Now this is amazing to me. True, I was a Marine and I did serve a tour in Vietnam, but I fail to understand why these people want another war. We are still fighting in Iraq, true this doesn't make the "news" much lately. We are still there though. We are, of course, deep in Afghanistan and that war does make even the main stream media here at home. Now, we are not in any way "winning" either of these wars at this time. Even the commander of the Afghan "adventure" is now requesting more troops for that war. And yet, some people are now getting the public ready for a new war, one with Iran.
Now to the best of my research, Iran did notify the IAEA about this new facility and apparently there was no problem in that announcement. No, the problem seems to come from what passes for leadership in America and in the media. We are being told by the "media" that the plant is for making bomb grade material. So far as I have found, the IAEA does not think so. To the best of my research, the Iranian plant will be subject to the very same inspections as the rest of their nuclear facilities are.
To date, the IAEA has found NO material to be diverted for any "secret" purposes. As far as the IAEA can tell, Iran is still NOT working on a nuclear weapon. As many commentators on the net have pointed out, it would be very foolish for Iran to build or acquire a nuclear weapon. It would, as some have said, paint a big bullseye on Iran. While it is very understandable that they might want such a weapon, to counter those held by Israel, so far they are not even working on such a device.
Good for them. The world has far too many of these evil weapons as it is. We need fewer nuclear weapons, not more of them. I would like to see a nuclear free world. No, that will not happen in my life time, but it is a nice thought.
America and the old Soviet Union signed an agreement to dismantle their nukes. Of course that isn't happening now. We did make a start, but now there seems to be no money for that program. Well, of course there isn't any money, we have spent it all on Iraq and Afghanistan! And we keep spending even more every passing day. According to a report I read this week, we spend $2,000,000,000 (2 Billion) every month for Afghanistan alone. By the end of this year, the Afghan war will have cost the American tax payer $200 Billion!
Now that is some serious money folks. Just imagine what could have been done with that amount of money, other than funding a useless and unwinnable war.
We could have a real national health care system with EVERY American getting full medical coverage. We could pay teachers a decent wage. We could repair our crumbling bridges and roads.
Our economy is in the dump and yet our "leaders" are pushing for yet another war. How many countries does America need to be at war with? Is any country that doesn't jump when "we" shout become an enemy?
Face it, that is the behavior of an empire, not a democratic republic.
Just what do "we" the people get from all this spending on wars? About all that I see that "we" get, is the damn bill for it all. "We" the people of America get nothing from this waste of lives, money, and resources. Just the bloody damn bill. Yes, the people get to pay for the wars. We pay with our money in the form of taxes and yet more taxes to buy the weapons and other materials needed to have these wars. We also pay with lives. It is the working class and the poor people who are the ones doing the fighting and dying. The rich people have "people" to do for them. They nor their children serve in the wars. I suppose like their pal Dick Cheney, they have "other priorities". Having been a member of the ground forces in Vietnam, I can say from personal experience that the troops in the wars have "other priorities" also. Their priorities are staying alive and keeping themselves and their fellow troops alive and well. What the troops really want to is survive with as few physical wounds as possible and to return home safe and n one piece. Of course even without any physical wounds, they are all wounded psychically, emotionally. All of those wounds stay with them forever. War, it just keeps on "giving". The troops can count on a lifetime of bad memories and nightmares. That is what war does to those who are caught up in it.
And it is not just the troops who get these "gifts" from war, but the civilians who are exposed to wars have the very same "gifts" bestowed upon them by war. War is an "equal opportunity" giver of terrible memories and sleepless nights.
We need to find a way to end this senseless cycle of war. The world needs to realize that ALL people have the same needs. We all have the same basic desires also. We all want to provide a decent life for our families. We want decent shelter, food, and clothing. We want a decent, well paying job or career. We want our children to have at least as good a life as we have, and if possible, we want our children to have a better life than we do. This holds for every religion, creed, culture,skin color, or any other "differences" we have or seem to have. People are people. We need to find a way to get along with each other and stop the killing of our fellow human beings.
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