How do you feel about the future of US?

[Arraya]

[quote=felix]I’m not sure what is the point of your reply.

Again we didn’t choose this war. Saddam did.[/quote]

The point is simple.

You wanna argue Saddam was an asshole who did not get along with his neighbors. Sure, no problem. Then again, we hired him to not get along with some neighbors. But that is another story.

I guess you could say he chose the war because he was defiant, but if you think it has to do with his ability to a) deliver a WMD to cause harm to the US or b) cause 9/11-style attacks you are out of your mind. However, that was the sell point to the public. Which was bullshit. He was so weakened after the clinton sanctions he could barely keep the lights on in his country.

WMDs, terrorism and all that nonsense was kind of a “watch the birdie” type distraction to a pre-planed ME domination plan written in the 90s. If he would have played ball with the big boyz he could have been sitting pretty right now. Living like the Saudi Kings.

Now, to bring this point around to the thread topic, because it is inexorably linked to the future of the US and the world economy for that matter.

It’s Iraq’s oil reserves. Saddam’s biggest threat was not being about to pump oil out of the ground fast enough. Oil growth and economic growth have about a 98% correlation. By 2005 all world oil production stalled until the july 2008 price spike the led to the banking crash. Then demand plummeted. The main reason for the price spike was that demand was outstripping supply.

Since no other region could increase production and many are declining, Iraq is the most important place in the world for the global economy because of it’s ability to increase production.

Now, back up a minute and take a look at the western world. About 1/4 of the counties in europe are on the brink of default and the US’s debt addiction is not getting any better. Really, we need rehab, which will come at some point in a most painful way.

But back to the oil. The tremendous debt overhang of the entire western world is all predicated on “growth” to pay back.

Given, that oil growth and economic growth go hand and hand, you better believe what those oil engineers are doing is about the most important thing in the world and 100% linked to the future of the country.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=briansd1][quote=felix]
Again we didn’t choose this war. Saddam did.[/quote]

I don’t agree with you.

But what does it matter who started what?

I thought America was all about taking the moral high-ground?

We just need to do the right thing for our country. The money spent on the military industrial complex would have been better spent elsewhere.[/quote]

Brian: Do you argue just to argue? Like stirring the pot? On the one hand, you argue that it is about “ideas” and “ideals”, especially Democrat/Democratic ideas and ideals.

On the other hand, you argue that it isn’t about ideas and ideals at all, its about pragmatism.

So which is it? You can’t have it both ways (although you try).

As far as the US goes, its always been about resource acquisition and retention. From Lewis & Clark to the Louisiana Purchase to Manifest Destiny to Gunboat Diplomacy to “Remember the Maine!” through WWI and WWII and the containment policy and Vietnam through the present day, the policy has remained unchanged.

As far as the “Military-Industrial Complex” goes, where do you think those bitchin’ weapons systems we use to keep the oil flowing come from?

And, if you want to have some real fun, watch what happens to our Chinese buddies in Africa (Nigeria especially) when they start trying to control the supply of oil and ship it home from the Dark Continent. Its not covered in the news, but Chinese “security forces” are already shipping something back to the Middle Kingdom and it ain’t oil. Its bodies. Yup, insurgents in Nigeria have already targeted Chinese facilities and personnel and China is finding out firsthand just how ugly shit can get when it comes to satisfying that oil jones.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=briansd1][quote=felix]
Again we didn’t choose this war. Saddam did.[/quote]

I don’t agree with you.

But what does it matter who started what?

I thought America was all about taking the moral high-ground?

We just need to do the right thing for our country. The money spent on the military industrial complex would have been better spent elsewhere.[/quote]

Brian: Do you argue just to argue? Like stirring the pot? On the one hand, you argue that it is about “ideas” and “ideals”, especially Democrat/Democratic ideas and ideals.

On the other hand, you argue that it isn’t about ideas and ideals at all, its about pragmatism.

So which is it? You can’t have it both ways (although you try).

As far as the US goes, its always been about resource acquisition and retention. From Lewis & Clark to the Louisiana Purchase to Manifest Destiny to Gunboat Diplomacy to “Remember the Maine!” through WWI and WWII and the containment policy and Vietnam through the present day, the policy has remained unchanged.

As far as the “Military-Industrial Complex” goes, where do you think those bitchin’ weapons systems we use to keep the oil flowing come from?

