By BOB HERBERT
Published: June 11, 2010
"There is no good news coming out of the depressing and endless war in Afghanistan. There once was merit to our incursion there, but that was long ago. Now we’re just going through the tragic motions, flailing at this and that, with no real strategy or decent end in sight.
The U.S. doesn’t win wars anymore. We just funnel the stressed and underpaid troops in and out of the combat zones, while all the while showering taxpayer billions on the contractors and giant corporations that view the horrors of war as a heaven-sent bonanza. BP, as we’ve been told repeatedly recently, is one of the largest suppliers of fuel to the wartime U.S. military.
Seven American soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Monday but hardly anyone noticed. Far more concern is being expressed for the wildlife threatened by the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico than for the G.I.’s being blown up in the wilds of Afghanistan.
From the comment section one of the best comments ever. It could be a winning platform for anyone running for Congress in the next election:
6.
Phil in the mountains of Kyushu
Japan
June 12th, 2010
12:45 am
As you mention several other points today, you invite comprehensive coherence. So here I humbly offer my list to correspond with your key points today:
1) Withdraw from Iraq – and Afghanistan, Okinawa, and Germany.
2) Cut off all military aid to Israel – and Egypt.
3) End the war on drugs.
4) Start jobs program for nationwide high-speed rail, and light-rail transit in hub cities.
5) Start jobs program for retro-fitting public buildings and homes for energy efficiency.
6) Allow no public monies for any standardized testing.
7) Extend Medicare to all.
8) Cut off all Industrial Ag’s subsidies in corn, soy, rice, and cotton.
9) Allow no biz schools at any public institutions of higher ed.
10) Allow no M.F.A. programs at any public institutions of higher ed.
11) Pay no ed administrator any higher than that of lowest-paid teacher.
12) Restore Glass-Steagall
13) Tax the rich as in the Eisenhower era (up to 91%).
14) Have Supreme Court justices wear on their robes the logos of those corporations with which they’re invested.
15) End the Fulbright program’s subservience to the specialization slots of corporate academe, and have it send Americans abroad in some larger coherent strategy for connections among peoples and cultures. (Hint: one such strategy is at www.EssayingDifferences.com .)
Recommend Recommended by 1082 Readers"
Phil in the mountains of Kyushu
Japan
June 12th, 2010
12:45 am
As you mention several other points today, you invite comprehensive coherence. So here I humbly offer my list to correspond with your key points today:
1) Withdraw from Iraq – and Afghanistan, Okinawa, and Germany.
2) Cut off all military aid to Israel – and Egypt.
3) End the war on drugs.
4) Start jobs program for nationwide high-speed rail, and light-rail transit in hub cities.
5) Start jobs program for retro-fitting public buildings and homes for energy efficiency.
6) Allow no public monies for any standardized testing.
7) Extend Medicare to all.
8) Cut off all Industrial Ag’s subsidies in corn, soy, rice, and cotton.
9) Allow no biz schools at any public institutions of higher ed.
10) Allow no M.F.A. programs at any public institutions of higher ed.
11) Pay no ed administrator any higher than that of lowest-paid teacher.
12) Restore Glass-Steagall
13) Tax the rich as in the Eisenhower era (up to 91%).
14) Have Supreme Court justices wear on their robes the logos of those corporations with which they’re invested.
15) End the Fulbright program’s subservience to the specialization slots of corporate academe, and have it send Americans abroad in some larger coherent strategy for connections among peoples and cultures. (Hint: one such strategy is at www.EssayingDifferences.com .)
Recommend Recommended by 1082 Readers"
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