At what cost do we call ourselves 'the global police'? Is it for the sake of profit for the Military Industrial Complex? Corporations? Isn't this simply the new, terrifying, lethal, still completely unethical and inhumane version of Imperialism? Of course it is. Is it for financial omnipotence? If so, then why are we so in debt? Is it for omniscience? Why, then, do we and our citizens fail in education and know so little about the rest of the world? I'll tell you the cost - it is the very spirit of the nation we claim as our own and the well-being, happiness and security of all those who live therein. There is a difference between 'self-defense' and 'offense'. What we have been doing for a long time is causing 'offense'. This is no different than the very things that Middle-Eastern (and other) terrorists have done and precisely how Islam lost its way...much like the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and many other misadventures throughout history. Imagine how strong the US Military would be if we didn't send our armies and war equipment all over the world and spend fortunes replacing and building them up. Imagine how strong our defensive capabilities would be at home if we weren't squandering our ability to defend ourselves domestically by spreading out all over the world and forcing ourselves, our politics and our culture on the rest of the world. Imagine how many soldiers would still be alive and with their families. Imagine how much we could be spending to repair the infrastructure of our own nation, develop and innovate, continue to be world leaders trough development and research, rather than death and destruction. It is very difficult to continue to support such a pattern and defend such questionable actions and consequential results. It will not get better until this ends. Those who defend these actions by claiming they are doing it to protect themselves from others are not only becoming those others, but are guilty of the very same offenses. This is the result of fear, not the result of wisdom. The question is...who is going to do something about it? The place to start is in the voting booths. We will all answer for our choices, whether to a god or to cause and effect. It would be a great idea to make wiser choices. ^_^ "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Martin Luther King, Jr. Fear cannot drive out fear - only peace can do that...

At what cost do we call ourselves 'the global police'? Is it for the sake of profit for the Military Industrial Complex? Corporations? Isn't this simply the new, terrifying, lethal, still completely unethical and inhumane version of Imperialism? Of course it is. Is it for financial omnipotence? If so, then why are we so in debt? Is it for omniscience? Why, then, do we and our citizens fail in education and know so little about the rest of the world? I'll tell you the cost - it is the very spirit of the nation we claim as our own and the well-being, happiness and security of all those who live therein. There is a difference between 'self-defense' and 'offense'. What we have been doing for a long time is causing 'offense'. This is no different than the very things that Middle-Eastern (and other) terrorists have done and precisely how Islam lost its way...much like the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and many other misadventures throughout history. Imagine how strong the US Military would be if we didn't send our armies and war equipment all over the world and spend fortunes replacing and building them up. Imagine how strong our defensive capabilities would be at home if we weren't squandering our ability to defend ourselves domestically by spreading out all over the world and forcing ourselves, our politics and our culture on the rest of the world. Imagine how many soldiers would still be alive and with their families. Imagine how much we could be spending to repair the infrastructure of our own nation, develop and innovate, continue to be world leaders trough development and research, rather than death and destruction. It is very difficult to continue to support such a pattern and defend such questionable actions and consequential results. It will not get better until this ends. Those who defend these actions by claiming they are doing it to protect themselves from others are not only becoming those others, but are guilty of the very same offenses. This is the result of fear, not the result of wisdom. The question is...who is going to do something about it? The place to start is in the voting booths. We will all answer for our choices, whether to a god or to cause and effect. It would be a great idea to make wiser choices. ^_^ "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Martin Luther King, Jr. Fear cannot drive out fear - only peace can do that... - The United States started bombing Iraq on January 16, 1991, and, except for a few brief intervals, hasn’t stopped since. Twenty-six years this Monday, more than a quarter of a century, and four US presidents, all of whom have bombed Iraq. Last year, the rate of bombing increased over 20,105.