Letters to the Editor
Settembrini
Published Letters: 155
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dog bites man - Shooter makes shit up again -
[Read the article: War advocates like Anne-Marie Slaughter demand that you forget the past]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For instance, nearly everyone here thought invading Iran was a done deal. They were wrong.
No one thought we were "invading Iran" with major ground forces. If so, they were disabused of that notion immediately. Some people thought air strikes against Natanz and other nuclear facilities, or even Quds installations, were imminent. Amend that to "invading Iran's airspace". Otherwise, go to the golf course where your handicap comes in handy.
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@Kitt
[Read the article: War advocates like Anne-Marie Slaughter demand that you forget the past]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have no doubt Cheney, Bolton and other extreme hawks want to do it.
As I have repeatedly stated, the closest we came to it was last August when three carrier groups were in the region. If that happens again, you can worry with good cause.
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@geoffrey2k - Good point
[Read the article: War advocates like Anne-Marie Slaughter demand that you forget the past]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]it's not just that it didn't cost war advocates anything
Great stuff Glenn. I dont get to read your writings as often as I'd like, so perhaps I've missed some things - but it appears that you could go further in your analysis of why these people support the war effort. I grant you that they have no investment, and nothing at risk in the effort, but they do essentially have an upside. Dont forget that we are spending hundreds of millions a year, and much of that money never really leaves the US - it gets recycled through the military industrial complex. And who do you think really benefits from this spending? It's not the parents of Iraq veterans. It's the powerful insiders and their ilk at the top of the corporations through which this money flows. They've benefited enormously. It's the best investment possible - nothing down, and a huge return. Sort of like the scam the real estate industry perpetuated on hapless "buyers" the last few years. And as Freddie and Fannie are eventually bailed out by taxpayers, we'll end up paying for that folly as well.
So, in sum, there are enormous benefits to the rich from the policies that this administration has pushed. They are just indirect and they are essentially, in the end, another massive income redistribution vehicle.
It's analogous to Jonah's claims that fascism has it's roots in liberalism. And he will point to things like Kraft durch Freude to make this argument. There is a big difference between taxing the wealthy to help the poor in your own country - a liberal and progressive idea - and making war on the rest of world to plunder it to improve the conditions of your population. Gotz Aly:
Hitler's Beneficiaries: Plunder, Racial War, and the Nazi Welfare State
http://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-Beneficiaries-Plunder-Racial-Welfare/dp/0805079262
It's a controversial thesis and I would be surprised if he thought Jonah was onto something. Fascist Capitalism, maybe.
As geoffrey2k points out, this only benefits the upper two per cent.
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@DClaw
[Read the article: War advocates like Anne-Marie Slaughter demand that you forget the past]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have long noticed a certain unfortunate nexus between POW flags (the black ones with white or silver lettering) and the indicia of white racism. I've always been befuddled by this odd pairing. The description in the article confirmed, to me, that the pairing has not been coincidental. Can anyone explain it?
-- DCLaw1
The people who still believe that there are live POWs being held by the Vietnames are all far right wing extremist kooks. They are the ones who slimed McCain for working with Kerry to resolve the issue and nomalize relations with Vietnam.
Davis Neiwert is a good source.
Also Col. Joe Schlatter.
http://www.miafacts.org/
He worked with Kerry and McCain