The United States, it makes me very sad to say, on the basis of objectively verifiable data, is a second-tier nation in everything but militarism. The military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about has become one of the largest corporate corrupters in our society. It began with the Viet Nam war but becam supercharged with George W. Bush’s obscene “war on terror” which has caused the U.S. to be at a kind of low grade war ever since. Since Bush was president (2001-2009) we have never not been at war somewhere at some level. If not with our own troops, as the supplier of death weapons. It has been a fabulously profitable time for the corporations that make the weapons, and Citizens United legalized their overt bribery of politicians, which made it so much easier to keep the scam going. Putting aside the moral evil as this report describes, is the climate impact of these wars, and the weapons used in them. I have suspected this for some time, but this is the first fact-based report I have seen describing what this militarism is doing to Earth’s climate. You never hear anyone in media talking about this, but the effects are there nonetheless.
A soldier in the Afghan National Army (ANA) walks past a burn pit at a command outpost recently handed over to the ANA from the United States Army on March 22, 2013, in Kandahar Province, Zhari District, Afghanistan. Credit: Andrew Burton / Getty
This week marks 23 years since George W. Bush declared a U.S.-led “war on terror” and the people of Afghanistan and Iraq are still suffering its consequences.
After the U.S. invaded Iraq, an estimated half a million Iraqis were killed and at least 9.2 million were displaced. From 2003-2011, more than 4.7 million Iraqis suffered from moderate to severe food insecurity. Over 243,000 people have been killed in the Afghanistan/Pakistan war zone since 2001, more than 70,000 of them civilians. Between 4.5 and 4.6 million people have died in the post-9/11 wars.
The U.S.’s “war on terror” also escalated the climate catastrophe, resulting in local water shortages and extreme weather crises that are only getting worse. In 2022, Afghanistan had its worst drought in 30 years and it is facing a […]
Terri Quint
on Monday, September 23, 2024 at 7:18 am
Once the US Government became passing out contracts to private companies, the escalation of spending mushroomed! It’s greed like what is in every sector of this country. That’s why schools suffer, insurance is not what it should be for our people, the environment is only slowly being helped. It’s all about greed! But another factor has come into play—-we have not been developing the Naval ships as we should have—China is way ahead of us. And we definitely are not ready for any war. We have a Congress that has been the least productive Congress in 50 years at least. What did they accomplish in the last year? We can’t even get them to enact a budget so that the government doesn’t shut down. Too much politics about political parties and not enough interest in the well-being of America and its people. This has got to change and, hopefully, it will be under a President Harris. Terri Quint
Will
on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 8:29 pm
Much has been made in the news over the last few years of the Russian oligarchs with their vast wealth and flashy lifestyles. Much less in comparison is made of the Western oligarchs that are collectively far richer and much more engaged in controlling governance and directing economic policies than in Putin’s kleptocratic FSB controlled state. Russian oligarchs can meet an early demise if they don’t follow the script. In America and Europe it is more the opposite as there is an entanglement, some call it a regulatory capture, by the moneyed interests who manage, massage and as quietly as possible direct public resources towards the best ROI which includes all aspects of life with the military being the most profitable. When I reflect on how all this seems to work it is as if the wealthy individuals and corporations are playing a game of direction and misdirection. Appealing first to our better natures then to the worst then massaging towards the middle. After all it is not good for business if your customers rebel or too many get killed in war or too many productive assets are destroyed. The merchants of death want to strike a balance so their customers keep coming back. I don’t see that Harris will be any different than Biden when it comes to feeding the black hole of the Pentagon.
Once the US Government became passing out contracts to private companies, the escalation of spending mushroomed! It’s greed like what is in every sector of this country. That’s why schools suffer, insurance is not what it should be for our people, the environment is only slowly being helped. It’s all about greed! But another factor has come into play—-we have not been developing the Naval ships as we should have—China is way ahead of us. And we definitely are not ready for any war. We have a Congress that has been the least productive Congress in 50 years at least. What did they accomplish in the last year? We can’t even get them to enact a budget so that the government doesn’t shut down. Too much politics about political parties and not enough interest in the well-being of America and its people. This has got to change and, hopefully, it will be under a President Harris. Terri Quint
Much has been made in the news over the last few years of the Russian oligarchs with their vast wealth and flashy lifestyles. Much less in comparison is made of the Western oligarchs that are collectively far richer and much more engaged in controlling governance and directing economic policies than in Putin’s kleptocratic FSB controlled state. Russian oligarchs can meet an early demise if they don’t follow the script. In America and Europe it is more the opposite as there is an entanglement, some call it a regulatory capture, by the moneyed interests who manage, massage and as quietly as possible direct public resources towards the best ROI which includes all aspects of life with the military being the most profitable. When I reflect on how all this seems to work it is as if the wealthy individuals and corporations are playing a game of direction and misdirection. Appealing first to our better natures then to the worst then massaging towards the middle. After all it is not good for business if your customers rebel or too many get killed in war or too many productive assets are destroyed. The merchants of death want to strike a balance so their customers keep coming back. I don’t see that Harris will be any different than Biden when it comes to feeding the black hole of the Pentagon.