Let’s Give Up Insanity and Try a Sane Approach in Dealing with the World

Since 9/11 the US government has spent more than 1.5 trillion dollars on the War on Terror. Fourteen nations have been bombed or attacked by the US military, and we are no safer today than we were one day prior to 9/11.  As a matter of fact, we are probably less safe with the world being torn apart by US bombs and the spreading of anarchy throughout the Middle East, yet the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again with the same results.  

We have an insane policy of bloodletting and killing, thinking this will make the problem go away, but as any rational person knows the more people you kill the more enemies you create.  Every time you kill someone with a drone bomb, you create 10 new enemies. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the onetime commander of all coalition forces in Afghanistan, created the phrase “Insurgent Math” when he rightfully pointed out “for every innocent person you kill, you create 10 new enemies.” Every rational person would probably agree with McChrystal’s assessment, but the US government doesn’t, and we continue to make the same mistakes of killing innocents and thinking we can “kill our way to victory”. The big question is; are we really as stupid as we seem by repeating a fruitless useless policy, or are the decision makers bright enough to realize that their policy only insures constant warfare, which just might be the game plan. Sound silly? Then think about a different policy, and the result, if we tried a sane approach to dealing with the world’s nations.

Let us assume that intelligent folk realized you cannot kill your way to victory and embarked on a completely different policy to fight the war on terror.  What if the US government set aside 1.5 trillion dollars, the conservative estimate of our spending in the war on terror so far, and decided to build schools instead?  Think about it. What if we built one hundred thousand schools in Afghanistan after 9/11?  Do you think the Taliban would have the same kind of public support from Afghans?

What if instead of spending 1.5 trillion on bombs and making war while killing well over 1 million people, we helped build infrastructure instead.  Do you really think they would “hate us for our freedom”, probably the most asinine statement ever made by any US President, and try to kill us? Yes folks we have killed over one million people since 9/11, and using McChrystal’s accurate ratio, we have created over 10 million enemies since 9/11. This is insanity.

We bombed Libya for seven months, saying it was necessary for “humanitarian” reasons, another classically stupid expression which mainstream media, the mouthpiece of the US government, readily accepted and used,_{­­ ­}without pointing out the total absurdity of bombing people for humanitarian reasons.

What would have happened, if instead of bombing Libya for 7 months and turning it into a failed state with chaos and anarchy resulting, which led to the emergence of ultra-extremist groups who now threaten the world with violence, we decided to use some of the 1.5 trillion dollars to build 5,000 hospitals in Libya?  Do you think they would still “hate us for our freedom”, and would want to kill us?

What if instead of encouraging Saudi Arabia to bomb Yemen, and supplying them with target information and the weapons used to bomb Yemen into oblivion, we used some of the 1.5 trillion to irrigate land so they did not have to import all their food. Would they hate us as they do now for using drones to kill innocent people in their country, for supporting brutal dictators in their country, for giving those dictators the weapons to keep Yemenis “in their place”, and for supporting Saudi Arabia’s massive bombing of their country?

And finally, we are able to find the money to “bomb” groups in Syria, but cannot find the money to help feed and supply the people of Syria, in one biggest humanitarian crises in the world.  We continue our insane policy of using drones in Pakistan, which is causing anti-American hatred in one of the largest nations on the planet and armed with nuclear weapons, while China quietly agreed to build a gas pipeline that will link Iran with energy starved Pakistan.  The gas pipeline will cost about $2 billion and China has agreed to pay for 85% of the project and it is to be called “the Peace Pipeline”. 

We kill; they build.

Let’s try sanity for a change.

Are All Dead Innocents Equal?

While all death is tragic, one of the greatest tragedies is the killing of people who are completely innocent, so it was with much soul searching and question that we ponder the deaths of two innocent Americans killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan. The President has said he assumes all responsibility, but families have been shattered, lives have ended, and questions are being raised, as well they should.  News stories indicate no individual was targeted in this strike; it was the specific building that drew the interest of the drone strike.  This means we have no idea of who, or how many individuals were in the building, nor was it important; it is the building that was targeted and apparently everything else was irrelevant.  Recently it was also disclosed that cell phones are frequently targeted by drones. Certain cell phones are targeted and we have no idea who is using the phone at the time of death. If an innocent somehow is using the targeted phone, he or she, is simply vaporized and blown to tiny bits. Every time an innocent person dies there should be in inquiry, investigation, and someone should be held accountable and punished. Mr Obama took full responsibility for the two dead Americans, so how can he not be responsible for the thousands of dead innocents that occur from drone strikes he ordered? The latest drone strike that killed two Americans demonstrates the complete hypocrisy of the American people and the President, for their total lack of empathy for any lost lives of innocents, be they children or women, except Americans. 

Everyone is shedding crocodile tears for the two American deaths with justification. They were innocent, they had families, they did nothing wrong, and their deaths were tragic.  Why however, was not one tiny tear shed for the 69 young children who were killed in a drone strike in Pakistan when their school was leveled. No inquiry, no crocodile tears in this county, hardly even a story in media occurred, when 80 innocents were killed, including the 69 kids.  Why no tears for them?

