Utne Reader: Who owns the World? (Why am I not surprised by the answer?)

[Scuba]

http://www.utne.com/Politics/Noam-Chomsky-Tom-Engelhardt-Who-Owns-World.aspx



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Military bases R U.S. Or so it seems. After the invasion of 2003, the Pentagon promptly started constructing a series of monster bases in occupied Iraq, the size of small American towns...

Meanwhile, post-2003, the U.S. went on a base-building (or expanding) spree in the Persian Gulf, digging in and enlarging facilities in Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, “home” to the U.S. Fifth Fleet. In that island kingdom, an Obama administration preaching “democracy” elsewhere has stood by in the face of a fierce Bahraini-Saudi campaign of repression against a majority Shiite movement for greater freedom. Meanwhile, not to be outdone, the State Department decided to build a modern ziggurat in Iraq and so oversaw the construction of the largest “embassy” on Earth in Baghdad, a regional citadel-cum-command post meant to house thousands of “diplomats” and their armed minders. It is now constructing a similar facility in Islamabad, Pakistan, while expanding a third in Kabul, Afghanistan

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[xchrom]

1. what's this debt and deficit problem i keep hearing about? nt

[rosesaylavee]

2. Exactly.

And who owns our military? It's certainly not 'us'. When there's billions to be made, the sky's the limit on wars and war profiteering.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. kicking, because it is worth it.

[Gregorian]

4. If you think the military has your best interests in mind, vote Republican.

I'm kind of proud of that statement I just came up with, so I posted it here.

[indimuse]

6. Unfortunately our military works for the us/international corporations...

as you can see, we have a (supposed) Dem in the white house as i type this and i think he just sent drones on a (supposed) humanitarian mission. gee..seems doesn't matter which side you vote for..

[Gregorian]

7. I think it does matter. You're totally right though.

We've all seen Smedley Butler's speech.

But the way I see it, a Republican president just paves the way, and everything works out nicely for the military and it's indirect way of subsidizing corporations. Whereas a Demcocrat doesn't' fully roll out the red carpet. Sadly, the military has more power than any of the branches of government, it seems. If I look at what happened in Iraq, I feel I can say that without sounding too ignorant. The Valerie Plame incident should have been a show stopper. But no. It was a choreographed free for all.

The British Empire did it. What a mess. I'm looking for something better. We can do it.

[Lorien]

5. I've noticed that at those town halls citizens are (rightfully) demanding that we

tax the rich, but they aren't also demanding that we cut defense spending. It's amazing to me how willingly the average American has bought into the idea that defense spending is "sacred" and should not even be brought up in conversation!