Dumb and Dumber

People only see
what they are prepared to see
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

A man willing to work, and unable to find work,
is perhaps the saddest sight
that fortune's inequality exhibits under this sun
--Thomas Carlyle

Let me tell you
You are no exception to the rule
--Boogie Oogie Oogie, A Taste of Honey
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People hear what they want to hear and see what they wish to see. Ranger is no exception.

When he read,

U.S. officials recently have warned that the nation's recession and global financial crisis were top security concerns. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair has said the economic weakness could lead to political instability in many developing nations.

Ranger thought Blair was saying that the economy was so bad it is obvious that the U.S.'s elective wars must be reined in, with the resultant savings redirected to the domestic economy. But as the article progressed, it was clear that what he actually meant was the dead opposite.

Though President Obama has proposed a 4% increase in defense spending over the next fiscal year, "many defense analysts believe that Pentagon budgets, one of the largest shares of government spending, are likely targets for cuts," which could "create the perception of American weakness," said Dov Zakheim, a Defense Department comptroller.

You may say the 4% increase is small, but put into perspective, remember how hard it is to raise the minimum wage, or to have a Veterans Administration health care budget ready before the start of the fiscal year (it has only happened 3 times in the last 22 years, according to DAV Magazine.) Federal money is always hard won, but it is always there for the lean, green killing machine.

It is foolishness to further militarize an economy which cannot sustain a civilian sector, let alone a military one. As for weakness, that is not a perception, but a fact. Strength is not determined by the fact that the U.S. can dust the world over with our nukes.

We cannot win a conventional war against any major power. We can't even secure the street corners of Kabul and Baghdad. Throwing more money at the Department of Defense will not change this fact.

Analysts said, "Russia appears to be continuing efforts to modernize its military, especially its nuclear forces, which could pose a problem for a U.S. government that may slash defense spending." Does anyone see the contradiction: When the U.S. beefs up its military, that is good and necessary; when Russia does it, it is a bad thing.

The best course of action would seem disarmament, rather than perpetuation of the futile arms race. Arms races never have winners.

However, on a brighter note, economist Richard Cooper testified that not all is gloom and doom. "Cooper said that a tighter job market could drive more recruits to the military. . ."

This seems like a return to economically induced indentured servitude. Slavery may be illegal, yet this is a back-door enslavement. So, broken banks and a failing economy turn out to have a patriotic lining, after all.

It is time for America to become a real world player by abandoning the war policies that dictate every aspect of our national life. The U.S. is not the sole remaining superpower, but it is the last nation stupid enough to embrace war as a way of life. in his Army Echoes essay, General George Casey wrote we are in an era of "perpetual conflict."

He is correct, but he fails to mention the conflict is of our own making.