War for Fun & Profit

Call it police action, peace keeping, counter insurgency, nation building, or whatever. You are an occupying army in a foreign land. Your presence there is an act of war to many if not all of the residents.

At one time we were in a world wide war against communism.. the threat was if all the world went red, they would eventually take us out, too. But that did not happen. Communism fizzled, & their own people rebelled & changed their system. The threat to the us now is terrorism. We fear terrorists coming into our turf & doing another 9/11 action. So we justify preemptive strikes against other countries because some of them might have had a hand in the 9/11 attack.

We also have military bases all over the world. We practice wartime maneuovers near nations we want to intimidate. We send in drones & seal teams to kill kidnappers & enemy combatants. All of this costs the taxpayers a lot of money.. money the govt does not have, & the taxpayers are not willing to pay. So the us govt does it on credit.

IMO, the most we should do is the seal team extractions for us citizens being held hostage. We cannot afford to be the world policeman. Let regions where there is conflict police themselves. Why should we meddle in affairs we have little to do with, other than some vague notion of 'american interests'?

For too long the us has used the military to prop up business investment, or some crony dictator who kills & oppresses his own people. This is immoral & unconstitutional.

Here are some steps i think will help with the deficit & promoting freedom.

1. End all foreign aid. Let other nations take care of themselves, & build themselves. If there is a tyrant in power, oppressing his people, let the whole world, & especially the neighboring countries be involved. If there are problems in Mexico or Canada, we can consider how their situation affects us & take whatever actions are appropriate.

2. No executive police actions. Unless there is a direct threat that requires immediate action, all military endeavors should be prohibited without the full approval of the congress. No preemtive strikes.. no drone attacks.. no bombing or shelling of another country, unless we are in full congressional agreement.

3. If we decide to take military action, it should be swift & severe. Do what we need to do to eliminate our enemies. No political posturing & trying to appear appeasing. If we're going to war, do it right. Go to war & end it. Otherwise, use diplomacy. This is the idea behind 'speak softly & carry a big stick'.

4. Close all foreign military bases. I don't see any constitutional madate for the us to have occupying forces throughout the world. They do not promote good will, regardless of what the propagandists say. Keep our military at home, unless there is a direct threat to our national security. If there is, end the threat, then come home.

We are in a post imperialistic world. Super powers are unsure of their role. They can't just conquer other countries & rule them or colonize them, like they used to, but have to be 'caring' or 'sensitive' to the people in those countries. And if the people we are 'helping' don't like us & instead shoot at us, our feelings are hurt & we bomb them. We should instead offer an open hand of commerce & friendship. If it is not accepted, there are plenty of other nations who will. If some country wants to attack us (and there would be fewer motives if we are not meddling), we can return the favor.

Our current policies of military engagement seem to be to promote our military industrial complex.. keep the money flowing in arms & warfare. This is not the ideological position of a freedom loving people.

Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly, I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked about such a thing.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
Thomas Jefferson

Anyone who has proclaimed violence his method inexorably must choose lying as his principle.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn