RRK70's Comments (1160)

“I have no doubt that some of the Blackwater operations described in this article are the ones mentioned by Seymour Hersh when he reported assassination rings being operated by Cheney.

http://www.alternet.org/rights/131153/seymour_hersh:_%22executive_assassination_ring%22_answered_to_cheney,_had_no_congressional_oversight/”

“Reading this really reinforces the belief that Obama made a huge mistake by refusing to investigate or prosecute certain members of the previous administration.”

“Senator? Maybe.
POTUS? Not a serious contender in any way.”

“Another thing that isn't discussed much is that if the burden for healthcare is removed from employers, employers will be MORE competitive with our foreign competition.”

“Brilliant. And what exactly keeps corporate tax cuts from going to executive bonuses rather than expanding business domestically? It's odd how American industry was ever able to survive, let alone grow in the 50's and 60's considering the tax structure of the time.”

“What's even more dangerous is spending half the federal budget on defense. Fact is we would generate FAR more jobs on social programs including health care, and benefit more as well, than from a bloated defense budget feeding bloated defense contractors.”

“I think the greatest question of this generation is how do we differentiate between profit and greed? We have seen the need to profit transform into the need to maximize profit, usually to the detriment of the American public. How do we address illness becomes how do we make money from illness. How do we win wars becomes how do we make money from waging wars. We must ask ourselves "how much is enough?". We must elect politicians that understand that proper regulation acts as a bridle preventing profit from becoming greed, but ultimately we, as citizens, must reflect these same values in our everyday lives in how we live and how we spend our money. Most of the world is willing to get by with less.”

“Second paragraph: I meant "escalation in Afghanistan"”

“How about NO increases in spending? If the pentagon deems that they need more funds for Afghanistan, then let then shift it from other programs. It is called prioritization. Let them shift funding from big budget pet projects that are being built for a cold war we are no longer even fighting; there are plenty to choose from.

As a result, when jobs are threatened more congressmen will come out against the the escalation in Iraq. Defense contractors will also loose money and may "cool" on the war in Afghanistan as well.

We spend more money on defense than the the rest of the world combined! During every war we have been forced to make decisions and choose priorities, I see no reason why we should stop now.”

“so aerial bombing of any civilian population is a terrorist act as defined by the US Army?

I think the standard definition works fine, the intentional use of violence against civilians to achieve political or religious objectives.”

“The FBI seems to have been more than capable of arresting terror suspects on much more specious grounds, and yet takes no action when a member of the military is in direct communication with a highly sought after terrorist?
Perhaps the military did not welcome FBI interference? Perhaps they were hoping for more evidence before acting, or hoping to see who else they could catch in their "net". Regardless, heads should role for this, intell in this country has had a long and bloody history of not acting on intelligence due to various groups wanting to protect their turf (FBI, CIA, NSA, military)”

“Intelligent dissent is patriotic, Knee jerk criticism is dangerous.”

“1) WWII began for the US in December of 1941...it ended in August of 1945...that's four years. The troops, (the command included) were committed to fight until the end before returning home. There was a draft, and popular support. Defense industries were geared toward production and victory, not profit. Compare that with today.
2)Afghanistan is an "asymmetric" war....by all accounts it will require DECADES of occupation, we can look at Afghanistan's history, our history in Vietnam, the Philippines....it will be costly.
3)Take into account that AQ or any terrorist group, is not bound by geographic boundaries. There is already a lot of talk about AQ in Africa. So I guess we invade various African nations and rebuild them next? 9-11 terr orists trained in Germany and the US, I suppose we should declare war against Germany and ourselves?
4)OBL himself has been quoted as saying that he wants the US to bleed financially....guess what”

“maybe it wasn't for nothing, I would like to think. Not if people learn from their experiences and the experiences of others. Lessons learned at too high a cost to be certain.”

“I say we should have the generals and contractors move their families over there with them, until the war is over. If they don't have that level of commitment then we shouldn't be there in the first place. I think that's what Rome did, and if we want to run a proper empire, we should learn a few things from them.”

“the republicant's have been calling for less spending, where do they stand on this Timny?”

“if this is wartime, and there is only one priority where is the draft?
When is the military pulling troops out of Germany, Korea, Okinawa to send into Afghanistan?
If this is a war why do we allow private contractors to overcharge?
If this is a war why are we paying the troops that have fought against us "protection" money in Iraq AND Afghanistan?
If this is a war, then why didn't we do what it took at ToraBora when AQ was cornered, instead of letting the Pakistani's let them escape?
If this is a war, then why can't the worlds only superpower, spending MORE MONEY than the REST OF THE WORLD COMBINED on defense defeat less than 20,000 "insurgents"?
If this is a war, why ARE YOU QUESTIONING the Commander in Chief?”

“Oh so it was Clinton's fault? What was the name of that PDB that Bush received? How many warnings did Shrub receive about AQ? And it was Clinton's fault.

Fact is it is better to be slow making a good decision then fast at making a bad decision.

After 8 years in Afghanistan a few weeks or even months getting a REAL strategy developed is time well spent.”

“Who said I fear OR hate her?”

“No, on 9-10 Bush wanted us in Iraq. 9-11 forced them to make a short detour through Afghanistan first.”

“to make matters worse, some of our funding is apparently going to pay "protection" money to the Taliban to insure our convoys won't be attacked. Via privatization, we are literally funding the opposition!

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/roston”

“or any republican over the past decade for that matter.”

“yeah, The Decider was SO much more decisive, and it worked out really great for us! Democracy is not the quickest or prettiest form of government. If you want something more "decisive" try Cuba or North Korea.”

“I see you must have finished Palin's book. How was it? Did it have lots of pictures?”

“If the Pentagon wants these extra troops and extra expenditures, then they should simply be asked to cut a similar amount of funding elsewhere in their budget. Place the burden for funding on the Pentagon.

Perhaps if defense firms saw possible fiscal losses as a result of Afghanistan, rather than unlimited, unending profits, they would not support or lobby for the war so vehemently!”