OpEdNews - Page 3 of Article: As to Afghanistan, this Thanksgiving it was ‘Thanks, but No Thanks.'

You hear that phrase frequently, frequently connected almost as a conjoined twin to "the need to defend." What one does not hear often, however, is a detailed definition as to specifically what those "interests" are, or what there is about them that makes of them "vital." The president of the United States and a whole lot of others, almost entirely of the Republican and conservative mind sets, talking about sending American men and women into the sausage grinding machine that is Afghanistan. Many will die there. Many more will be physically and/or psychologically mutilated, all on behalf of defending, not a single square foot of American soil, but "US interests in the region." This American is interested to know, demands to know, what exactly those interests are. Before we engage further grotesqueries, not after.

But Mr. Karzai stole an election more brazenly than ever did any Chicago mayor. His government, such as it is, is corrupt to the core: officials, top to bottom, are in the game solely to prevail over the spoils, not caring the least whether any crumbs fall to the dirt floors and streets for any of the Afghanis. Should even a single vile of American blood be ante'ed up in that rigged game? Do we have identifiable interests there?

One thing I do know for certain: we have plenty of interests right here that are not being addressed.

Across America, from sea to shining sea, we have bridges that are falling down and roadways are in total disrepair, and people dying just trying to get from Point A to Point B. November 22, the New York Times reported, accompanied by a gruesome video, "Sewers at Capacity, Waste Poisons Waterways." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/us/23sewer.html) From New York to San Francisco, untreated sludge and human excreta is being dumped into our rivers and into the oceans off our coasts every time rain volumes are above normal. Americans swim in that toxic refuse and we fish in those toxic waters. Our seaports and airports are so terribly outdated, obsolete, relative to what is found in the nations we're supposedly competing with, we are almost noncompetitive. Same thing for our rail freight and commuter systems. We're behind every single one of our major competitors for broadband penetration.

The University of California system just announced it was raising tuition 30%. I graduated in 1974 from that same system with two majors (Business Admin and Political Science), no debt and with genuine employment opportunities. There was no tuition, it was a $45.00 per quarter registration fee that entitled me to take as many classes as I could handle, which averaged 18 - 21 units. Today that same education is available to those who can qualify -- fewer and fewer, actually, as a consequence of our much deteriorated public schools -- only by dint of humongous debt that cannot, by law, be discharged in bankruptcy. And upon graduation, jobs . . . what jobs?

Everyone has been inundated with the haranguing talking points from the Right that this country just cannot afford to provide health care to all its citizens. That's an easy and highly definable national interest that would seem to morally supercede whatever anyone can conjure about Afghanistan.

Calling the hand.

Concerning additional forces for Afghanistan, Representatives David Obey and Jack Murtha have raised the fiscal issue about how such an increase will be funded. Republicans and all on the Right have long excoriated the imprudence of deficits, spending beyond the nation's means when it comes to social programs, but have been largely okay with exploding budget constraints when the topic is wars and conducting them. (To me, their enthusiasm is an execrable display of phony machismo, given their lack of an equal enthusiasm for personally participating as members of the military who will be bearing the brunt of the perils.)

Let's call their hand. Hoist them on their own petard. Demand whatever military exercise is proposed be fully paid for . . . via elevated, ongoing income taxes or surcharges on the taxes of those who were the primary beneficiaries of the Bush tax cuts. CBO has estimated, and recent history backed, that the hard current costs for troop deployments run approximately $1 billion for every 1,000 pairs of boots on the ground. For McChrystal's requested 40,000 additional troops that equates to $40,000,000,000.

But that's also a dramatic underscoring of what the real dollar costs would be. Combat soldiers and marines get seriously injured and killed. Those who are injured also become eligible for lifelong health care in the VA medical system. If seriously injured, seriously impaired, or disabled they are eligible for much more expensive medical care and lifelong disability income benefits. Their families become eligible for additional assistance, including educational benefits. For the soldier or marine who perishes, his widow or her widower and family are immediately entitled to other benefits. For Iraq alone, the unfunded liabilities are now approaching $3 TRILLION. (By the way, that's more than THREE TIMES the 10-year estimate for any of the health care reform bills!) It would be a most extraordinary intellectual transgression to suggest that an Afghanistan adventure will somehow be less expensive.

Consistent intellectual integrity demands these, as with the other federal programs the Right abhors, also be paid for . . . through higher taxes on those most able to afford them!

The call on all of us.

As egregious as are the hypocritical and self-serving rantings of the Right for never-ending military engagements, so too is the dangerous naivety manifested by many on the Left who want to pretend that if we're just nice to everyone, that if we just say no to war, then Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" will be a pan-global reality. What each of us are therefore morally required to do is to become informed of the issues, to eschew tripping-off-the-tongue mindless slogans, and to forever forswear a callous use and abuse of those who have volunteered to bear the sacrifice.

Those are precious principles. Those are principles vital to the sustaining of our country and to the ideals that comprise it. Speaking only for myself, I will not abide any voluntary presence with those who do not share them. This Thanksgiving, it was thanks, but no thanks.

-- Ed Tubbs
Palm Springs

1 | 2 | 3

As to Afghanistan, this Thanksgiving it was âThanks, but No Thanks.'

As to Afghanistan, this Thanksgiving it was âThanks, but No Thanks.'