And, if you want to have some real fun, watch what happens to our Chinese buddies in Africa (Nigeria especially) when they start trying to control the supply of oil and ship it home from the Dark Continent. Its not covered in the news, but Chinese “security forces” are already shipping something back to the Middle Kingdom and it ain’t oil. Its bodies. Yup, insurgents in Nigeria have already targeted Chinese facilities and personnel and China is finding out firsthand just how ugly shit can get when it comes to satisfying that oil jones.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=briansd1][quote=felix]
Again we didn’t choose this war. Saddam did.[/quote]

I don’t agree with you.

But what does it matter who started what?

I thought America was all about taking the moral high-ground?

We just need to do the right thing for our country. The money spent on the military industrial complex would have been better spent elsewhere.[/quote]

Brian: Do you argue just to argue? Like stirring the pot? On the one hand, you argue that it is about “ideas” and “ideals”, especially Democrat/Democratic ideas and ideals.

On the other hand, you argue that it isn’t about ideas and ideals at all, its about pragmatism.

So which is it? You can’t have it both ways (although you try).

As far as the US goes, its always been about resource acquisition and retention. From Lewis & Clark to the Louisiana Purchase to Manifest Destiny to Gunboat Diplomacy to “Remember the Maine!” through WWI and WWII and the containment policy and Vietnam through the present day, the policy has remained unchanged.

As far as the “Military-Industrial Complex” goes, where do you think those bitchin’ weapons systems we use to keep the oil flowing come from?

And, if you want to have some real fun, watch what happens to our Chinese buddies in Africa (Nigeria especially) when they start trying to control the supply of oil and ship it home from the Dark Continent. Its not covered in the news, but Chinese “security forces” are already shipping something back to the Middle Kingdom and it ain’t oil. Its bodies. Yup, insurgents in Nigeria have already targeted Chinese facilities and personnel and China is finding out firsthand just how ugly shit can get when it comes to satisfying that oil jones.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=briansd1][quote=felix]
Again we didn’t choose this war. Saddam did.[/quote]

I don’t agree with you.

But what does it matter who started what?

I thought America was all about taking the moral high-ground?

We just need to do the right thing for our country. The money spent on the military industrial complex would have been better spent elsewhere.[/quote]

Brian: Do you argue just to argue? Like stirring the pot? On the one hand, you argue that it is about “ideas” and “ideals”, especially Democrat/Democratic ideas and ideals.

On the other hand, you argue that it isn’t about ideas and ideals at all, its about pragmatism.

So which is it? You can’t have it both ways (although you try).

As far as the US goes, its always been about resource acquisition and retention. From Lewis & Clark to the Louisiana Purchase to Manifest Destiny to Gunboat Diplomacy to “Remember the Maine!” through WWI and WWII and the containment policy and Vietnam through the present day, the policy has remained unchanged.

As far as the “Military-Industrial Complex” goes, where do you think those bitchin’ weapons systems we use to keep the oil flowing come from?

And, if you want to have some real fun, watch what happens to our Chinese buddies in Africa (Nigeria especially) when they start trying to control the supply of oil and ship it home from the Dark Continent. Its not covered in the news, but Chinese “security forces” are already shipping something back to the Middle Kingdom and it ain’t oil. Its bodies. Yup, insurgents in Nigeria have already targeted Chinese facilities and personnel and China is finding out firsthand just how ugly shit can get when it comes to satisfying that oil jones.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=briansd1][quote=felix]
Again we didn’t choose this war. Saddam did.[/quote]

I don’t agree with you.

But what does it matter who started what?

I thought America was all about taking the moral high-ground?

We just need to do the right thing for our country. The money spent on the military industrial complex would have been better spent elsewhere.[/quote]

Brian: Do you argue just to argue? Like stirring the pot? On the one hand, you argue that it is about “ideas” and “ideals”, especially Democrat/Democratic ideas and ideals.

On the other hand, you argue that it isn’t about ideas and ideals at all, its about pragmatism.

So which is it? You can’t have it both ways (although you try).

As far as the US goes, its always been about resource acquisition and retention. From Lewis & Clark to the Louisiana Purchase to Manifest Destiny to Gunboat Diplomacy to “Remember the Maine!” through WWI and WWII and the containment policy and Vietnam through the present day, the policy has remained unchanged.

