Why are the United States and the United Kingdom so ready to keep wars going?

[sad sally]

Outgoing Sec. Gates' words to NATO might provide an explanation.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/16/eisenhower-fears-invent-enemies-buy-bombs?commentpage=2z/?du

Eisenhower's worst fears came true. We invent enemies to buy the bombs

Why do we still go to war? We seem unable to stop. We find any excuse for this post-imperial fidget and yet we keep getting trapped. Germans do not do it, or Spanish or Swedes. Britain's borders and British people have not been under serious threat for a generation. Yet time and again our leaders crave battle. Why?

Last week we got a glimpse of an answer and it was not nice. The outgoing US defence secretary, Robert Gates, berated Europe's "failure of political will" in not maintaining defence spending. He said Nato had declined into a "two-tier alliance" between those willing to wage war and those "who specialise in 'soft' humanitarian, development, peacekeeping and talking tasks". Peace, he implied, is for wimps. Real men buy bombs, and drop them.

This call was echoed by Nato's chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who pointed out how unfair it was that US defence investment represented 75% of the Nato defence expenditure, where once it was only half. Having been forced to extend his war on Libya by another three months, Rasmussen wanted to see Europe's governments come up with more money, and no nonsense about recession. Defence to him is measured not in security but in spending.

-snip-

It is not democracy that keeps western nations at war, but armies and the interests now massed behind them. The greatest speech about modern defence was made in 1961 by the US president Eisenhower. He was no leftwinger, but a former general and conservative Republican. Looking back over his time in office, his farewell message to America was a simple warning against the "disastrous rise of misplaced power" of a military-industrial complex with "unwarranted influence on government". A burgeoning defence establishment, backed by large corporate interests, would one day employ so many people as to corrupt the political system. (His original draft even referred to a "military-industrial-congressional complex".) This lobby, said Eisenhower, could become so huge as to "endanger our liberties and democratic processes".

[defendandprotect]

1. Because it's a sure way for elites to control the public -- and behind war they can

do a lot of mischief - stealing -- Patriot Act -- wiretapping -- etal --

Introducing TORTURE of our "enemies" which would eventually actually be used

on their own citizens to keep them in line!!

With so much destruction by the right we forget to look at the balance sheet

where the enrichment of us all should be entered -- NATURE is one of the biggest

parts of that enrichment -- effecting our health, our moods, our bodies -- and

as our medicine via its drugs/plants.

Nature provides all the solutions -- including HEMP oil to run our automobiles

to heal our ozone laywer -- and much, much more.

These are the highest levels of control by the elite -- to deny us our very right

to nature -- to make nature illegal!!

[PoliticAverse]

2. Exactly. Eisenhower was right...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY

And so was Smedley Butler...

http://www.scuttlebuttsmallchow.com/racket.html

[ProgressIn2008]

3. Heh, a galaxy-sized duh. War makes presidents, congressmen, & generals stinking rich

And since the "regulated" and the "regulators" are now one and the same, everyone wins, eh? Ya want to line your pockets, ya gotta break a few eggs.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. Some corporations make a lot of money in the business of war

I'll bet these corporations help promote the popularity of war by greasing political palms.

[MrScorpio]

5. When I worked there...

I described it as, "Our economy being sucked through the eye of the Pentagon."

It's only gotten worse since I left

[Kablooie]

6. It's their solution to the jobs problem. Wars employ a lot of people.

[SoCalDem]

7. because it keeps the military busy and keeps the warmonger corporations busy

making replacements for the war stuff we use up..

Where would all the soldiers work in the "regular economy" if we downsized the military?