The 'Good War' Summed Up By One Drone Strike
It has been 20 years since 9/11 and what has changed? ISIS was formed in the aftermath and violence plagues Iraq, Syria, and the surrounding area in the Middle East. The Taliban again controls Afghanistan. Many more innocent lives, by factors of a thousand, were lost in the Middle East than were lost in the aftermath of the attacks in America. Thousands of American military personnel did not make it back home.
The lives taken by the mostly-Saudi 9/11 terrorists, as well as the first responders who have since passed from lingering illnesses, should be mourned and avenged. But what about those innocent lives that were lost in the retaliatory wars that followed? Who is going to avenge them?
What about the newly-reformed painter, George W. Bush, who started the illegal war in Iraq based on a lie perpetuated by Congress and the media? What about Barack Obama, followed by Donald Trump and now Joe Biden, to an extent, who went trigger happy with drone strikes that resulted in the murder of myriad innocent people, including children? Are they going to be held accountable for their actions?
On this side of the world, as Edward Snowden and other whistleblowers and heroes have exposed, innocent Americans and Canadians are still being spied on by their own countries. It is often said that we must choose between liberty and security. It appears, however, that we are no more secure than we were before 9/11 despite the weakening of many of our freedoms, including our privacy online and our freedom from warrantless searches of our property and communications. And there appears to be no plan to end that any time soon.
For all of the above, the United States have spent at least $5.8 trillion according to recent estimates. And this does not even include what other countries, including Canada, has spent fighting the Good War. Could you imagine what these enormous sums of money could have went towards if it was spent at home instead? Single-payer, comprehensive healthcare. Ending homelessness and poverty. Serious action on climate change. All of these would have been more than paid for. When it comes to killing humans in other countries, deficits and debt never seem to be a problem, but when it comes to using the wealth of our nations to make life better for our own people, it somehow cannot be done.
Yes, this is a complicated issue, and we are going to spend decades dissecting it and pointing fingers. Just keep in mind though the lies that are going to continue to come and the war drums that are going to continue to be beat by those who profited immensely from the money we spent on these most recent wars. To try and inoculate us from another wasteful and incompetent conflict thrust upon us by the media and the imperialist ruling class, as these conversations go forward, make sure to keep the above in the back of your mind. And if that is not enough, try to continue to trust the powers at be after you watch this brief story that perfectly sums up the entire disaster: