Posts Tagged ‘Op-Ed’
War Warnings
Letter to the Editor, by Betsy Crites. Published March 2nd 2012, News & Observer.
As Afghanistan comes unraveled and U.S. officials scramble to justify 11 years of war, four North Carolina members of Congress signed a letter to President Obama saying it’s time to leave, and sooner is better than later. As The N&O reported, U.S. Reps. Walter Jones, Brad Miller and David Price all spoke to the issue at a Town Hall Meeting on Feb. 20. (The fourth congressman, Howard Coble, was not present.) Jones was especially passionate about questioning the human and economic toll, asking “Where is the outrage?”
At the same meeting Matthew Hoh, a former Marine and State Department official in Afghanistan, who resigned in protest of U.S. policies, said our soldiers are caught in the middle of local feuds that have nothing to do with our security. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the U.S. $1.5 trillion in direct costs and will cost at least that much in ongoing care of wounded vets and war debt, according to Hoh.
Now, some U.S. senators and media are pushing for war in Iran. As Gen. Anthony Zinni said, if you liked Iraq and Afghanistan, you’ll love Iran.
Comments Closed
Do We Have Our Priorities Straight?
We are worlds apart, but we both have people who need jobs, health care, schools, transportation and sewers, and help for our homeless, elderly and hungry. Neither of us is getting our critical needs met in part because a war neither of us really wants is draining our economies, killing and injuring our young people, and depleting our spirits.
We don’t often make the connections with this far-off country, but we need to.
We’ve been told that deficits and debt are why we must endure major cuts in educational programs, health care, environmental protection and a wide array of services offered by non-profits. We are rarely told that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated to account for 23 percent of our deficits since 2003 (as reported in an article by N.C. Rep. Walter Jones in the Feb. 18 Washington Post).
A look at the numbers helps to understand how Durham and the countries where we’ve been at war are connected. In fiscal year 2011, the United States funneled $122 billion into the war in Afghanistan/Pakistan and $47.4 billion for military in Iraq. The combined $169.4 billion amounts to $3.2 billion a week.
Taxpayers in Durham are paying $106.8 million of that bill in 2011. With just a fraction of that money, we could easily cover the shortfalls in Durham’s education budget. Instead we will need to raise the sales tax just to keep schools afloat and begin funding a light rail system.
What else could Durham do with that $106.8 billion in war taxes? We could pay for:
- 45,204 children receiving low-income health care for one year;
- Or 1,977 elementary school teachers for one year;
- Or 13,817 Head Start slots for children for one year;
- Or 15,351 military veterans’ VA medical care for one year;
- Or 2,111 police or sheriff’s patrol officers for one year;
- Or 19,238 students receiving Pell Grants of $5,550.
With state and federal deficit hawks cutting everything from education programs to environmental protection, we have an obligation to ask: “Do we have our priorities straight?”
In case anyone thinks that Afghanistan is profiting from the huge influx of money and soldiers, consider these sad numbers: The per capita annual income is $330. The entire gross national product of Afghanistan is only $11.7 billion. (Recall the U.S. war there costs $122 billion.) It is a desperately poor country that needs schools, clinics, water systems, and health care. One out of eight Afghan mothers dies in childbirth. If they are ever going to rebuild, they need peace.
Neither Durham nor Afghanistan, Pakistan nor Iraq is getting what is needed to sustain a decent, secure life for their citizens, and they won’t until we make the connections and speak up about our priorities.
Durham citizens and community leaders are posing this question to our local elected officials. The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Los Angeles City Council passed resolutions to end the wars and fund human needs, sending a clear message to federal officials. Durham can do the same.
We invited concerned citizens to join the discussion with our local elected officials on Sept. 10, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 305 E. Main St., Durham. Members of the City Council, Board of County Commissioners, Board of Education, and members of the General Assembly from our area will be present. All are welcome.
© Copyright 2011, The News & Observer Publishing Company
The Cost of War on Terror – Joe Burton
May 13, 2011
To the Editor:
Charles Krauthammer believes that finding and assassinating Osama Bin Laden would not have been possible without the Global War on Terror (N&O, 5/6). He doesn’t mention the cost, but it is clearly the most expensive manhunt in history.
To date American human cost is 5,885 killed and 32,051 seriously wounded, including the grief and damage to families of those soldiers. Tens of thousands Afghanistan and Iraq natives have been killed, many of them women and children. Three-million have been displaced from their homes.
There is the financial cost of $1.2 trillion. We have a national budget that was balanced prior to the wars and now is deeply in the red. Read the rest of this entry »
Letter to the Editor – Joe Burton
To the Editor:
It is very true that earmark spending has come to symbolize runaway spending by the Federal Government (N&O, 11/26). But, why are Republicans in Congress concerned about spending millions of dollars on domestic civic projects? After all, that spending provides work for people and infrastructure that is needed by our communities. On the other hand, congressional Republicans have no problem spending a trillion dollars in this decade on two futile wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—wars they are directly responsible for starting. That spending sends dollars abroad and unlike earmarks, has no positive effect for our nation—no new schools or hospitals or affordable housing, or the many other infrastructure needs of our nation. Since 2001, North Carolina has contributed $30 billion to the Afghanistan/Iraq wars. The dividend from that $30 billion investment by our state has been much death and destruction, incredible suffering, no benefit for North Carolina, and arguably less security for our nation. When that $30 billion expenditure over 9 years is compared to the $3.5 billion budget shortfall predicted for our state in 2011 (N&O, 11/23), it becomes obvious how misplaced the concern over earmark spending really is.
—Joe Burton
