The true cost of our occupation of Afghanistan

This blog entry won't convey the full costs of our role in Afghanistan these past 10 years. A full accounting is probably impossible.

 

Direct costs in last 10 years in Iraq and Afghanistan are$1.3 trillion. True dollar costs are 3 or 4 times higher.

 

While we've spent trillions in so-called nation building (which entails killing, terrorizing, and maiming people 'over there'), we've been neglecting the building of our own nation here. Was it worth it? Is Afghanistan better now? Are we?

 

I cannot quantify the loss of human life, the wounding, both physically and mentally. Money is something we all use and deal with.

 

The $4 Trillion or so we've spent on these wars comes to about $13,000 for EVERY man, woman and child in the US. Of course, that's money we grownups don't have to pay, because we borrowed it! While Congress enacted 3 tax cuts for the wealthy, and Obama followed suit, we pass this bill off for our children and their children.

 

The $122 billion for our war in Afghanistan in 2011 could have paid for

• 62.5 million children receiving low-income healthcare for one year OR
• 1.8 million elementary school teachers OR
• 2 million firefighters OR
• 22 million students getting Pell Grants of $5550 for college.

It's wrong, wrong, Wrong to continue this war.  Or to have ever undertaken it in the first place.

Peace, y'all

10 years, $1.5trillion in Afghanistan

Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of America's invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.
Stupid
Evil
Wrong
Immoral
Devastating
Irresponsible

No longer proud to be American. Maybe still lucky, but not proud.

Peace, y'all

Molly

Another fallen soldier in our senseless, immoral war

Since I work for a state agency I know that another child of a mother in my state had died in our senseless and immoral war in Afghanistan. The email tells me he died in Kandahar Province from unjuries caused by an IED.

No. What killed him was our government's wrong-headed policies that send our people into harm's way.

America has the largest military budget on the planet. Bigger than the militaries of the next several countries, combined.

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. So America sends our hi-tech tools and our young men and women into harm's way. This does NOT make anyone safer.

When you see state and federal flags at half mast, it means someone has died. In my state it's a silent symbol that the State-sanctioned terror had claimed another mother's child.

Family of US Army Cpl Sean M Collins, Ian so sorry for your loss.

Peace, y'all. NOW

Molly

Atomic bombs. Bad, bad, bad

A coworker recently shared with me a powerful portrayal of nuclear testing we have subjected our planet to. Check it out: http://www.ctbto.org/specials/1945-1998-by-isao-hashimoto/

Two things impress me days later.

First, the USA has the dubious distinction of having detonated the most nukes -- half of the 2053 bomb tests between 1945 and 1998.

Second, most tests are in remote areas. The US used the South Pacific, then remote parts of the US--Nevada. The UK used Australia. France used the South Pacific.

In one way this makes a lot of sense. Why would you do something dangerous and harmful in populated areas?

But the remote areas are populated too. And not just by humans. How many ocean creatures died in those tests?

Last thought, and the hardest. Did these tests make the world a better place?

I usually focus on things within my own control. But I was glad to see the bomb test show. Good to think about the big picture sometimes.

Peace, y'all

Molly

Is the Federal budget a reflection of our country's moral values?

So claims the Friends Committee for National Legislation, a fine Quaker lobbying group. So also claims Matthew in the Gospel: For where your treasure is, they will your heart be also (Matthew 6:21

But the cynic in me (small but still present) says them who have the gold make the rules, and that fits our budget picture more clearly.

For each dollar of federal income tax we paid in 2009, our government spent
33 cents on Pentagon spending for current and past wars (3 cents on veterans, 6 cents on interest on debts, 24 cents on Pentagon and related spending.
27 cents supporting the economy -- recovery and bailouts, 26 cents, other jobs, education and social programs, 1cent.
17 cents on health care, mainl Medicare, I suppose
11 cents responding to poverty
9 cents for general government
2 cents for energy, science, and the environment
1 cent for diplomacy, development, and war prevention

FCNL says if these expenditures don't reflect your values, talk to Congress. Good idea. Also talk to your family and friends, your neighbors, your Facebook community, anyone you can.

FCNL makes it easy to reach your reps in Congress. Visit www.fcnl.org, follow the "contact Congress" link, and there you go!

Honest to goodness, it is so much cheaper to prevent a war than to wage one and pay one off decades later. But there's profit in war and not so much for working on making lives better for the multitudes of poor and disenfranchised.

Okay, I'm going to silence the cynic, who is rarely constructive, and bring back cheerier outlook.

Peace, y'all

Molly

Our new vietnam

Yes, it's easy to contrast Vietnam against Afghanistan. But the similarities are more important.

