By Joseph J. Honick
A Guest on 21st Century Radio shows
The drumbeat cry of conservative politicians almost always refers to
massive, out-of- control government spending, outlays that will be a
Almost never do these same social Scrooges want to discuss the wars in
Afghanistan Iraq that have gone beyond the trillion-dollar mark with
no end in sight.
That is the “other” burden on our children and grandchildren.
Having divided America into two distinct societies – military and
civilian – because of the terribly unwise All Volunteer Armed Forces
Act signed by the late President Richard Nixon, many politicians of
the right have virtually sermonized on the idea that we must wage war
wherever and whenever the mongers decide, with or without sufficient
evidence.
In the case of the current long, long wars without apparent end or
indication of what winning looks like,the military and defense
contractor sectors (military industrial complex) have been able to
operate truly out of control as to the costs involved.
When even Defense Secretary Robert Gates, one of the administration’s
finest executives, offered the need to trim Pentagon expenses and
other budgetary cleanup, it took only a day or so for the right side
of the Congressional aisles in the House and Senate to warn they would
not support such financial trimming. It is of course quite obvious by
now that defense contractors have been profiting massively from the
conflicts and even have contracts that will extend their business well
into the next decade at the expense of the American taxpayers and
their progeny to come.
If those war promoters who are on the wealthy receiving end of heavily
invested defense contractor lobbies would use some public relations
encouragement of their own sons and daughters to rush down to the
recruitment centers to help fight the battles, there might be some
credibility to their politics. Given that Americans have already paid
for more than a billion dollars of private PR work, how much would it
cost for those selling the war in Congress to promote their own kids
to join up?
Moreover, if there is some semblance of reality to these endless
combat operations that have found our men and women risking their
lives for other nations, why not, as I have urged before in these
pages…why not insist that those countries getting the relatively free
ride on our investment start paying the bills for all these efforts?
Worse, why has not one single television talking head or editorial
writer or syndicated columnist even raised this question, among
numerous others?
Why is not one single legislator across the land asking how the so
called “insurgents” can finance their efforts and where do their arms
come from … and of course, why have we failed to stop arms shipments
to them?
So, when we hear the shrill cries of the Teabag Party hypocrites that
they want the government to spend less, why do they also fail to
advance the idea that those numerous nations we are defending cough up
some dough to pay the massive spending for those efforts. Those who
assaulted the administration’s Health Reform legislation asserting it
could cost up to nearly a trillion dollars over 10 years have raised
not one peep about conflicts that already have run to nearly a
Trillion dollars and still rising.
In the end, far from suggesting we should curtail the very best
actions to defend against terrorism, more and more knowledgeable folks
have come to the conclusion each nation has to shoulder the burden for
its own security as we should right here.
There will be those who will suggest we need to fight terrorism around
the world. If that is true, and it no doubt is, then why can we not
engage all those other nations to send troops and money to help? Why
is the newly oil rich Iraq not being required to make the U.S. a
partner in those fabulous oil fields now going to the highest bidders
among oil companies?
Until and unless more Americans worried about their future generations
join in these inquiries and demand answers, what we leave to our
children and grandchildren could hardly be called a “burden.”
More appropriately, it should be termed a nightmare.
* * *
Joseph J. Honick is an international consultant to business and
government and writes for many publications, including
huntingtonnews.net. Honick can be reached at joehonick@gmail.com.
