Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and Myth of the Surge
The Hazards of Military Worship
Counterinsurgency, Policing and the Militarization of America’s Cities
Many of us have come to realize that the economic system we live under is basically unfair. The billionaires buy the politicians, and rig the system for their own benefit. In the process, wealth is concentrated at the very top, leaving most Americans disillusioned and angry.
What the American people have not as yet realized is the importance of endless war in transferring money to the rich elite. At war for the last decade and a half, the US has spent over 4 trillion dollars on killing people, mostly in the Middle East. That money creates huge profits for the weapons makers of course, but does nothing for those who don't own their stocks and bonds. Four trillion could have provided for universal healthcare, free college tuition, free daycare, and free nursing homes. It could have created millions of jobs rebuilding America's infrastructure, converting the nation to renewable energy, and combating global warming. The tragedy of lost opportunity.
Once citizens come to realize the true costs of America's empire, there will be great pressure to change the "military-industrial-congressional complex" (as it was described in Eisenhower's original speech). That is why the corporate media devotes so much time to glorifying war and cheerleading for our next conflict. War is as much a part of the system as cheating the poor and middle class to feed the filthy rich.