As far as the “Military-Industrial Complex” goes, where do you think those bitchin’ weapons systems we use to keep the oil flowing come from?

And, if you want to have some real fun, watch what happens to our Chinese buddies in Africa (Nigeria especially) when they start trying to control the supply of oil and ship it home from the Dark Continent. Its not covered in the news, but Chinese “security forces” are already shipping something back to the Middle Kingdom and it ain’t oil. Its bodies. Yup, insurgents in Nigeria have already targeted Chinese facilities and personnel and China is finding out firsthand just how ugly shit can get when it comes to satisfying that oil jones.

[felix]

I don’t disagree with most of what you wrote. I think I mentioned how important I felt oil was to not only our economy by the world at large.

I don’t know why you are even mentioning 9/11. I sure didn’t. However, if you don’t think Saddam was capable of attempting 9/11 style attack you are naive. Saddam was a megalomaniac and not bright enough to know when to say enough is enough.

Now I am not saying that angle should have been played up as the major reason for renewing active conflict with the Iraqis, there were enough good reasons imo even without WMDs, but it certainly was a possibility, more so against his neighbors though than us.

Also, while oil has spiked and dropped, I am not sure how much of that movement was supply/demand driven. Imo much of the spike was a speculative bubble, like what we saw happen in real estate but for mostly other reasons.

Yes, there were some supply/demand issues like OPEC controlling supply, ethanol refinery issues and growing economies but the dramatic 2008 increase from 70/barrel to 145/barrel and back down below 70/barrel were caused mostly by speculation (or fear of supply issues not real supply issues).

So it was the added risk premium to the crude oil price which largely was responsible for the extreme price spike. When that eased prices dropped almost 4 times as fast as they rose and they rose pretty fast.

Imo concerns about supply is not the same as a lack of supply or an increase in real demand.

Yet, I do agree oil is a key component to all economies and if Saddam wasn’t sitting on a vast amount of oil and threatening our allies we probably wouldn’t have been involved. I don’t have a problem with that though but I know some folks do.

[felix]

I don’t disagree with most of what you wrote. I think I mentioned how important I felt oil was to not only our economy by the world at large.

I don’t know why you are even mentioning 9/11. I sure didn’t. However, if you don’t think Saddam was capable of attempting 9/11 style attack you are naive. Saddam was a megalomaniac and not bright enough to know when to say enough is enough.

Now I am not saying that angle should have been played up as the major reason for renewing active conflict with the Iraqis, there were enough good reasons imo even without WMDs, but it certainly was a possibility, more so against his neighbors though than us.

Also, while oil has spiked and dropped, I am not sure how much of that movement was supply/demand driven. Imo much of the spike was a speculative bubble, like what we saw happen in real estate but for mostly other reasons.

Yes, there were some supply/demand issues like OPEC controlling supply, ethanol refinery issues and growing economies but the dramatic 2008 increase from 70/barrel to 145/barrel and back down below 70/barrel were caused mostly by speculation (or fear of supply issues not real supply issues).

So it was the added risk premium to the crude oil price which largely was responsible for the extreme price spike. When that eased prices dropped almost 4 times as fast as they rose and they rose pretty fast.

Imo concerns about supply is not the same as a lack of supply or an increase in real demand.

Yet, I do agree oil is a key component to all economies and if Saddam wasn’t sitting on a vast amount of oil and threatening our allies we probably wouldn’t have been involved. I don’t have a problem with that though but I know some folks do.

[felix]

I don’t disagree with most of what you wrote. I think I mentioned how important I felt oil was to not only our economy by the world at large.

I don’t know why you are even mentioning 9/11. I sure didn’t. However, if you don’t think Saddam was capable of attempting 9/11 style attack you are naive. Saddam was a megalomaniac and not bright enough to know when to say enough is enough.

Now I am not saying that angle should have been played up as the major reason for renewing active conflict with the Iraqis, there were enough good reasons imo even without WMDs, but it certainly was a possibility, more so against his neighbors though than us.

Also, while oil has spiked and dropped, I am not sure how much of that movement was supply/demand driven. Imo much of the spike was a speculative bubble, like what we saw happen in real estate but for mostly other reasons.

