Is The U.S. At War?

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

Is The U.S. At War?
(posted with the author's permission from: http://sane-ramblings.blogspot.com/2011/07/is-us-at-war.html)

The U.S is fighting 5 wars but you wouldn't know it from TV, radio, print or most blogs. The top stories last week were the freeing of Casey Anthony after her trial for her baby's death, raising the U.S. debt ceiling and Los Angeles' "Carmageddone," a non-story. This week it's the Rupert Murdoch scandal and the debt ceiling, unless of course a Hollywood celebrity does something controversial and then the media will race to cover that story, ahead of all others.

But what about the U.S.'s wars? Judging by the news coverage, they don't exist. Yet men, women and children are being killed and maimed in them. The death of Casey Anthony's baby is tragic but this tragedy is happening repeatedly in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia as babies and children are being killed, maimed or orphaned. Where is the U.S. media coverage? Where are the demands to have the violence stopped?

U.S. troops are being killed and maimed, their families are left to agonize over them yet politicians, the people who sent them to war say nothing and most Americans continue life as normal, making no sacrifices and giving those wars little thought.

What kind of people have we Americans become? Are we so callous as to be indifferent to the suffering our nation causes others and to the suffering our military families must bear? We no longer even ask why these wars are being fought.

[Dr Fate]

1. Old people and disabled folks need to suck it up for freedom.

Freedom aint free, ya know!

[krabigirl]

2. k & R

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. That will only change

when more than 1% do the fighting and 5% bear the burden.

Until then.. give me more Casey Anthony idiocy

[villager]

4. against its less-wealthy citizens? Sure!

n/t

[piratefish08]

5. it's only a war if people can fight back.

peace drones are in their own category.

[SSDA]

6. Yes!

Its at war with with its middle class and working class people on all fronts!

[indurancevile]

7. "Are we so callous as to be indifferent to the suffering our nation causes "

ask why the media doesn't cover it. i'd bet more than half the population doesn't even know the extent of our military commitments.

so it's ridiculous to lay it on the entire population.

[Octafish]

8. Goes back to Vietnam.

"A little war is good for the economy." - Anonymous

Outstanding post, yours, No DUplicitous DUpe. Every word.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

9. I will let the author know you approve of his piece...

When I first read it, I too thought it was outstanding and looked forward to posting it here.

:hi:

[Octafish]

12. The author may enjoy the etymology of the phrase...

Porter B. Williamson, a close aide to Gen. George S. Patton before World War II, said the general, of all Republican conservatives, would be completely against the idea of wars without end. During Vietnam, Williamson had occassion to imagine what Patton would say regarding what has become the continuing national situation:

"...I remember hearing a service club speaker, a high government official, say that a little bit of war in a distant place was good for the economy of the United States.

Fighting a war to help the economy would cause Gen. Patton to explode, "Who in hell ever heard of fighting a war to help the economy? War is killing people. Trying to say there is such a thing as a little bit of war is like saying a woman is a little bit pregnant! Who would have the gall to tell a soldier he was giving his life to help the economy?"...

"General Patton's Principles for Life and Leadership," Grab'em by the Nose and Kick'em in the Pants, pp. 128.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

13. Thanks for that..

From the author and me!

[damntexdem]

10. Yeah, mostly with itself.

And the wealthy are winning, crushing the poor and middle class.

[ixion]

11. It's the MSM's job to do two things:

1) Enable the Agenda when necessary. An example of this is the BS run-up to the illegal invasion of Iraq.


2) Obfuscate the atrocities once they're underway with the tabloid garage that you mention above.

They are obedient servants in this regard.

[daa]

14. War in perpetuity nt

[eridani]

15. No we are not. If we were, we'd raise taxes to pay for it, like we did with a real war--

--WW II, Not being at war, unfortunately, doesn't mean that soldiers won't get killed.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

16. The author adds...

I enjoyed reading the posts, especially from the person who quoted General Patton. To me the issue is the U.S. media not living up to its First Amendment obligation to bring us such important news. U.S. soldiers are being killed and maimed and vastly more of them are coming back with PTSD and will need long term care, yet virtually none of their stories are being told. They and their families are invisible. America is in dire financial straits yet is spending billions of dollars a month in these wars, but this is not worthy of coverage even as politicians debate a debt ceiling. How can we Americans maintain a democracy in ignorance?