Nobody Remembers the Costs of U.S. Wars
Nobody Remembers
“War. Un What is it good for, absolutely nothing.”
Remember that song? ( See Edwin Starr sing it at the end…cool song.)
I was thinking today, about how Ronald Reagan crushed Russia. We are told that, Ronald got together with world leaders, and managed to bankrupt the Bear. But, Russia did that to herself didn’t she? Ten long years of war in Afghanistan, and after that war, Russia was ripe to fall. Reagan saw his chance and took it.
America, has done much the same thing: Spent trillions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Obama has now retreated. But, according to Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, we have an even bigger problem now:
“They are as sophisticated and well-funded as any group that we have seen. They’re beyond just a terrorist group. This is beyond anything we’ve seen. We must prepare for everything.”–Hagel
So, I thought, in contemplation of the upcoming war with ISIS, we’d review the costs of wars and contemplate, our upcoming expenses:
These costs were based on the 2008 dollars, so add inflationary numbers to all:
American Revolution (1775-1783) $1.825 billion: Between 4,400 and 6,800 battle deaths.
War of 1812 (1812-1815) $1.177 billion: 2,260 battle deaths.
Mexican War (1846-1849) $1.801 billion: 1,733 battle deaths.
Civil War...Confederacy (1861-1865) $15.244billion: 94,000 battle deaths.
Civil War…Union (1861-1865) $45.199 billion: 140,414 battle deaths.
Spanish American War (1898-1899) $6.848 billion: 385 battle deaths.
World War I (1917-1918) $253 billion: 53,513 battle deaths.
World War II (1941-1945) $4.114 trillion: 292,131 battle deaths.
Korean War (1950-1953) $320 billion: 33,629 battle deaths.
Vietnam War (1965-1975) $686 billion: 47,393 battle deaths.
Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) $96 billion: 146 battle deaths.
Afghanistan War (2001-) $800 billion: 906 battle deaths.(could not find updated info)
Iraq War (2003-) $1.7 trillion, 3,489 battle deaths., (Now near 5,000)
And $4 trillion in interest alone.
The costs do not include veterans benefits, war debts, or assistance to our allies. Casualties do not include civilians, noncombat deaths, those wounded or missing in action.
The report concluded the United States gained little from the Iraq war while Iraq was traumatized by it. The war reinvigorated radical Islamist militants in the region, set back women’s rights, and weakened an already precarious healthcare system, the report said. Meanwhile, the $212 billion reconstruction effort was largely a failure with most of that money spent on security or lost to waste and fraud.
As we watch the new evil of ISIS threatening the U.S., many experts believe that we will be hit on our own soil, thanks to Obama’s open border policies.
So, how much will the NEXT US war cost us?
Nobody Knows. But we do know one thing:
It will cost more than all others combined.
Happy 4th! We Dodged the Peas.
Nobody Remembers!
I WAS going to write one of my awfully boring remembrances about the founders, but the I got this email, which, thankfully, SAVED THE DAY!
Here’s to all my good British buddies! (Amfortas), and with the help of Stephan Merchant–a BIG Toast to America…
And to England, who NEVER got over it.
CHEERS!
Nobody Muses on the 4th
Nobody Muses on the 4th
July the 4th is my favorite holiday, but this year, for the first time in my life, it feels like a twilight. I love twilight, especially in the summer, and I suppose that if America is in its twilight as many people think, it should be a beautiful one.
But twilight leads to the darkness of night, before the next day.
And so, I will be thinking tonight while watching the fireworks, of something I heard Rush Limbaugh say on the radio today. He has been talking this year about how there are those in the Republican Party that don’t like the real conservatives: They don’t like the tea party people. The tea party people are actually the last Americans. They just want to be left alone.
Rush, who has been so important to the Republican Party that he was given a birthday cake at the White House by the Bush Family, has been America’s voice of conservatism. And today, a patriotic American called Rush and lamented that the Republican Party has left us, and he found himself turning to the libertarians Ron and Rand Paul. And then Rush said, as he does in EVERY single election: A third party will never win. Don’t even think about it. Don’t vote for anyone but the Republican.
