*Note, this blog is written as a response to Christian's blog:
http://internationalintellectualforum.blogspot.com/2010/10/our-future-freedom-or-handout.html
Christian defined national security as our ability to maintain our current economic, political, and military security. Excuse me for sounding ungrateful, but as our economy rests on the precipice of oblivion and the American political game has become a pathetic, corrupt excuse for a government, my last instinct would be to maintain the status quo. Our war in Afghanistan, or “Operation Enduring Freedom” as the good old boys like to call it, has certainly lived up to its name, and after over 3,000 days and countless dollars have been futilely spent to stroke our imperialistic and war-obsessed ego, we find ourselves entangled in our nation’s longest war with no clear exit strategy. But hey, who needs an exit strategy when there is profit to be made? That’s right, Christian reminded us that we need to advance corporate capitalism, and what better way to help the greedy defense corporations than to start and maintain war? OH, and Christian also recommended a “domestic political policy that pursues national unity”…how perfect! These defense contractors fund political campaigns, and then our elected officials promote international unrest to ensure the generosity of their contributors. And in order to keep their approval rating as high as their moral indecency, politicians toss around the term “national security” while waving an American flag at a rally or a town hall – and hey, some anti-Islamic zingers never hurt anyone. When in doubt, just follow the example of Rudy Giuliani: “Blah blah noun verb noun 9/11 noun verb 9/11 blah blah 9/11,” or you can go rogue and try Palin’s “Restoring America” or “I want my country back” approach. Wow, this plan is foolproof…hell, let’s invade Iran!
I do agree, however, that we are headed in the wrong direction. Our allegedly liberal president was unable to adequately reform healthcare, regulate Wall Street, or advance his “socialist agenda.” I’m still waiting for the progressive man I elected to finally act accordingly. So calm down, Margaret Thatcher, this ain’t socialist Europe. Granny isn’t going to be terminated by a death panel, your taxes aren’t going to skyrocket, and the rich will continue to get richer while the poor wait for the day that American greed subsides. A REAL stimulus must be implemented, forcing aggregate demand to increase. A reverse income tax you propose? HAH! Turn off Glenn Beck, and open your economics book. I’ll excuse your incorrect statement that our defense spending is less than 1% of US GDP and simply inform you that the percentage you were searching for is in fact closer to 5. But wait! Cutting the defense budget is a clear political no-no – for then you would be branded an unpatriotic progressive who wants to see our soldiers massacred as they enter the battlefield, rusty musket in hand!
We ARE in fact on the precipice of a slippery slope, and if you happen to stumble upon this Marxist blood you have alluded to, please let me know.
I'm gonna have to disagree with you on this one Jamie. I'm sure you won't be surprised about what I have to say, but I think I'm gonna go ahead just the same. 9/11 whether we like it or not has come to define our generation. We can not simply ignore that this happened. I don't think there's any doubt that it was an act of war upon the United States. After a decade of meeting the threat half-way, the attacks increased until it reached a point of no return. To not act would be to acknowledge that we neither have the capabilities to defend ourselves or to punish those who do wrong. I don't think we are throwing money and lives away in the war in Afghanistan. That war is a battle for our very identity and our resolve as a nation to meet this threat. If we pull out our image will again be one of cowardice and invite more attacks as what occurred in Somalia. After the black hawk down incident Clinton pulled out and Osama bin Laden said to the arab world that if they just kill a few Americans and make it bloody enough we will tire and leave giving them ultimate victory. This is the great struggle of our time and call me an idealist, but I really believe that Bush, and now President Obama have noble moral goals, and not economic motivations. Think of the effect of every American saying "Enough is enough. Terrorism is unacceptable and we will fight you to the ends of the earth." That is much more powerful and will force more negotiation or at least provoke them to come out of hiding so we can find them than to say, "Eh, we're really not into this and we kinda feel sorry for ourselves and just want to end this." Terrorists really are bullies like Giuliani said. They rely on people's fear to give them what they want. It comes down to meeting a bully on the street. Do you give him a bit of your lunch money and hopefully you won't be bothered again, do you run, or do you knock him on his ass and send a message. Maybe he'll fight back, but maybe he'll think twice about asking you for your lunch money again.
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