Refocus national security priorities
Abel Tomlinson
Issue date: 3/2/09 Section: Opinion
Among the greater American populace, our heads are screwed on backward in terms of risk perceptions. Our prioritization of threats is out of whack, and this endangers our collective survival.
About 3,000 people were tragically killed on 9/11, which caused widespread panic. The ensuing fear firestorm, stoked by mainstream media, permitted manipulative politicians to engage in exorbitantly costly wars, dismantle critical Constitutional provisions and flagrantly disregard international law.
Admittedly, 9/11 was atrocious; however, around 3,000 people die every year from choking on objects or falling down stairs. More importantly, many Americans are indifferent toward the gravest threat, heart disease, which kills more than 650,000 Americans annually.
Because of 9/11, we started an unrelated war that Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimated will ultimately cost $3 to $5 trillion, including welfare costs for wounded troops, increased national debt interest and other hidden expenses.
Why must we spend trillions for 3,000 deaths, while heart disease kills millions and we refuse to declare war on junk fast food, which could also save billions in health care costs?
Overall, America now spends more than $1 trillion annually on the "security" complex. This includes vast sums for occupations, private war profiteers, superfluous weapons systems, interest on past military debt and maintenance of more than 700 foreign military bases, which some consider a neocolonialist imperium. In fact, our military spending is about as much as the rest of the world's combined.
With the economy in a death spiral, is it wise to waste this kind of money on something not vital to economic recovery, especially considering the non-military nature of terrorism? Certain politicians hypocritically complained recently about the stimulus costing too much, but have they criticized massive military expenditures?
These folks also complained about the corresponding increase to our national debt, but these "fiscally responsible" fellows wholeheartedly supported the multi-trillion dollar war and tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, and were silent as these policies helped double our debt from $5.7 to $11 trillion over the last eight years.
About 3,000 people were tragically killed on 9/11, which caused widespread panic. The ensuing fear firestorm, stoked by mainstream media, permitted manipulative politicians to engage in exorbitantly costly wars, dismantle critical Constitutional provisions and flagrantly disregard international law.
Admittedly, 9/11 was atrocious; however, around 3,000 people die every year from choking on objects or falling down stairs. More importantly, many Americans are indifferent toward the gravest threat, heart disease, which kills more than 650,000 Americans annually.
Because of 9/11, we started an unrelated war that Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimated will ultimately cost $3 to $5 trillion, including welfare costs for wounded troops, increased national debt interest and other hidden expenses.
Why must we spend trillions for 3,000 deaths, while heart disease kills millions and we refuse to declare war on junk fast food, which could also save billions in health care costs?
Overall, America now spends more than $1 trillion annually on the "security" complex. This includes vast sums for occupations, private war profiteers, superfluous weapons systems, interest on past military debt and maintenance of more than 700 foreign military bases, which some consider a neocolonialist imperium. In fact, our military spending is about as much as the rest of the world's combined.
With the economy in a death spiral, is it wise to waste this kind of money on something not vital to economic recovery, especially considering the non-military nature of terrorism? Certain politicians hypocritically complained recently about the stimulus costing too much, but have they criticized massive military expenditures?
These folks also complained about the corresponding increase to our national debt, but these "fiscally responsible" fellows wholeheartedly supported the multi-trillion dollar war and tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, and were silent as these policies helped double our debt from $5.7 to $11 trillion over the last eight years.
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