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4/11/2007

Cutting Off Funds for Flawed Neocon Fantasies

IRmep believes Congress needs to come together and staunch the steady bleeding of American taxpayers, which is now entering its fifth year.  While we've opposed the US invasion since before it began, there are five reasons why even supporters of a so-called "Global War on Terror" now need to pull the plug before the Iraq debacle brings America to its knees.

Reason #1:  A "Credit Card" War Drags on Future Generations.  The United States is financing the Iraq occupation with deficit spending.  In 2003 Americans rightly rejected the neoconservative plan for the Department of Defense to "lease" air tankers for Middle Eastern air wars.  That case rightly put Pentagon and industry officials (though not the authors of the plan) behind bars.  Americans saw the deal for what it truly was: corruption.  Americans are now rejecting the idea that the cost of the misguided Iraq war is being passed on to our future generations who will be repaying creditor nations such as China that purchase US government bonds financing this disastrous war.  Like the tanker deal, Americans usually reject the idea of paying interest above and beyond the base cost national security interests.  The Iraq war was deficit financed because it never was vital to the US's true defense needs.  The shell game of hiding the cost of the war to make it palatable to American taxpayers is no longer feasible as interest rates climb and the value of the dollar plunges.  The "credit card financed war" game is up.

Reason #2:  Even the Hidden Neocon Policy Premises of the Iraq Invasion are Flawed.    Americans were lied to about the real reasons for invading Iraq:  projecting power over an energy producing region, relocating US military bases out of Saudi Arabia, and protecting the regional interests of Israel.  If these policies had been sold on their merits, rather than a hysteric fog of propaganda about Iraqi "weapons of mass destruction", no American would have accepted them as sufficient reason for invading Iraq.  And rightly so.   Whether located in Saudi Arabia or Iraq, large, permanent US military bases are anathema to Muslim populations.  Tactically, moving US military infrastructure north under the cover of an "Iraqi government invitation" doesn't change that fact.  The Iraqi people are chafing in the shadow of the bases, no matter how remote, and do not want them.

Projecting US power over an energy producing region from US land bases in Iraq is similarly flawed as a grand strategic vision.  Massive US spending is needed, but not for new bases or floating aircraft carriers around the Persian Gulf.  Rather, "Apollo" level funding is needed for paradigm shifting sources of energy, such as fusion.  Finally, backing Israeli interests in solidifying their apartheid regime and cowing regional rivals through military hegemony (including undeclared nukes), is an embarrassment to US principles of national determination, human rights, and the regional "honest broker" responsibilities incumbent upon the world's remaining superpower (at least for now).

Reason #3:  America's Innovation based Economy is at Risk.  The Iraq invasion and "homeland security" narrative dominating government policy and the mass media in the United States has directed domestic investment away from civilian telecommunications and information technology, high value added service industry development, straight into a rat hole of unnecessary military spending.  Individuals in primary or secondary industries feeding the military may not be concerned about the economic realignment or feeling any pain. That is a temporary condition. America is burning its seed corn in the forge of militarism at unprecedented rates.  This in spite of one central fact: A US citizen is more likely to drown in his or her bathtub, than ever become a victim of "terrorism".  Nevertheless, the brightest minds in academia and industry are flowing into "high growth" military related industries that are a net drain on the overall wealth generation and development of the US economy.

Reason #4:  Critical Domestic Spending Programs have been Cut to the point of Failure.  Even with the debt financing, the Iraq invasion and militarization of the US economy has disrupted services that Americans care about deeply: healthcare and education.  The engine of all innovation in America, education, is being systematically undercut at every level.  Americans also understand that the present and future cost of Iraq could have paid for basic healthcare for everyone living in the US.  Funds now financing neocon war fantasies could have helped restore financial solvency to Social Security, an institution working Americans finance with nearly 10% of their gross paycheck and don't usually denigrate or dismiss as an "unfunded entitlement program".  Adding insult to injury, from a cash flow standpoint, an enormous amount of US payroll taxes are diverted to military spending and Iraq rather than invested to fund future retirement of the elderly.

Reason #5:  Americans want to be the World's Example, not a Pariah.  America was not founded on torture, secret prisons, indefinite imprisonment, suspension of habeas corpus, disrespect for international law, state terrorism, government secrecy or economic militarization.  We've slowly witnessing the erosion of the core ideological principles which made the United States an example to be followed.  US policy has generated a chain of events that has killed upwards of 600,000 in Iraq, not to mention the US soldiers and their families who swore to defend America, not neoconservative policy theories.

There are two reasons to hope that the US Congress will now be able to resist the demanding maw of the most powerful domestic and foreign lobbies wailing for more tax dollars and corporate welfare.  First, the Israel lobby, though powerful, has been hobbled by the high profile espionage trial of two of its top officials and prospect that it will have to finally register as an agent of foreign influence.  The courtroom revelations of behind- the-scenes AIPAC skullduggery on behalf of a foreign government will begin on June 4, 2007 and temporarily diminish the hold the Israel lobby has on Congress. 

Second, the American people are beginning to sense the "twilight in America" and are taking corrective action.  Americans are feeling the real pain of the diversion of their tax dollars toward highly questionable spending.  Diversion has resulted in a dearth of education funding, basic community services and healthcare that most civilized nations provide as a basic service to their citizens.  Americans understand that they have not only been both lied to, but fleeced as well.  No amount of shameless red herring appeals for "funding the troops" by Congress and the President, or Iranian bogeyman can provide cover for the most burning issue at the core of America today:   That our government's policies have been systematically and willfully corrupted from within.  Americans now reflecting on the cost of Iraq as they fill out and file income tax returns demand a stop to the debilitating bleed.  If Congress does not act, Americans may understandably take matters into their own hands with a broad based tax boycott.  This would cut off funding neocon policy graft at a level Congress and the Executive have largely disregarded: the source.

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