chaos.

Your 'military-industrial complex', which is something to be envied, evolved from constant challenges to your national interests. These interests were not the doing of the military or industry, but of politicians.

'America has the most powerful military in the world because we evolve militarily; but we have the worst foreign policy in the world because we devolve politically.' - some other dead guy, I forget his name.
Posted by: Dron66046   2020-01-20 11:02  

#6  "Butler, for his part, went on to continue advocating for veterans. He also became a staunch opponent of capitalism, which he felt fed war efforts"

So, socialism and communism's your bag, Erb? Called you on that....
Posted by: Frank G   2020-01-20 10:38  

#5  these US wars have so far cost each American taxpayer $7,623 ‐ and that’s a very conservative estimate.

Very conservative. It's quite a bit higher. The U.S. debt is $23 trillion. The U.S. debt clock has the debt at $70,125 per citizen or $187,391 per taxpayer. Debt in real time.
Posted by: JohnQC   2020-01-20 10:35  

#4  What, are TEH ROOSHINS going to put landing craft ashore in Florida?

We're not World Police. We can't afford nice things for ourselves because we spend, spend, spend on killing people far from our shores. General Smedley Butler was right. Eisenhower was right. War is bullshit.

"I helped make Mexico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."
Posted by: Herb McCoy   2020-01-20 09:34  

#3  "evident state threats" could certainly be argued.
Posted by: Besoeker   2020-01-20 09:11  

#2  We see and know how the corruption works. The Biden's, Pelosi's, and Romney's are just the tip of the political corruption around defense spending.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2020-01-20 09:05  

#1  the United States faces no evident state threats at home or abroad

When the first sentence is a lie, I don't read further
Posted by: Frank G   2020-01-20 08:41  

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