What about another drone strike that killed more innocent kids? In Afghanistan in 2013, 10 children and 2 women were killed in a drone strike.  No tears, no inquiry, no questions, nothing! Why no tears for those 10 little children? One year prior and another group of kids was killed in the very same area. We did not even blink.

Just this week a humanitarian facility in Yemen which contained supplies that would bring clean water to Yemeni refugees was bombed and destroyed. Oxfam, a humanitarian organization owned the building, and had given the exact GPS co-ordinates to those bombing, so that their facility would be spared.  Millions will not get clean drinking water because of the bombing. Reports indicate the US is providing the Saudi bombers with target information. No tears, no lament, no inquiry? Why not?

Then there were the eight wedding parties in three countries that were hit with drone bombs. Hundreds of innocents slaughtered, but no inquiry, no crocodile tears in this country, and no one held accountable.

What does all the media attention for the deaths of the two Americans mean, compared to the complete lack of attention or feeling for the innocent school kids, women, wedding brides, grooms,  guests, and humanitarian facilities, that are being bombed, in what is called  a “humanitarian bombing” of a nation. President Obama offered his apology to the families of the two dead American innocents, but has never offered regret or an apology for the thousands of innocent women and children in the many drone strikes he has ordered. Do readers even know or remember any of the above drone strikes that killed women and children? It would appear that not all lives are considered equal; that somehow “foreign” children and women being killed are of little consequence. Are they not even worth a story, a tear, an apology, or even remembering? Are US lives worth more than others? Is that not racism? Didn’t the belief in “superiority” lead to the rise of Hitler? Do “you” believe that all innocent lives are equal?

The Only Two Tools in the US Tool Bag: Bombs and Starvation.

The US has become the bully on the block and seemingly has only two weapons to use in forcing people to accept our will: one is bombs and the other is harsh economic sanctions. Economic sanctions can easily prove worse than bombs, because they do not discriminate and target the innocent.  For over 50 years we imposed harsh economic sanctions on the people of Cuba, and for 50 years the “people” of Cuba were deprived of necessities and suffered.  We recently relented, but repeatedly during the 50 year sanction period, the rest of the world begged us, and overwhelmingly voted in the UN every year, to have the US remove its sanctions.   We ignored the world’s pleas, and for 50 years defied the entire world in punishing the people of Cuba. 

Iraq’s people became a target of the most brutal sanctions the world has ever seen, and some estimate that over the years at least one million civilians died because of the sanctions.  Most of the casualties were the aged or the very young, always the most vulnerable.  Many younger readers might not recall the then Secretary of State, in a 60 Minutes TV interview be asked: We hear there are as many as 600,000 children have died because of the sanctions; do you think it is worth it? Madame Albright, the Secretary of State, coldly answered: Yes. Tragically Iraq got the one–two treatment; first the sanctions, then bombs in the form of “Shock and Awe.” Four consecutive Presidents bombed Iraq.

We imposed sanctions on Venezuela because we did not like the person they repeatedly elected, and because he “nationalized’ the oil companies and used the money to improve the lot of the very poor in his country.   His people were punished with sanctions, and the US assisted in trying to overthrow the leader, only failing because his people rallied to his defense.

We have sanctions against the people of Iran because we suspected they might develop a nuclear weapon, despite overwhelming evidence by all intelligence agencies that no such program exists. Now we have the framework for a treaty that would insure there will be no such program in Iran, but many neocon Republicans and Democrats are opposing lifting the sanctions. To add insult, both Israel and the US have repeatedly advocated the possibility of attacking and bombing Iran. Wacko wannabe President, Senator Tom Cotton said we should bomb Iran, and it would only take “several days” to win. 

The US has imposed sanctions on 19 current nations, despite the fact they only punish innocents, and there is no historical evidence to suggest sanctions work. They are simply a means to punish the innocent. According to historian Andrew Becevich, US has bombed 14 nations in the Middle East since 1980, which probably establishes a new world record for dropping bombs in rapid succession on countries. 

An interesting comparison between methods used by the US and China, is illuminating. While we use drones to kill people in Pakistan on a regular basis, causing a great deal of anti-US resentment in Pakistan; China has just announced that it will pay for, and build, a gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan. Some readers might know Pakistan is energy starved and desperately needs gas, however because the US had sanctions on Iran, we prevented anyone from building the much needed pipeline for years. While the US uses bombs and sanctions to punish Pakistan, China has finally stepped up to say they will pay for, and build a desperately needed pipeline to Pakistan, despite US sanctions. Who is winning the hearts and mind of the Pakistanis and Iranians?

Last month President Obama called Venezuela “a threat to US national security”, and we have sanctions on their struggling economy in an attempt to bring down their government, while China just announced a 10 billion dollar loan to Venezuela in an attempt to help their economy. Who is winning the hearts and minds of the Venezuelan people?

While the US is imposing sanctions or bombing countries, China is quietly signing construction projects around the world, building roads, power plants, developing oil fields, and even a new canal that would travel 172 miles through Nicaragua.

Critics of the Chinese policy suggest the projects have Chinese self-interest at heart, but the same can be said of all US sanctions and bombings.  Their constructions projects, while in part done for self-serving interests, also serve the interests of the people involved; while sanctions and bomb dropping only serves the interest of the US government, and brings death to the people of the countries we bomb and sanction. Wonder why China is not being attacked by terrorists?