Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
So let’s not continue that pattern. Let’s “do something” different. Let’s “do something” else.
For 20 years now we have seen this pattern:
Something terrible happens somewhere — and what is happening in Syria is not just terrible but atrocious in the literal meaning of that term.
Americans naturally feel we must “do something.”
The easiest something to do involves bombers, drones, and cruise missiles, all of which are promised to be precise and to keep our forces and people at a safe remove from the battle zone.
In the absence of a draft, with no threat that taxes will go up to cover war costs, and with the reality that modern presidents are hamstrung in domestic policy but have enormous latitude in national security, the normal democratic checks on waging war don’t work.
We “do something,” with bombs and drones, and then deal with blowback and consequences “no one could have foreseen.”
Something terrible happens somewhere — and what is happening in Syria is not just terrible but atrocious in the literal meaning of that term.
Americans naturally feel we must “do something.”
The easiest something to do involves bombers, drones, and cruise missiles, all of which are promised to be precise and to keep our forces and people at a safe remove from the battle zone.
In the absence of a draft, with no threat that taxes will go up to cover war costs, and with the reality that modern presidents are hamstrung in domestic policy but have enormous latitude in national security, the normal democratic checks on waging war don’t work.
We “do something,” with bombs and drones, and then deal with blowback and consequences “no one could have foreseen.”
So let’s not continue that pattern. Let’s “do something” different. Let’s “do something” else.
more PEACE:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2013/08/28/it-is-happening-again/