War On Terrorism

One of the worst problems this country faces is its addiction to war. Once this addiction is understood, all of the post WWII large scale conflicts this country has been in will make sense. President Eisenhower, one of the greatest military leaders the country has ever known, warned the country about its new addiction in 1961, when he said:

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea. Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

What President Eisenhower was saying in this speech was that war had become profitable. This means there was now an economic incentive for the country to engage in conflict. We should never have any incentive to wage war save to protect our country or her allies.

This addiction means that it is in the best interest of defense companies for the US to be engaged in conflict. Also, banks profit immensely from military conflict, because the countries involved must borrow money to pay for the weapons that are being used. What ends up happening is that a country borrows money, pays it to arms manufacturers, and sticks the taxpayers with the bill. A few get rich, many die, and most are in debt.

The war in Iraq is not a war on terrorism. It is not a war to find WMDs, and it is not a war to rid the country of a genocidal dictator. It is a war to destroy the country, and make money building it back up again. Sadam was put into power by the United States, and most of his funding and military technology was sold by US manufacturers. It's a very good idea really... sell weapons to both sides to lengthen the conflict and keep the cash flowing in.

It's easy to see why Iraq was invaded when looking at Dick Cheney's career history. During the first Bush administration Cheney served as Secretary of Defense. While he held this position he recommended that a study be done by a company called Brown and Root. The study was to see if it would be beneficial for the US military to privatize some of their logistical support programs. Of course Brown and Root found that it would be beneficial for companies like Halliburton to take over some of these programs, and it just so happened that Brown and Root was owned by Halliburton. These private programs were commissioned to be handled by Halliburton, and just two years later Dick Cheney left his position at the White House, and became the CEO of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000. He was paid a total of $44 million during those five years. Then in 2000 Cheney becomes Vice President under the second Bush administration, during which the second war in Iraq began. Halliburton rose to the number one defense contract company in Iraq, and made about $4.3 billion in 2003 from US defense contracts.

Even though Cheney, and many others, profited off of the invasion of Iraq, the goal of stopping terrorism cannot be overlooked. Terrorism is a very real problem for civilized countries, since fear can have such a negative impact on a society. However, terrorism is an idea, not a physical enemy. The whole point of terrorism is to make people think of something happening to them that probably will never happen. This idea is put into people's minds by terrorists. The thing about ideas is that they can't be shot, bombed, poisoned or burned. The only way to kill an idea is with another idea. If you wanted to stop a child from thinking Santa was real, you wouldn't go killing every person in a Santa Claus outfit, you would tell the child the truth about the myth, and if you were really serious you would convince the people who dress as Santa at Christmas time to stop dressing that way.

Since most terrorist have nothing to lose, they are more likely to do rash things, like blow up a building. What the US should have done to fight terrorism is have a group of the most talented writers in the country write a piece about why terrorism should not be carried out, and what other alternatives there are to improving one's way of life. The essay should have been translated into Arabic and dropped over the middle east instead of bombs. Only if a person was in the act of committing a violent crime should physical action be taken against them for our defense.

Our Representatives need to take charge of the military by cutting off the funds going to the DoD if war has not been declared. This power was given to them for a reason, so that wars could not be started by a few people, and continued for an indefinite amount of time for larger profits.

What we must do is realize that military conflict is now an economic tool, like the Federal Reserve buying treasury bonds to stimulate the economy. The people who want to go to war create the real fear in our minds about the communists or the terrorists, so that they have public support to fight in Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, or any other country in the future. We must keep in mind that war is profitable, and never be too eager to follow anyone into battle, unless the defense of your country truly depends on it.