Eisenhower's Worst Fears Came True

[babsbunny]

By Simon Jenkins, Guardian UK

17 June 11

Eisenhower's worst fears came true. We invent enemies to buy the bombs. Britain faces no serious threat, yet keeps waging war. While big defence exists, glory-hungry politicians will use it.

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/282-98/6303-eisenhowers-worst-fears-came-true

Why do we still go to war? We seem unable to stop. We find any excuse for this post-imperial fidget and yet we keep getting trapped. Germans do not do it, or Spanish or Swedes. Britain's borders and British people have not been under serious threat for a generation. Yet time and again our leaders crave battle. Why?

Last week we got a glimpse of an answer and it was not nice. The outgoing US defence secretary, Robert Gates, berated Europe's "failure of political will" in not maintaining defence spending. He said NATO had declined into a "two-tier alliance" between those willing to wage war and those "who specialise in 'soft' humanitarian, development, peacekeeping and talking tasks." Peace, he implied, is for wimps. Real men buy bombs, and drop them.

This call was echoed by NATO's chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who pointed out how unfair it was that US defence investment represented 75% of the NATO defence expenditure, where once it was only half. Having been forced to extend his war on Libya by another three months, Rasmussen wanted to see Europe's governments come up with more money, and no nonsense about recession. Defence to him is measured not in security but in spending.

[Confusious]

1. War solved problems such as

slavery, hitler, Tojo.

it doesn't solve the problems we have today. We have reached the point where there needs to be more understanding then bombs.

Using bombs perpetuates the problems. but I think they want that.

[Octafish]

2. It's getting pretty clear, someone other than the voter is in charge.

Thank you, babsbunny, for a must-read from The Guardian, UK.

"Money trumps peace." -- George W Bush, Feb. 14, 2007

[azul]

3. Can we rule out the president and congress too?

It's pretty clear also that they are just dancing the money jig and largely just doing harm nowadays.

Who are the masters of conflict and war profiteering and what is that curtain that they hide behind?

"Do you still think that men run things up here?"
-Fritz Lieber, the Black Gondolier