As the Biden administration is trying to repair strained global relationships while dealing with infra-structure bills, new democracy protection bills, a possible debt ceiling crisis and a threat of government shut down and default, plus the ongoing pandemic, and more of a persistent political partisanship, blocking blindly whatever is good for the American people and the country, even if it leads to tragic economical and instability steps. The country faces another big ongoing dilemma, the military and the for ever war-machine, that was beefed-up during the previous administrations, with unprecedented budget increases and unrealistic spending on military weaponry, special interest war industries and military contractors.
For the record, Congress is debating and voting on a three-quarters trillion dollars Pentagon budget, for context that's more than the military budgets of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran combined, in fact it's more than the next eleven largest countries military budgets combined, how on earth did we get to this point ?? When even back in the fifties president Eisenhower warned the country from a too powerful military weapon's industry and an insatiable war machine.
Since the start of the war in Afghanistan, Pentagon spending has cost the Americans 14 trillions of their tax dollars, serious estimates are that one third to one half of all this money went straight into the coffers of arms manufacturers and private military contractors and their joint lobbyists. The lion's share of these moneys has gone basically to just 5 major corporations, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman.
The 75 billions in Pentagon contracts received by Lockheed Martin in fiscal year 2020 alone is over one and a half times the entire budget for the State Department and agency for International Development for that year, which totaled a mere 44 billion dollars. These merchants of war and death have completely flipped our country's priorities and essential social programs. It's clearly needed to be fought tooth and nails.
Weapons makers and military contractors, and Pentagon generals have spent and benefited over 3 billion dollars on lobbying Congress and Pentagon over the past couple decades, they have an army of 700 lobbyists pushing their pro-war agenda, that is more than one lobbyist for every single member of Congress.
The last 60 years should have taught us that the last and least thing that will build security and peace is forever war, and stupid adventures, brutality and colonial imperialism, it leaves unbearable costs in treasure and blood. Even our closest pseudo ally Israel, is learning this basic lesson and recalculating.
Over 66% of Americans clearly agree that it was a good idea to end the war in Afghanistan, and the ongoing one in Syria and Iraq. Congress has spent billions of dollars each year fueling arms manufacturers and military contractors. With the disastrous U.S. war in Afghanistan behind us, the very last thing we should be doing is heaping more desperately needed taxpayer money into more weapons of war and more adventures .
We have other obligations, domestically and internationally, we need to protect ourselves and help protecting the world from catastrophic effects of climate change, and pandemics that have no boarders, and within our own boarders to fix our decadent infrastructures, our archaic health care, and our old fashioned education system, the list goes on and on. These are not exactly the things those five mega corporations are lobbying for. It's high time we all stand up for their nefarious work. Let's all help build a more peaceful and prosperous for all world.
All my usual thanks to my good readers, stay safe and well.
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