War Is Still A Racket

[rayboyusmc]

It hasn't changed that much since General Butler wrote his short book in 1928. Wars are still used to make a few people very rich and a lot of people very dead.

The U.S. government "was neither prepared for nor able to respond quickly to the ever-changing demands" of stabilizing Iraq and then rebuilding it, Bowen said in his written testimony. "For the last six years we have been on a steep learning curve." (What if we had sent in the 200,000 or more that Shinseki said we needed?)

A lengthy study by Bowen's office, "Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience," reviews the problems in an effort the Bush administration initially thought would cost $2.4 billion.

Overall, the Pentagon, State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development have paid contractors more than $100 billion since 2003 for goods and services to support war operations and rebuilding projects in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Congress created the bipartisan panel a year ago over the objections of the Bush White House, which complained the Justice Department might be forced to disclose sensitive information about investigations.

There are 154 open criminal investigations into allegations of bribery, conflicts of interest, defective products, bid rigging and theft stemming from the wars, Thomas Gimble, the Pentagon's principal deputy inspector general, said in his testimony.

Commission gets grim report on wartime spending - Yahoo! News

 

[Gurdari]

It also is a convenient way to impose reforms on a nation, to make it 'open for business'. Take a good look at many invasions and see the economic aspect of it - the setting the stage for business to operate as they wish. Why do you think Iraq's patent laws were re-written? Their banking laws? No WMDs in their constitution, which was also re-written.

If you are politically weak, but militarily strong it doesn't take a genius to see what methods you're likely to employ.