War

So the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will exceed one trillion dollars by the end of this year. As we were sailing this weekend experiencing our country's decrepit ferry system (versus the sleek Canadian ferries) and other decaying infrastructure, one wonders how much benefit our country could have gained instad of sinking billions into its follies in Iraq (considered a draw, at best) or Afghanistan (probably a loss but time will tell; the fact the there are an estimated 300 al Qaeda in Afghanistan and we continue to spend billions hunting down these 300 while getting caught in the midst of a civil war that's been going on for hundreds of years, but that's another rant).

Our country is broke, and in sharp decline socioeconomically, yet no one wants to address the horribly wasteful (albeit highly lucrative) war industry. I am sure that some day historians will view the military overstretch supporting corporate interests (my estimate of the true reason we are in Afghanistan - here is a ten year old article I recall reading many years back).

At least the Romans were collecting taxes on their territories; instead the US military is predominantly supporting corporate interests to enter markets or extract resources from these underdeveloped nation-states. I wonder how long this crony-capitalist model can be sustained?

On the anniversary of our government's latest false flag, I reminisce on all that's happened in the nine years since. I also think about the girl that I dated in high school that was on the first plane. Or the other friends of friends that also perished. But I guess a million Iraqi lives are a fair trade for the three thousand or so people killed on American soil (not all were Americans). It's just too bad that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

Many thoughts percolating here on a Saturday morning. Time to get ready for a ten o'clock meeting.