Peace & Nonviolence
Literally: We Can't Afford Afghanistan or Our Military Industrial Complex, If We Want to Advance as a Nation
Mon, 03/08/2010 - 15:25 — Dave Culver- The way to stop this endless war, this endless brutalizing of their people and ours, this endless drain of borrowed money and missed opportunities, is to stop funding the war.
- Cost of War is budgetary "Elephant in the Room"
- Poverty is hitting the suburbs with more sting
Peter G. Cohen, BuzzFlash.com
Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Thomas Sklarski
While Moody’s is saying that the U.S. could lose its gold-plated AAA credit rating, if the budget deficit is not reduced, President Obama is requesting $33,000,000,000 FY 2010 supplemental to fund the troop buildup in Afghanistan.
This is in addition to the war-funding budget for 2011 of $159,300,000,000.
What can this huge sum accomplish? Will we end up bribing thousands of opposition fighters not to blow up our troops by putting them on the payroll as we are now doing in Iraq? Will we ever be able to overcome the intense desire of most Afghanis to have us leave? Will we be able to rebuild an area so fractured by war and death into a friendly nation? Who will benefit? Is this all for large corporations to exploit Afghan’s mineral resources, or to build a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan?
Kucinich Forces Congress to Debate Afghanista
Fri, 03/05/2010 - 14:34 — Dave Culver- It's a great thing that Rep. Kucinich and his 16 allies are forcing Congress to debate the issue, and it would be even better if more constituents would urge their Members of Congress to support Kucinich's resolution.
- UN envoy says it's 'high time to talk' to the Taliban
Robert Naiman, Common Dreams
Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Ken Mitchell
UN envoy says it's 'time to talk' to the Taliban
Fri, 03/05/2010 - 08:36 — Dave CulverUN envoy to Afghanistan says it's 'time to talk' to Taliban, find political resolution to war
Deb Riechmann, AntiWar.com
The head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said Thursday (March 4) that it's "high time" a political solution is found with the Taliban to resolve the more than 8-year-old conflict.
"It's time to talk," Kai Eide said.
In his last news conference as the U.N. representative, Eide said he hoped a spring peace jirga — or conference — that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is organizing would result in a national consensus for peace that the entire nation could rally around.
In a wide-ranging news conference at the heavily secured U.N. compound, Eide said he has always been behind a policy of engagement, but has no allusions about the complexities of negotiating peace with Taliban leaders.
Sexual Assaults on Female Soldiers: Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 16:01 — Dave Culver
- When you look at the entire universe of female veterans, close to a third say they were victims of rape or assault while they were serving — twice the rate in the civilian population.
- Sexual assault in military 'jaw-dropping,' congresswoman says
- We're still not doing right by our vets
Nancy Gibbs, Time
Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Bob Heberle
What does it tell us that female soldiers deployed overseas stop drinking water after 7 p.m. to reduce the odds of being raped if they have to use the bathroom at night? Or that a soldier who was assaulted when she went out for a cigarette was afraid to report it for fear she would be demoted — for having gone out without her weapon? Or that, as Representative Jane Harman puts it, "a female soldier in Iraq is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire."
Cost of War is budgetary "Elephant in the Room"
Mon, 03/01/2010 - 11:26 — Dave CulverEisenhower stated, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
MN State Senator John Marty, Apple Pie Alliance
In challenging times like ours, it is important to step back and look at the big picture. In the Senate we wrestle with painful choices to balance the state budget. Some factors affecting the budget are outside of our control, some we can control, and others fall somewhere in-between. While most legislative work addresses things we have direct control over, we should at least understand other factors influencing the resources available.
The cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars is the budgetary "elephant in the room." It's enormous and it's right in front of us, yet we don't talk about it as we face our economic woes. We don't need to get into arguments about the wars to consider the burden war places on our economy.
President Dwight Eisenhower, one of our nation's greatest military leaders, late in life, expressed deep concern about what he called "the military industrial complex." Eisenhower stated, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
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