We don't belong there.

We can't win.

Our continued presence costs too much in life, good will, and money.

Al Queaida is not in Afghanistan.

We can't win a war on terrorism via conventional military.

We were welcomed years ago but we have outworn our welcome and the longer we stay there, the more blood will flow, the more Americans will die, the more Afghans will die, the more money we'll waste, and the more enemies our presence there will foster.

We must get out.

Peace, y'all

Molly

Afghanistan

It is a beautiful fall day and I am thinking about Afghanistan. Why must we be there at all? It is wrong. Our nation has an absolutely dismal record for nationbuilding. Let the Afghans determine their own government. If it isn't as open as ours, that is regretable but far better than to kill and maim, disrupt, instill fear and hatred. We need to get out of there.

I heard on NPR some comparisons between the now 8-year war in Afghanistan with our nation's entanglement in Vietnam. I clearly understand the differences - size of our force, size of the "enemy" force, proxy war vs not a proxy war. All true. Also true is that the longer we stay, the more lives, money, and good will we waste. We cannot win and the longer we stay, the more hatred of our nation will fester.

How about this. Instead of sending thousands of soldiers, what if we sent thousands of engineers and laborers and nurses to help rebuild the country? Build roads, water treatment plants, schools, clinics. That's a plan I could get behind.

I hope to deepen my faith and practice and think I'm on the brink. On a practical side, I think I'll bring my activities into greater alignment with my values, and on a spiritual level, I think I'm headed for greater clarity.

Bring it on!!

I have been seeking to define the new norm in my brand new empty-nest-ness. I want to affirmatively choose it, rather than realize in a year what I've become by default. I don't like default. It even sounds bad de (un, NOT) FAULT. What part of this word is good?

In a peace-promoting vein, I want to note that in 1992 California became the 7th state to ban discrimination against gays (thanks, Cat Lovers Against the Bomb calendar). Who were the first 6, and when?

And the cost of wars since 2001 is $913B. This is for both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And this is just the cost of the wars for the U.S. This staggering sum is just as of this moment. But when you read it that price will be history. Visit www.costofwar.com to get the latest but not greatest.

Peace, y'all

Molly

War's costs in Guatemala

The Cat Lovers Against the Bomb (thanks, Nebraskans for Peace) reminded us that ten years ago yesterday, President Clinton said US aid to Guatamalen military was wrong. I did a little looking on internet to learn more about Guatemala's recent history. I feel regret and shame my government (for the people, by the people, of the people) helped harm so many innocent people.

Then, using the CIA fact book, I compared Guatemala to Costa Rica, a nation with no military, and with USA, a nation we are most familiar with. Here are a few comparison points

Guatemala
Suffrage 18 & universal , except members of Active military, who are confined to barracks
Population 4.2 million
GDP (gross domestic product) $49.73B $
GDP/person $5400
Life expectancy @ birth 69.99
Infant mortality (per 1000 births) 28.79
Literacy 69.1%
%GDP spent on education 2.6

Costa Rica
Suffrage - 18, universal and compulsory

Population 13 million

GDP - 70.19B

GDP per person- $11,000

Life expectancy @ birth 77.4

Infant mortality (per 1000 births) 9.1
Literacy 94.9%
%GDP spent on education 4.9

USA
Suffrage 18 and universal
Population 303 million
GDP $14.58T(rillion)
GDP/person $48,000
Life expectancy @ birth 78.14
Infant mortality (per 1000 births) 6.3
Literacy 99%
% GDP spent on education 5.3


Costa Rica is little but by eliminating its military, has much more $$ available for health and education than does Guatemala. Costa Rica: no wars, high literacy, higher life expectancy. Dividends of peace.

I find it sad that Guatemala's active military is confined to quarters and cannot vote on election days. Guatemala has been stable for a few years now, and I hope it lasts. Guatemala vividly illustrates the costs of war. High infant mortality, shortest life expectancy in our hemisphere, rampant poverty, incalculable impacts from human rights abuses.

Yes Mr. Clinton, the US's role in supporting the Guatemala military was wrong.

A Quaker mission statement

This is the mission statement for Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker lobby group in Washington DC (in a very nice, historic, greened up building!)

We seek a world free of war and the threat of war
We seek a society with equity and justice for all
We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled
We seek an earth restored.

Visit them at http://www.fcnl.org/.

I think as mission statements go, it's really good. In fact, I might rearrange it a bit and incorporate it into a personal mission statement. I would put society first, community second, world third, and earth 4th. Not that the earth matters least, but rather that the other 3, if in a good place, also benefit the earth and help restore it.