It is so easy for leaders of governments to send their military forces into war, not fully realizing that the long range economic effect goes on way beyond their lifetime and for the next century and more!
Here we are, 149 years after the end of the Civil War, and we are paying a small pension to the daughter of a Civil War veteran who married a young woman in his old age, and the daughter from that marriage is now 84 years old!
While the last World War I veteran died in 2011, there are still 4,038 widows, sons and daughters who get a veterans’ pension or other payments from that war service.
Not many are aware that spouses, parents, and children of deceased veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan received $6.7 billion in 2013, based on financial need, any disabilities, and whether the veteran’s death wsas tied to military service.
And this does not include the costs of the war itself, or the care of the veterans. The final bill for Iraq and Afghanistan is estimated to be $4 trillion to $6 trillion dollars over the next century!
This is a commitment that must be met, but it is something which should sober leaders, and clearly has affected Barack Obama, who is doing his best to avoid future conflict, a mark of a true statesman! For that effort alone, he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize he won prematurely in 2009!
Hello Professor,
Being a veteran, I was doing some reflecting yesterday…remembering those we lost in South America during our tour of duty propping up those abusive military juntas of the mid-70’s.
I soon became very philosophical and noted that every civilization in the past that has glorified military conquests and war victories as its virtues, eventually fell pray to those values. Empire examples such as Rome, Spain, France, Britain, etc.
It can also be noted that every country that has developed and used an advanced weapon of war…eventually had that weapon used against them in their defeat.
To conclude this line of thought, are we any different than those who came before us? Will we not suffer the same fate? Does history not repeat itself?
I think that Congress is rudderless as well: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/shooting-victims-father-slams-idiots-congress-asks-learned-nothing-since-newtown/
Engineer, you are so brilliant in your analysis. We have a major problem for the future with our excessive militarism.
Pragmatic Progressive, my heart breaks for Mr. Martinez, who lost his only son in the California violence, and the NRA says nothing in response. The fact that Congress and the states will do nothing is another sign of a very sick society, in deep trouble, as more are killed by gun violence than in our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001! America is the true battlefield! Our worship of firearms is killing our young, while the industry makes record profits, extremely obscene reality!
I love this quote:
“All wars begin long before the first shot is fired and continue long after the last bullet has done its job.”
Great quote, Engineer! Thanks!
@Pragmatic Progressive
I’m of the opinion that Congress will only do something after the Capitol is shot up.
You know, Southern LIberal, what you say makes sense, but ONLY if members of Congress are affected, NOT if, God forbid, the President was affected. In fact, with the right wing whackos in Congress and the news media, they would, probably, celebrate such an event!