Obama's War?

Last night, it became Obama's war. I think that's a misnomer. I don't think it was ever his war to start with. He came into office with the war already in full bloom, saying, as I recall, that he would close gitmo (still going at this time). Did he ever really talk about Peace? Was it just a dream some of us had?

I pity President Obama. I was telling a friend that I thought he must be caught between the generals and the deep blue sea. I remember watching a short of Obama getting home from somewhere far away, and his daughter running up to him and throwing her arms around him. I remember wondering about how it must feel to be in the spotlight like that, and I was grateful that I wasn't there with my boy. God bless his courage.

I've heard that Obama is listening to his advisers. Are these the same advisers that have brought us white phosphorus bombs, depleted uranium munitions, fleschettes, and other deadly and quite thorough ways to commit bodily mayhem? The same advisers that don't understand that we live in a finite ecosystem, and that nothing is ever safely buried far far away? The ones that don't seem to understand fundamental concepts like how the radioactive dust that is aloft on the tradewinds of Africa migrates across the sea to rain down on the unsuspecting here at home? Where do they think most of these cancers come from? Forgive me if I fail to put my trust in death-dealers.

I don't know of any way to stop a war by making more war. If you are engaging in offensive operations, you are engaging in warfare. Last I looked, peace wasn't found on a battlefield. When can we stop the madness, and how?

They say we are a free market economy. I guess that means we're free to fund their war. They say it costs a million dollars a year to keep a soldier overseas, and that's not counting the bill for the private contractors. Why are we paying them? And for what? We had a budget surplus in this country, until we started war. Why do we have money for war, and not for, say, healthcare? Who wrote those rules? I don't remember seeing them in the constitution.

There is something there about Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. War negates all three. I think war is unconstitutional by it's premise. You can argue the details about the amendments, and Defense of the Common Good all you want, in my mind there's no such thing as a 'good war'.

Speaking of defense, we had no defense at all on 9/11. This was a huge strategic blunder. The 'best army in the world' got caught with it's collective pants down. We have the largest military budget in the world, and we couldn't stop, what, 14 guys with box-cutters? I guess the money was mis-spent. Unfortunately, rather than addressing the root cause of terrorism, we then collectively hiked up our pants, and went on the offensive. We were now a nation at war—and the Devil himself couldn't have had a better outcome than that. Seems like we gave the terrorists legitimacy in our over-reaction; now they had a huge cause to fight. We could have rebuilt the towers and put in gardens, and passed health-care for all in honor of the victims of 9/11. We could have created a lasting Peace from a tragedy of monumental (pardon the pun) proportion. No, we let the arms-makers make the deal, and now we all bear a collective responsibility for our countries' actions since then.

They say that communities all over the country are suffering, because there is no money, in the government or otherwise, to care for their ills. There is no money for health-care, there are cuts in essential services and cuts in education. Could we but see it, we would understand that here is our collective Karma; when we let the warmongers call the shots, they take it all—all our wealth, all our resources, and the lives of our bright sons and daughters that will return no more. I say that bill is too high to pay, and we should not pay it.

They say we live in a free market economy. A close look at the numbers says death is far more expensive than life. Maybe we could get smarter about our budget. We could pay for healthcare for the entire world on just a portion of our arms budget. Imagine what we could do at home. They say we live in a free market economy, and that we live in a democracy. Let's make it work. I say, tax the arms-makers, the war wagers, tax them until they can't afford to wage war any more. Boycott the companies that produce arms, that provide raw materials to the arms-makers. Boycott the government that wages war. How about an amendment to let us decide where our taxes go? I say Health-care, not Warfare. An armament is only as good as the person that delivers it. Don't pick up the weapon, don't program the computer, don't put any more energy into the obscene profits of impotent old men. One by one, we can stop this.

I can't face myself in the mirror if I say that this can continue. I couldn't look in the eyes of my child, and not know I didn't do everything in my power to bring the world to Peace. His life, and the lives of all of our children, depend upon it, Here, Now, and Tomorrow.

Last night, it became Obama's war, according to the press. By definition, it is all of our war, we are the people, and we are responsible. Won't you join the Peace revolution? Bread, not bombs, music not munitions, and death to taxes that only fund more carnage. Call your congressperson today, and vote with your heart, your wallet, and your voice.

In quantum peace.