Yes, there were some supply/demand issues like OPEC controlling supply, ethanol refinery issues and growing economies but the dramatic 2008 increase from 70/barrel to 145/barrel and back down below 70/barrel were caused mostly by speculation (or fear of supply issues not real supply issues).

So it was the added risk premium to the crude oil price which largely was responsible for the extreme price spike. When that eased prices dropped almost 4 times as fast as they rose and they rose pretty fast.

Imo concerns about supply is not the same as a lack of supply or an increase in real demand.

Yet, I do agree oil is a key component to all economies and if Saddam wasn’t sitting on a vast amount of oil and threatening our allies we probably wouldn’t have been involved. I don’t have a problem with that though but I know some folks do.

[felix]

I don’t disagree with most of what you wrote. I think I mentioned how important I felt oil was to not only our economy by the world at large.

I don’t know why you are even mentioning 9/11. I sure didn’t. However, if you don’t think Saddam was capable of attempting 9/11 style attack you are naive. Saddam was a megalomaniac and not bright enough to know when to say enough is enough.

Now I am not saying that angle should have been played up as the major reason for renewing active conflict with the Iraqis, there were enough good reasons imo even without WMDs, but it certainly was a possibility, more so against his neighbors though than us.

Also, while oil has spiked and dropped, I am not sure how much of that movement was supply/demand driven. Imo much of the spike was a speculative bubble, like what we saw happen in real estate but for mostly other reasons.

Yes, there were some supply/demand issues like OPEC controlling supply, ethanol refinery issues and growing economies but the dramatic 2008 increase from 70/barrel to 145/barrel and back down below 70/barrel were caused mostly by speculation (or fear of supply issues not real supply issues).

So it was the added risk premium to the crude oil price which largely was responsible for the extreme price spike. When that eased prices dropped almost 4 times as fast as they rose and they rose pretty fast.

Imo concerns about supply is not the same as a lack of supply or an increase in real demand.

Yet, I do agree oil is a key component to all economies and if Saddam wasn’t sitting on a vast amount of oil and threatening our allies we probably wouldn’t have been involved. I don’t have a problem with that though but I know some folks do.

[felix]

I don’t disagree with most of what you wrote. I think I mentioned how important I felt oil was to not only our economy by the world at large.

I don’t know why you are even mentioning 9/11. I sure didn’t. However, if you don’t think Saddam was capable of attempting 9/11 style attack you are naive. Saddam was a megalomaniac and not bright enough to know when to say enough is enough.

Now I am not saying that angle should have been played up as the major reason for renewing active conflict with the Iraqis, there were enough good reasons imo even without WMDs, but it certainly was a possibility, more so against his neighbors though than us.

Also, while oil has spiked and dropped, I am not sure how much of that movement was supply/demand driven. Imo much of the spike was a speculative bubble, like what we saw happen in real estate but for mostly other reasons.

Yes, there were some supply/demand issues like OPEC controlling supply, ethanol refinery issues and growing economies but the dramatic 2008 increase from 70/barrel to 145/barrel and back down below 70/barrel were caused mostly by speculation (or fear of supply issues not real supply issues).

So it was the added risk premium to the crude oil price which largely was responsible for the extreme price spike. When that eased prices dropped almost 4 times as fast as they rose and they rose pretty fast.

Imo concerns about supply is not the same as a lack of supply or an increase in real demand.

Yet, I do agree oil is a key component to all economies and if Saddam wasn’t sitting on a vast amount of oil and threatening our allies we probably wouldn’t have been involved. I don’t have a problem with that though but I know some folks do.

[paramount]

For OpEdNews: Sheila Jackson – Writer

Here is what we know and here is what we hardly dare articulate.

The United States is in the phase of its decline that is marked by worship of the military. It is the milieu of opportunity for a despot to engage in attempted empire building. It is an age when a cowardly usurper of power can dare to don a military uniform and strut about as if he had the right to wear it. It is another age in the history of wars of domination when young people are sucked into the war machine, thrown into bloody combat based on no noble cause and described as, “Our brave men and women in uniform,” in order to hide the motives of powerful people whose mission it is to line their own pockets and to force their agendas on unwilling peoples.

Or an attempt by petty dictators to secure for themselves an undeserved heroic place in history.

The age of worship of the military and empire building is an era when a general of the army is “above criticism.” It is an age when it is considered an insult to require an oath of honesty from a highly placed military man or to question the bases of his conclusions.

