A Tribute To War

It's America's greatest stimulus plan. Directly or indirectly through subcontracts, war employs millions of Americans, many in high paying jobs, all at taxpayer's expense.

War boosts corporate earnings, which raises stock prices, something Wall Street loves, and pays a nice dividend to shareholders and huge bonuses to top management of "defense" firms. Just ask the CEO's of Halliburton, Lockheed, Northrop and many other corporations who are part of the military industrial complex. And it's easy to ask them for most are headquartered in the Washington, DC area, as is privately held Blackwater, so they can be close to their massive customer, the Pentagon.

Here's the best part from a corporate perspective: Those gargantuan and repetitive contracts can be had for a relative pittance in campaign contributions.

So get used to "Operation Iraqi Freedom" and "Operation Enduring Freedom" (Afghanistan), respectfully eight and 10 year military occupations, and counting. Get used to whatever dropping missiles on Libya and Pakistan is and ongoing secret C.I.A. wars in Yemen, Somalia and likely in South America and elsewhere. For if we have no threats to America, we have no massive funding to fight them.

Get used to concepts such as "Shock and Awe" (known to the U.S. military as "rapid dominance"). It's based upon immediate overwhelming power which destroys everything in its path and it's also known for its colorful displays. When it was used in Iraq, it looked to Americans and the U.S. pilots that conducted it as a 4th of July, U.S. Independence Day celebration. Unfortunately where the bombs hit destroyed entire neighborhoods and the infrastructure of Baghdad, leaving thousands of men, women and children dead in the aftermath. But that's war.

If you're wondering about the moral implications of war, this piece is being written on Easter Sunday, 4/24/11, also near Passover for Jews. Virtually nothing is said against these wars by religious leaders. By their silence and their un-involvement in organizing peace movements, it would appear war is acceptable to them as well.

So it's up to you and me. We too can remain silent and passive or we can raise our voices on behalf of our brethren under siege. It's bad for business but we can appeal for compassion and peace for them and a redeployment of what is left of our financial resources to help them rather than destroy them, and to resurrect America so our children and our children's children will inherent the American Dream that we did and we can restore America's once honored place in the world.

Dick