Sarah Palin might differ.
There are those of us, who see an endless highway of Rhino’s and Democrats, really more like one party now, stretching out across the country, across time, forever more, leading America into the dark night
The leaders of the Republican Party are just as organized and entrenched as the Democrats, and they will never let that power go. Go ahead and hope for it, the odds of that happening are slim.
Whoever they have run for President in 2016, will leave even more conservatives staying home. They will lose. And Rush, should know that. But he keeps hoping I guess. He just keeps hoping. He will support Jeb Bush, if he runs, which most think he will.
Where does that leave us on this Independence Day? What options do we have for the future?
Will the Republican Party come around? No. And the reason is: Globalization. Both George W. Bush and Obama were in Africa promoting ‘women’s issues, which is just a smokescreen for global corporations and their interests. Now, I know that what Rush support is capitalism. As do conservatives. But crony capitalism now runs the parties. An elite oligarchy has emerged that the leaders cannot ignore. It’s the elephant in the room that neither party talks about too much.
George W. Bush has already made the pack with Mexico. Obama will further it. We will stay involved in the middle East, as we are in Korea. Obamacare IS the wish of the global companies. They want a level playing field.
As I think of our founders, and the blood that was spent to start such a genius idea called America, and my dad’s generation— all the blood spilled to stop Japan and Germany—Vietnam, and Iraq, and now we see that idea is gone, it’s almost too sad to bear. To think that it’s going to come back, is folly, in my opinion. We wait. We hope. But it doesn’t happen.
Even Benjamin Franklin, who went to England so many times before the Revolution, had hoped that the mother land and America could resolve their differences. It was not to be, and they all spoke of the heartache of it in their letters. All the founders did.
So, we are at the point, like our ancestors before us, of the twilight before the dark.
Obama has driven the last nail in America, as we all knew he would. Soon we will realized that something else must be done. The political system and the career oligarchy that is so entrenched in place, will continue to fight for the global interests, not America’s.
What choice do we have now?
I understand why Rush insists that a third party will never win. To Rush, it’s the two -party system that he has defended for so long. What Rush doesn’t want to face, is that this system that our founders set up, has been discarded and demolished, by our own leaders.
Talk all you want Rush: Nothing changes. The only way Rush could save the Republican party would be to run himself, and he won’t do that.
The people of America will never rise up as one, as we saw in Egypt today, because they have kept us purposely divided by race, by wealth, and by sex. It’s how the powerful keep the masses from rising up against them. Say what you want about the Muslim religion: It unites a people.
And yet…miracles do happen.
I don’t think I’m expressing any thoughts that millions of others haven’t had. But tonight, it’s time we ALL start thinking about what the hell we can do about it.
Twilight is coming.
Nobody Remembers Persons of Low Circumstances
Nobody Remembers
For those of you who have been following the blog, you may have noticed the, always contentious arguments of amfortas and I. He being a proud British subject, loyal to the Queen, and me being the cantankerous American, loyal to my country, and my ancestors. We have often argued our case, neither one coming out the winner, although, we both give it a good try.
Sometimes I feel as if the revolution is still being fought. And yes, I am proud that Americans won against the great British empire, but amfortas doesn’t see it that way. To him, we were recalcitrant children—-spoiled and ungrateful brats.
But I had to laugh today, as I see, the attitude of the good amfortas was fostered not in this century, but in way back in 1705. Surprisingly, (or not) the attitudes of the good British citizen has not changed.
I was just reading about when I came upon Robert Beverley, an early historian of Virginia, who was asked by an English book dealer in 1703, to appraise the British Empire in America. Here’s some of what he had to say:
I can easily imagine that this, as well as all the rest of the plantations was for the most part first peopled by persons of low circumstances and by such as were willing to seek their fortunes in a foreign country. For its not likely that any man of a plentiful estate should voluntarily abandon a happy certainty to roam after imaginary adventures in an New World.
