Posts tagged war
Lew Rockwell explains how The Federal Reserve enables war, empire, and destroys the middle class
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This is a good summary from Mises Institute Chairman Lew Rockwell on how The Federal Reserve enables our global war machine, creates the disastrous boom and bust business cycle and devalues or money, driving prices higher.
“If every American taxpayer had to submit an extra five or ten thousand dollars to the IRS this April to pay for the war, I’m quite certain it would end very quickly.
The problem is that government finances war by borrowing and printing money, rather than presenting a bill directly in the form of higher taxes. When the costs are obscured, the question of whether any war is worth is becomes distorted. -Dr. Ron Paul”
John Pilger: War, Truth & the Media
0A great little video from Aussie-born journalist John Pilger on the statistics of war and the chasm between the level of damage and death privatized (al qaeda) and state-sponsored (The US, UK, NATO, etc) terror give to the world.
He’s also recently released a film detailing the role of the media in covering up and/or distorting the reality of war to favor government-issued talking points: The War You Don’t See.
What’s it worth?
1Are you sure you still support the war in Afghanistan? How much should we spend to protect ourselves from the perceived threat of terrorism? Nobel Peace Prize winning song and dance man, Barack Obama, recently committed to having troops there until 2025. Is it worth it?
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Ronald Reagan recently wrote a great paper called “The Case of The Missing Terrorists” detailing a profound question: if we are under such a threat, and the TSA has proven to be riddled with security breaches, where are the terrorists?
My opinion, well supported by many facts, is that the terrorist threat is incredibly over-hyped and used as an amazingly effective, cruel and dishonest marketing tool to get the American people to pay for massive spending programs and support our war-hungry government.
“Christianity and War” with Pastor Laurence M. Vance
0Vance is a pretty impressive guy; holding degrees in theology, accounting, economics and history. His busting of “Bush Doctrines” politics is solid, although his speech does get a little “sales pitchy” at times for his book. Can’t blame the guy, hard to make a living as an author.
“War: Big Government’s Best Friend”
0Dr. Woods is one of the brightest and most entertaining political minds on the planet. Funny, humble, insightful and extraordinarily knowledgable. Although now a Ron Paul supporter and libertarian he used to be a major “neo-con” and was intensely pro-war and pro-State.
With an inspiring level of self-analysis and willingness to reject cognitive dissonance he discusses why the concept of war is repugnant, vile and crazed when viewed without our desire to worship our governments and countries above our fellow men, women and God.
Woods also shows how our concepts of national identity, righteousness and morality are manipulated by our media and government with the lever of fear and war—even in peace-time—so that we can be made to agree with the terrors of “big government.”
Lt. Col. Michael Hastings accuses U.S. military of vast Afghan deception
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Thanks RawStory.com and RollingStone.com
An internal report on the occupation of Afghanistan, penned by an active-duty military officer and published weeks ago — but not released by the Pentagon — was leaked on Friday by Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings, who called the 84-page examination “one of the most significant documents published by an active-duty officer in the past ten years.”
The document, written by Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis, explains there has been a 12-year-long cover-up of the reality on the ground in Afghanistan. Davis was the source of a New York Times feature last Sunday, which cited his report but did not release it.
The Pentagon has since launched an investigation of Davis for possible security violations.
Davis reportedly wrote two versions — one classified and one not — and briefed four members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat. Senior Pentagon officials also have the report, but they’ve decided not to release it. For that reason, the unclassified report was published by Rolling Stone on Friday afternoon.
“As I will explain in the following pages I have personally observed or physically participated in programs for at least the last 15 years in which the Army’s senior leaders have either “stretched the truth” or knowingly deceived the US Congress and American public,” Davis explains in his introduction.
“What I witnessed in my most recently concluded 12 month deployment to Afghanistan has seen that deception reach an intolerable low. I will provide a very brief summary of the open source information that would allow any American citizen to verify these claims. But if the public had access to these classified reports they would see the dramatic gulf between what is often said in public by our senior leaders and what is actually true behind the scenes. It would be illegal for me to discuss, use, or cite classified material in an open venue and thus I will not do so; I am no WikiLeaks guy Part II.”
He essentially concludes that America’s top generals should be placed under oath and questioned about incidents detailed in the report.
The report is available to read here (PDF).
Another foreign policy expert endorses Dr. Paul
0Retired U.S. Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor explains why Rep. Ron Paul’s defense spending plan is the most beneficial and the other candidates are dangerous, delusional and demagogues.
