We're not ready?

Somewhere today I saw a report that said 90% of our national guard units are not ready for what it is they are supposed to be ready for. This is because, it was said, they lack billions of dollars worth of equipment and such. You got that? Billions of dollars short of presumably what they ought to have to be ready (for something or other). The U.S. has a military budget larger than almost all of the rest of the world combined, and has had for quite some time. So what has happened to all that money? How could it be that our national guard (and even our regular troops) do not have enough equipment? The army says it needs billions upon billions more in order to be fully prepared. So what do they expect us to do? Our defense budget is already immense, far more than can reasonably be justified. Where does the money go? What is the problem? Do they think we should just earmark all of our tax money for the military? Give up social security, medicare, education, infrastructure, and everything else so we can build up our military even more?

The real problem is, and I don't hate to say it, is that there is no connection between what we spend on national defense and national defense. Most of those billions upon billions upon billions do not produce what we actually need for defense, they simply line the pockets of GE, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, and the rest of our corporate masters. This is the military/industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about, except that now it has become the military/industrial/political/fascist complex that exists primarily to take tax dollars from our citizens and transfer them to the powers that be. I cannot claim to be an expert on such matters, but I'll bet we could reduce our military budget by half and not even notice the difference in how well we are protected, provided, of course, the money was actually earmarked for defense rather than immoral profits for the few. Let's have a thorough and comprehensive report on just where all that defense money goes. It will never happen because those in charge of such things know perfectly well that the defense budget is indefensible. So keep your focus on Anna Nicole Smith's burial and Britney's crotchless panties and do not ask what your government is doing to you. I guess it may be good advice, when you are being raped you might as well lay back and enjoy it.

I don't understand why simple things are so hard for people to understand. Everyone (more or less) keeps talking about bringing the troops home. Somehow they don't seem to understand that BUSH/CHENEY ARE NEVER GOING TO BRING THE TROOPS HOME! If you want to bring the troops home you have to get rid of Bush/Cheney. It's simple, especially now that they are almost on the verge of literally stealing Iraqi oil which was their goal from the very beginning. If their Iraqi puppet government signs the deal they are being offered (coerced into) there will always have to be American troops stationed there to protect the oil company interests. Is this really hard to understand? The Iraqi's only real hope to keep from getting totally screwed is to absolutely refuse this deal. Will they be able to withstand the pressure? I sincerely hope so. But we might have to eventually pay them a fair price for their oil. What a tragedy.