He goes on to explain that first, just the single men came over. And since it was such a hardship to get a woman that could “carry sufficient certificate of their modesty and good behavior” they ended up buying a wife at the price of 1oo pounds and hoping for a bargain.
And then he adds an explanation as to why the rather less than desirable British stock came over.
Thus in the time of the Rebellion in England, several good Cavalier families were thither with their effects to escape the tyranny of the usurper. And so again, upon the Restoration, many people of the opposite party took refuge there, to shelter themselves from the King’s resentments.
So, as it sometimes happens in every country more often than not, the King is rotten, and the poor citizens flee. America was a nation founded by people of “low circumstances” and I think that’s pretty much how amfortas sees me, as a commoner, lowly person on the lower end of caste, while he, on the other hand, is born of the higher bred of Royalty.
And, so…speaking from a DNA point of view, he is absolutely right.
He is proud of his British superiority, and well he should be. But I contend that some very great persons of very low circumstances, took the heritage that they got from the motherland, and made a glorious nation…although it is sinking fast.
And for that, the British motherland should be very proud of their ‘offspring.’ Are they? I really don’t think so. 
Right now, both mother nation and her disobedient offspring are on the brink. While America has committed her amount of sins, Great Britain doesn’t have a clean slate either.
And so we remain, at a standstill. No doubt, we will carry the argument to our graves. Pointless, but never boring.
One of the complaints about John Adams, was that after he spent so many years in England as ambassador, when he came back to his own country, he was convinced that people WANTED to have the pomp and circumstance of Kings and Nobles, etc, and they made fun of him in Congress when he, as Vice President, wanted to call the office of the Presidency “His Royal Highness ” and other high sounding names.
The Congress mocked him, and put him in his place, thank God. All those years spent in Paris and England rubbed off. John was always trying to figure out political systems, and no doubt, since he was born in America, the whole European aristocratic system gave him lots to think about.
It might please amfortas to know that.
And so the fight goes on still: Should there always be a ruling class that knows better how to rule people? Or should, the persons of low circumstances, take back their lives from the aristocrats and oligarchs of the world?
And since there are no more free lands to run to, where do the lower circumstances go, and is it even possible for western civilization to join together once again to fight the upcoming war between Islam and Christianity?
Just wondering. Nobody Thinks, if we want to survive we must.
A Memorial Day Story…..
Nobody’s Opinion
I’m not doing my usual today, because it’s a day where we all reflect on the men and women who have given their lives for their country. And also….a day to EAT! barbeque! While we are remembering those that gave their lives for America’s right for freedom, and liberty. God bless them all, and their families.
Everybody have a great holiday!
Here’s a story I got from my liberal friend…that’s very poignant for today…It will bring tears to your eyes. Enjoy.
(Thanks to J.R. )
Don’t know if it’s true but it could easily be. In any event it’s a good lesson for us all>
****************
As I came out of the supermarket that sunny day, pushing my cart of groceries towards my car, I saw an old man with the hood of his car up and a lady sitting inside the car, with the door open. The old man was looking at the engine. I put my groceries away in my car, and continued to watch the old gentleman from about twenty-five feet away.
I saw a young man in his early twenties with a grocery bag in his arm walking towards the old man. The old gentleman saw him coming too, and took a few steps towards him.
I saw the old gentleman point to his open hood and say something. The young man put his grocery bag into what looked like a brand new Cadillac Escalade. He then turned back to the old man. I heard him yell at the old gentleman saying: ‘You shouldn’t even be allowed to drive a car at your age.’ And then with a wave of his hand, he got in his car and peeled rubber out of the parking lot.
I saw the old gentleman pull out his handkerchief, and mop his brow as he went back to his car and again looked at the engine. He then went to his wife and spoke with her; he appeared to tell her it would be okay. I had seen enough, and I approached the old man. He saw me coming and stood straight, and as I got near him I said, ‘Looks like you’re having a problem.’