The culture of the worship of the military has crept upon us unaware in our flush of victory at being on the winning side of two world engulfing conflagrations. Those great generations that marched off in huge numbers to war twice in one century to truly save humanity from tyranny had no notion that from their patriotic heroism would be born a John Wayne cult of the noble soldier-avenger, a superhuman who knew no fear and was always right and always victorious.

When I was in Air Force basic training in the late fifties the word civilian had a mildly pejorative connotation. There was no hot war at that time. But there was a large “standing army.” I accepted all of that and, as a very impressionable eighteen-year-old, felt superior to someone for the first time in my average angst-ridden teenaged life. I felt superior to civilians.

Be all that you can be. The few, the proud, the marines. The unquestioning obeyer of orders and completer of dangerous missions. The lionized and the lied to.

There is not a noble war for justice or freedom being waged by this country anywhere in this world today. There is an ill-fated invasion in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula based on the cynical use of the deaths of nearly 3,000 American civilians, to launch an inane and utterly devoid of any sense of reality or sanity, plan for a “New American Century.” There is perpetual war for nothing noble, waged on lies and continued interminably into the misty reaches of tomorrow and promulgated on more lies, totally politically motivated and manipulated with crafty skill and selfish, shallow reasoning.

The war agenda, which is eating up our national treasure and eroding our freedoms at the speed of blight, which is totally antithetical to anything on which the United States was built, is enabled by glorification of the military, by cynically conferring heroism on the victims of the policy.

Empire building never succeeds for long. Back into pre-history it has always ultimately failed. When Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini tried it we were on the side of justice and freedom. Now, tragically, we are on the other side. We are the invaders, the wagers of pre-emptive war, the kind we fought against just a few short decades ago. And all that was needed for the United States to become the aggressive progenitor of yet another world domination ambition was George W. Bush and company.

The prediction for this phase of earthly empire building is not a rosy one. The shortsightedness, the arrogant adherence to a fatally flawed plan of worldwide hegemony of the promulgators of this current foray into world domination ambition, dooms it to failure, perhaps rather more quickly than others of the past. With no interest in or knowledge of history, this group of mentally challenged and/or mentally unbalanced ideologues, is heedlessly careening down a historically well-worn path which will bring yet another mighty nation to its knees.

One irony of the situation is that these modern architects of rehashed domination theory chose to forego the experience of belonging to the culture of military heroism. Unfortunately, they know how to use it in their blind rush to ruin.

Sheila Jackson: Mother of two, grandmother of four, Air Force Veteran, two college degrees, an Associate Degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies obtained at the age of sixty

[paramount]

For OpEdNews: Sheila Jackson – Writer

Here is what we know and here is what we hardly dare articulate.

The United States is in the phase of its decline that is marked by worship of the military. It is the milieu of opportunity for a despot to engage in attempted empire building. It is an age when a cowardly usurper of power can dare to don a military uniform and strut about as if he had the right to wear it. It is another age in the history of wars of domination when young people are sucked into the war machine, thrown into bloody combat based on no noble cause and described as, “Our brave men and women in uniform,” in order to hide the motives of powerful people whose mission it is to line their own pockets and to force their agendas on unwilling peoples.

Or an attempt by petty dictators to secure for themselves an undeserved heroic place in history.

The age of worship of the military and empire building is an era when a general of the army is “above criticism.” It is an age when it is considered an insult to require an oath of honesty from a highly placed military man or to question the bases of his conclusions.

The culture of the worship of the military has crept upon us unaware in our flush of victory at being on the winning side of two world engulfing conflagrations. Those great generations that marched off in huge numbers to war twice in one century to truly save humanity from tyranny had no notion that from their patriotic heroism would be born a John Wayne cult of the noble soldier-avenger, a superhuman who knew no fear and was always right and always victorious.

When I was in Air Force basic training in the late fifties the word civilian had a mildly pejorative connotation. There was no hot war at that time. But there was a large “standing army.” I accepted all of that and, as a very impressionable eighteen-year-old, felt superior to someone for the first time in my average angst-ridden teenaged life. I felt superior to civilians.

Be all that you can be. The few, the proud, the marines. The unquestioning obeyer of orders and completer of dangerous missions. The lionized and the lied to.

