I'm not really clear how much a billion dollars is but the United States -
our United States - is spending $5.6 billion a month fighting this war in
Iraq that we never should have gotten into. . . .
We had a great commander in WWII, Dwight Eisenhower. He became
President and on leaving the White House in 1961, he said
this: "We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted
influence, whether sought or unsought, by the
military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous
rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. ."
Well, Ike was right. That's just what's happened.
From CBS 60 Minutes?
Should we take this as a good sign?
Is there any possibility that Bush and the neocons are going
to be squeezed out? Have they perhaps gone too far, displayed
too much arrogance, incompetence, and graft - and become a
liability to long-term elite interests?
Bush is definitely hurting PR-wise, in the wake of Katrina,
and reports from the White House say that he is in a chronic
state of depression:
White House: "like working in an insane asylum"
http://www.cyberjournal.org/cj/show_archives/?id=620&lists=newslog
And there are persistent rumors that Fitzgerald's grand jury
hearings are going to bring down serious indictments against
Bush and Cheney, and not only about the Pflame affair.
In appointing Harriet Miers to the supreme court, Bush has
picked someone of dubious legal qualifications, but someone
whose loyalty to Bush is unquestionable. Surely he could have
found a more qualified candidate loyal to the neocon agenda.
Perhaps he wants to make very sure that the Supreme Court is
packed in his favor, if he finds himself behind the dock.
interesting times,
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/30/60minutes/main892398.shtml
Ike Was Right About War Machine
Oct. 2, 2005
----------------------
Andy Rooney (CBS)
The following is a weekly 60 Minutes commentary by CBS News
correspondent Andy Rooney.
----------------------
I'm not really clear how much a billion dollars is but the
United States - our United States - is spending $5.6 billion a
month fighting this war in Iraq that we never should have
gotten into.
We still have 139,000 soldiers in Iraq today.
Almost 2,000 Americans have died there. For what?
Now we have the hurricanes to pay for. One way our government
pays for a lot of things is by borrowing from countries like
China.
Another way the government is planning to pay for the war and
the hurricane damage is by cutting spending for things like
Medicare prescriptions, highway construction, farm payments,
AMTRAK, National Public Radio and loans to graduate students.
Do these sound like the things you'd like to cut back on to
pay for Iraq?
I'll tell you where we ought to start saving: on our bloated
military establishment.
We're paying for weapons we'll never use.
No other Country spends the kind of money we spend on our
military. Last year Japan spent $42 billion. Italy spent $28
billion, Russia spent only $19 billion. The United States
spent $455 billion.
We have 8,000 tanks for example. One Abrams tank costs 150
times as much as a Ford station wagon.
We have more than 10,000 nuclear weapons - enough to destroy
all of mankind.
We're spending $200 million a year on bullets alone. That's a
lot of target practice. We have 1,155,000 enlisted men and
women and 225,000 officers. One officer to tell every five
enlisted soldier what to do. We have 40,000 colonels alone and
870 generals.
We had a great commander in WWII, Dwight Eisenhower. He became
President and on leaving the White House in 1961, he said
this: "We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted
influence, whether sought or unsought, by the
military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous
rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. ."
Well, Ike was right. That's just what's happened.
By Andy Rooney © MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
--
http://cyberjournal.org
"Apocalypse Now and the Brave New World"
http://www.cyberjournal.org/cj/rkm/Apocalypse_and_NWO.html