He smiled sheepishly, and quietly nodded his head. I looked under the hood myself, and knew that whatever the problem was, it was beyond me. Looking around, I saw a gas station up the road, and I told the old man that I would be right back. I drove to the station and went inside. I saw three attendants working on cars. I approached one of them, and related the problem the old man had with his car. I offered to pay them if they could follow me back down and help him. The old man had pushed the heavy car under the shade of a tree and appeared to be comforting his wife. When he saw us he straightened up and thanked me for my help. As the mechanics diagnosed the problem (overheated engine), I spoke with the old gentleman.
When I shook hands with him earlier, he had noticed my Marine Corps ring and had commented about it, telling me that he had been a Marine too. I nodded and asked the usual question, ‘What outfit did you serve with?’
He said that he served with the first Marine Division at Guadalcanal, Pelieliu, and Okinawa . He had hit three of the worst ones, and retired from the Corps after the war was over. As we talked we heard the car engine come on and saw the mechanics lower the hood. They came over to us as the old man reached for his wallet, but was stopped by me. I told him I would just put the bill on my AAA card.
He still reached for the wallet and handed me a card that I assumed had his name and address on it, and I stuck it in my pocket. We all shook hands all around again, and I said my goodbye’s to his wife.
I then told the two mechanics that I would follow them back up to the station. Once at the station, I told them that they had interrupted their own jobs to come along with me and help the old man. I said I wanted to pay for the help, but they refused to charge me. One of them pulled out a card from his pocket, looking exactly like the card the old man had given to me. Both of the men told me then that they were Marine Corps Reserves. Once again we shook hands all around and as I was leaving, one of them told me I should look at the card the old man had given to me. I said I would and drove off.
For some reason I had gone about two blocks, when I pulled over and took the card out of my pocket and looked at it for a long, long time. The name of the old gentleman was on the card in golden leaf and under his name was written: ‘Congressional Medal of Honor Society.’ I sat there motionless, looking at the card and reading it over and over. I looked up from the card and smiled to no one but myself and marveled that on this day, four Marines had all come together because one of us needed help. He was an old man all right, but it felt good to have stood next to greatness and courage, and an honor to have been in his presence.
Remember, as we approach another Memorial Day, OLD men like him gave you, and all of us, FREEDOM for America.
Thanks to those who served and still serve, and to all of those who supported them, and who continue to support them. America is not at war. The U.S. Military is at war. America is at the Mall.
If you don’t stand behind our troops, PLEASE feel free to stand in front of them! Remember, Freedom isn’t Free. Thousands have paid the price, so that you can enjoy what you have today.
LET’S DO THIS: JUST 19 WORDS: GOD OUR FATHER, WALK THROUGH MY HOUSE AND TAKE AWAY ALL MY WORRIES; AND PLEASE WATCH OVER AND HEAL MY FAMILY; AND PLEASE PROTECT OUR FREEDOMS, AND WATCH OVER OUR TROOPS, WHO ARE DEFENDING THOSE FREEDOMS.
AMEN! This prayer is so powerful. Pass this prayer to 12 people, including me.
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About
I am a nobody. If the different classes of America were color-coded, I would be in the yucky brown, one rung up from the bottom. I grew up in Naples, Florida and live near the Mississippi River now with my husband and two dogs. I am part of the slowly disappearing middle-class. I was a musician most of my life: drummer/singer/keyboards—but I retired before the plastic surgery flu hit. I have no degrees, which could be a good thing…depending on how you view our educational system. I do have three patents…but that really doesn’t make me a somebody. The one thing that is constant in my life is my OPINIONS, which i have more than perhaps even Carl Sagan could have imagined…mostly political. (yes…my ancestors were crabby buggers)
Hopefully other nobody’s will put their opinions on my site. But, if you happen to be a somebody, you’re more than welcomed to help out.
It’s my Nobody Opinion that Nobody’s Perfect, and Nobody Cares, that Nobody Knows why Nobody Wins, and when that happens, Nobody Wonders, why Nobody Flashes, why Nobody’s Fooled, but then Nobody remembers that Nobody ALWAYS Reports the truth.
You can email me at joyanna_adams@yahoo.com
Joyanna Adams
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