General Petraeus speaks to soldiers. ISAFmedia.
It simply cannot be irrelevant to ask, what are we getting for this expenditure of our national fortune?The U.S. will spend more on the war in Afghanistan this year, adjusting for inflation, than we spent on the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War combined.
Given the long-time "profession" of the Bush family (i.e. "war profiteers"), it should come as no surprise that the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts were designed to be as mercenary and aero-space and munitions intensive as possible... in short, the obscene, economy- and soul-destroying costs are a feature, not a bug. [Given that my college-classmate Barack wants his hedge fund and speeches and book deal post-presidency, same as Clinton, he knows he has to play ball.]
ReplyDeleteAsking what "value" customers who pay the higher prices demanded by businesses that patronize protection rackets is an interesting question... and an utterly academic one, of course.