There is not a noble war for justice or freedom being waged by this country anywhere in this world today. There is an ill-fated invasion in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula based on the cynical use of the deaths of nearly 3,000 American civilians, to launch an inane and utterly devoid of any sense of reality or sanity, plan for a “New American Century.” There is perpetual war for nothing noble, waged on lies and continued interminably into the misty reaches of tomorrow and promulgated on more lies, totally politically motivated and manipulated with crafty skill and selfish, shallow reasoning.

The war agenda, which is eating up our national treasure and eroding our freedoms at the speed of blight, which is totally antithetical to anything on which the United States was built, is enabled by glorification of the military, by cynically conferring heroism on the victims of the policy.

Empire building never succeeds for long. Back into pre-history it has always ultimately failed. When Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini tried it we were on the side of justice and freedom. Now, tragically, we are on the other side. We are the invaders, the wagers of pre-emptive war, the kind we fought against just a few short decades ago. And all that was needed for the United States to become the aggressive progenitor of yet another world domination ambition was George W. Bush and company.

The prediction for this phase of earthly empire building is not a rosy one. The shortsightedness, the arrogant adherence to a fatally flawed plan of worldwide hegemony of the promulgators of this current foray into world domination ambition, dooms it to failure, perhaps rather more quickly than others of the past. With no interest in or knowledge of history, this group of mentally challenged and/or mentally unbalanced ideologues, is heedlessly careening down a historically well-worn path which will bring yet another mighty nation to its knees.

One irony of the situation is that these modern architects of rehashed domination theory chose to forego the experience of belonging to the culture of military heroism. Unfortunately, they know how to use it in their blind rush to ruin.

Sheila Jackson: Mother of two, grandmother of four, Air Force Veteran, two college degrees, an Associate Degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies obtained at the age of sixty

[paramount]

For OpEdNews: Sheila Jackson – Writer

Here is what we know and here is what we hardly dare articulate.

The United States is in the phase of its decline that is marked by worship of the military. It is the milieu of opportunity for a despot to engage in attempted empire building. It is an age when a cowardly usurper of power can dare to don a military uniform and strut about as if he had the right to wear it. It is another age in the history of wars of domination when young people are sucked into the war machine, thrown into bloody combat based on no noble cause and described as, “Our brave men and women in uniform,” in order to hide the motives of powerful people whose mission it is to line their own pockets and to force their agendas on unwilling peoples.

Or an attempt by petty dictators to secure for themselves an undeserved heroic place in history.

The age of worship of the military and empire building is an era when a general of the army is “above criticism.” It is an age when it is considered an insult to require an oath of honesty from a highly placed military man or to question the bases of his conclusions.

The culture of the worship of the military has crept upon us unaware in our flush of victory at being on the winning side of two world engulfing conflagrations. Those great generations that marched off in huge numbers to war twice in one century to truly save humanity from tyranny had no notion that from their patriotic heroism would be born a John Wayne cult of the noble soldier-avenger, a superhuman who knew no fear and was always right and always victorious.

When I was in Air Force basic training in the late fifties the word civilian had a mildly pejorative connotation. There was no hot war at that time. But there was a large “standing army.” I accepted all of that and, as a very impressionable eighteen-year-old, felt superior to someone for the first time in my average angst-ridden teenaged life. I felt superior to civilians.

Be all that you can be. The few, the proud, the marines. The unquestioning obeyer of orders and completer of dangerous missions. The lionized and the lied to.

There is not a noble war for justice or freedom being waged by this country anywhere in this world today. There is an ill-fated invasion in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula based on the cynical use of the deaths of nearly 3,000 American civilians, to launch an inane and utterly devoid of any sense of reality or sanity, plan for a “New American Century.” There is perpetual war for nothing noble, waged on lies and continued interminably into the misty reaches of tomorrow and promulgated on more lies, totally politically motivated and manipulated with crafty skill and selfish, shallow reasoning.

The war agenda, which is eating up our national treasure and eroding our freedoms at the speed of blight, which is totally antithetical to anything on which the United States was built, is enabled by glorification of the military, by cynically conferring heroism on the victims of the policy.

Empire building never succeeds for long. Back into pre-history it has always ultimately failed. When Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini tried it we were on the side of justice and freedom. Now, tragically, we are on the other side. We are the invaders, the wagers of pre-emptive war, the kind we fought against just a few short decades ago. And all that was needed for the United States to become the aggressive progenitor of yet another world domination ambition was George W. Bush and company.

