My response to President Obama's speech

Our Security is at Stake

The above title was the theme of President Obama’s speech delivered last evening to an audience of West Point Cadets, the nation and the world. Once again we are told that is in our best interests to place over 100,000 Americans in harms way, fighting an insurgency that will just not go away. I am convinced that our best days are behind us. We will squander thousands of lives at an additional initial cost of $30 Billion. This of course doesn’t include the following year’s costs nor the continuing cost of our 140,000+ still remaining in Iraq or the cost for the 71,000 already in Afghanistan. It doesn’t matter that our national debt exceeds $12 Trillion nor that our tax and trade policies continue shipping more and more manufacturing jobs to China and elsewhere, nor that the unending give away unemployment fund is nearly consumed while they continue to consider extending for another year. To my way of thinking it might as well be forever since we continue to find ways to live a reasonable life without working for a living. Our government can just continue printing more dollars. So what if the value drops as long as the overseas suckers are willing to keep purchasing our nearly worthless bonds.
It really is easy to scare Americans, at least the Americans of today. It was just six years ago Pres. Bush, VP Cheney and Secretary of State Rice warned us of mushroom clouds and weapons of mass destruction. The Congress and the bulk of Americans bought it then and I believe still do. Half are still convinced that Hussein was behind the attack which has been proven false over and over to no avail. We lost over 3,000 in the 9/11 attack. Since then twice that many Americans have given their lives in the Middle East and perhaps as many as one million Iraqis and Afghans. Perhaps we should not consider them as people in the same class as Americans. That may be your thought but it surely is not mine.
I voted for Obama believing him to be a man of peace. I was wrong. He is no different from any of the other leaders in power since Jimmy Carter. The look on the faces of Defense Secretary Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the other over decorated brass showed me that they were proud of our President and that in the end he did just what they wanted. He just dragged it out a little longer on the pretext that he was studying all options.
The comparison with the novel 1984 is eerie in the sameness. In the book we are in continuous war with one or the other great powers. It shifts from time to time. All historical records are erased so no one knows any difference. They only know we must fight the enemy, no matter which one. Being kept in fear makes docile citizens who comply without dissent. Those who try are quickly rounded up and mysteriously disappear. All have implants so the government has no trouble finding those who are viewed as trouble makers.
How close to this we are. We have troops stationed all over the world, 60,000 in Germany, and 35,000 in Korea and a similar number on Japanese territory. In case you don’t remember we won WWII in 1945 and signed the armistice with N. Korea in 1953. While it was reasonable to occupy those countries at the time the conflict ended, it is totally unreasonable to remain today. Our excuse is security. With these troops ready and available we can initiate conflicts much easier. These numbers are totally inadequate should we face enemies in the millions as we do in Korea. To me it is all a charade. We continue to follow the dictates of the military/ industrial complex as we were warned many years ago by President Eisenhower. We cannot win the confidence of the world’s people by dropping bombs all over the place. We squander a minimum of a trillion dollars every year in our pursuit of military dominance. In the end we will destroy ourselves. There will be no white knights to come to our rescue. The world will laugh and enjoy seeing us in our misery. It doesn’t have to be this way but will come to pass if we do not change. As for Obama he has set his course. Now we wait for our next opportunity to find a savior. I don’t think it will be Governor Huckabee after we found out he commuted a 95 year sentence for the shooter in Seattle.
I watched a couple of news shows today just to get a feel. The hosts and their guests are all over the place. Trust me, it is all a sham. In the end when all the rhetoric has been spoken, Obama will get his troops and his Billions. The truth is, no one will accept the consequences of pulling out, which brings me to the end. Two years from now, ten years from now or twenty there will still be American boys dying in the desert.
I am too old to do other than write or talk with others about these issues. I will not stop.

Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
December 2, 2009
jackbwalters@yahoo.com