TheWiseOldFart

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Watchdog groups claim that fifty cents out of every dollar receiv ed by the Pentagon annually is waste d. It was clear during the George W. Bu sh Administration that the illegal wars in Afghanistan and Iraq helped the Bush family, Dick Cheney, and Deputy Secretary of Defense, Paul Wolfowitz become multi-billionaires.    “War is good business .” Investing in the military industrial complex makes billionaires out of millionaires.     THE UNITED STATES MILITARY IS POWERFUL, AND FUNDED FIVE-TIMES MORE THAN ALL OTHER NAITONS COMBINED   The annual budget of our nation’s military is nearing one-trillion dollars per year. This, combined with the fact that this amoun t is five-times more than all other nation’s combined should guarantee victory in any military conflict, large or small. So, let’s look a t history.   The Korean Conflict occurred between Jun 25, 1950 – Jul 27, 1953 . When the conflict ended, there was no winn er. There was “an end to hostilities,”

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   In my youth I was taught one lesson above all others, to respect authority. In the 1950s this included my priest, the nuns, my mother, our nation’s leaders, the military, law enforcement, and virtually anyone older than I was. This may have been a reality in my youth, I’m not sure. However today, at age 77, I know I was taught some lessons which were not entirely accurate. First and foremost respect cannot be given freely, it must be earned. The 21 st century is the communication age, where information is instant, thanks to an array of communication satellites circling the earth, the truth is exposed, and cannot always be hidden as it was in the past. Therefore, nearly every individual or group on my previous list no longer has my respect. By the time I reached my junior year in high school I no longer believed in religion. I learned that every faith-based organization is founded on fairy tales, and religions were not founded by gods, but by morta