The prediction for this phase of earthly empire building is not a rosy one. The shortsightedness, the arrogant adherence to a fatally flawed plan of worldwide hegemony of the promulgators of this current foray into world domination ambition, dooms it to failure, perhaps rather more quickly than others of the past. With no interest in or knowledge of history, this group of mentally challenged and/or mentally unbalanced ideologues, is heedlessly careening down a historically well-worn path which will bring yet another mighty nation to its knees.

One irony of the situation is that these modern architects of rehashed domination theory chose to forego the experience of belonging to the culture of military heroism. Unfortunately, they know how to use it in their blind rush to ruin.

Sheila Jackson: Mother of two, grandmother of four, Air Force Veteran, two college degrees, an Associate Degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies obtained at the age of sixty

[paramount]

For OpEdNews: Sheila Jackson – Writer

Here is what we know and here is what we hardly dare articulate.

The United States is in the phase of its decline that is marked by worship of the military. It is the milieu of opportunity for a despot to engage in attempted empire building. It is an age when a cowardly usurper of power can dare to don a military uniform and strut about as if he had the right to wear it. It is another age in the history of wars of domination when young people are sucked into the war machine, thrown into bloody combat based on no noble cause and described as, “Our brave men and women in uniform,” in order to hide the motives of powerful people whose mission it is to line their own pockets and to force their agendas on unwilling peoples.

Or an attempt by petty dictators to secure for themselves an undeserved heroic place in history.

The age of worship of the military and empire building is an era when a general of the army is “above criticism.” It is an age when it is considered an insult to require an oath of honesty from a highly placed military man or to question the bases of his conclusions.

The culture of the worship of the military has crept upon us unaware in our flush of victory at being on the winning side of two world engulfing conflagrations. Those great generations that marched off in huge numbers to war twice in one century to truly save humanity from tyranny had no notion that from their patriotic heroism would be born a John Wayne cult of the noble soldier-avenger, a superhuman who knew no fear and was always right and always victorious.

When I was in Air Force basic training in the late fifties the word civilian had a mildly pejorative connotation. There was no hot war at that time. But there was a large “standing army.” I accepted all of that and, as a very impressionable eighteen-year-old, felt superior to someone for the first time in my average angst-ridden teenaged life. I felt superior to civilians.

Be all that you can be. The few, the proud, the marines. The unquestioning obeyer of orders and completer of dangerous missions. The lionized and the lied to.

There is not a noble war for justice or freedom being waged by this country anywhere in this world today. There is an ill-fated invasion in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula based on the cynical use of the deaths of nearly 3,000 American civilians, to launch an inane and utterly devoid of any sense of reality or sanity, plan for a “New American Century.” There is perpetual war for nothing noble, waged on lies and continued interminably into the misty reaches of tomorrow and promulgated on more lies, totally politically motivated and manipulated with crafty skill and selfish, shallow reasoning.

The war agenda, which is eating up our national treasure and eroding our freedoms at the speed of blight, which is totally antithetical to anything on which the United States was built, is enabled by glorification of the military, by cynically conferring heroism on the victims of the policy.

Empire building never succeeds for long. Back into pre-history it has always ultimately failed. When Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini tried it we were on the side of justice and freedom. Now, tragically, we are on the other side. We are the invaders, the wagers of pre-emptive war, the kind we fought against just a few short decades ago. And all that was needed for the United States to become the aggressive progenitor of yet another world domination ambition was George W. Bush and company.

The prediction for this phase of earthly empire building is not a rosy one. The shortsightedness, the arrogant adherence to a fatally flawed plan of worldwide hegemony of the promulgators of this current foray into world domination ambition, dooms it to failure, perhaps rather more quickly than others of the past. With no interest in or knowledge of history, this group of mentally challenged and/or mentally unbalanced ideologues, is heedlessly careening down a historically well-worn path which will bring yet another mighty nation to its knees.

One irony of the situation is that these modern architects of rehashed domination theory chose to forego the experience of belonging to the culture of military heroism. Unfortunately, they know how to use it in their blind rush to ruin.

Sheila Jackson: Mother of two, grandmother of four, Air Force Veteran, two college degrees, an Associate Degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies obtained at the age of sixty

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