The Bombardier

Everyone thinks chiefly of his own,
hardly at all of the common interest;
and only when he is himself concerned as an individual.
Everybody is more inclined to neglect the duty
which he expects another to fulfill
--Aristotle, Politics

In the councils of government,
we must guard against the acquisition of
unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought,
by the military industrial complex
--Dwight D. Eisenhower (1961)
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In the Vietnam War it has been estimated that every dollar of bomb damage inflicted upon North Vietnam cost the U.S. $10.

That does not seem justifiable from a cost-benefit viewpoint, and makes Ranger wonder the cost-kill ratio of killing a suspected terrorist today. It seems the trillions spent have not dented the al-Qaeda roles; even if it has where is the data justifying this expenditure of our tax dollars?

We used to say in Vietnam, it wasn't a great war, but it was the only war we had. The idea was to keep it going since it was a great career-builder. An old soldier looks at the current three wars flapping in the breeze and concludes: The intention is not to win but merely to continue an endless campaign.

The purpose of the wars is to war, and winning is not a consideration as there is nothing to be won. That is, unless one looks at cost-benefits, this time from the corporate standpoint. How does a war end when there is no incentive to do so?

When profits = expediency, campaigns become indefinable and peace is not a dividend that pays off.