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ADDICTED TO WAR -- WHY THE U.S. CAN'T KICK MILITARISM (UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE WAR IN IRAQ) -- TRANSCRIPT |
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As they watch missiles flying and the bombs dropping in the Middle East, top executives of the big weapons manufacturers are adding up their profits, their brains working like cash registers gone haywire. ch-ching $$$$ ch-ching For weapons makers, wars mean more orders -- not only from the Pentagon, but also from overseas. After the first Gulf War demonstrated that their weapons can truly kill on a massive scale, foreign sales by U.S. weapons manufacturers skyrocketed. [99] We've got a real deal on F-16s this week -- buy 100 and we'll throw in 1,000 cases of napalm free! FREE NAPALM OFFER! We overstocked! Gulf tested! Gulf proven! Kill like you never have before! Our weapons kill: more, better, faster. Who are the war profiteers? Let's take a look at some of the men in Washington who are most gun ho about war ... Dick Cheney: Few politicians can match Dick Cheney's enthusiasm for war -- or his record of wanton destruction. As George H.W. Bush's Secretary of Defense, he presided over wars against Panama and Iraq, and then as Vice President under George W. Bush, he led the war drives against Afghanistan and Iraq. Between wars, Dick has turned his attention from destruction to construction -- that is post-war reconstruction. In 1995, he was named CEO of Halliburton, the world's largest oil services company and a major military contractor. After the first Gulf War, Halliburton was hired to help rebuild the Kuwaiti oil industry. Then after the second Gulf War, the company was back to clean up the mess again -- for a healthy fee. [100] You've gotta hand it to Dick. He's got an innovative business strategy -- first bomb it, then clean it up, then bomb it again, then clean it up again! Halliburton is raking in hundreds of millions of dollars for feeding and housing U.S. troops in Iraq and it got the biggest post-war reconstruction prize -- a secret no-bid contract to rebuild Iraqi oil facilities that will likely be worth billions. [101] It's nice to have friends in Washington! As Halliburton's CEO, Cheney was rewarded handsomely, pocketing millions in salary and stock options every year. He ended up as Halliburton's largest individual stockholder, with a $45 million stake. [102] Dick Cheney: I earned every penny of it. Cheney got draft deferments five times to avoid fighting in Vietnam. But he's eager to send others to fight and die, and then reap the benefits. He's served on the boards of several huge war contractors, and his wife -- Lynne -- joined the board of Lockheed Martin. After Cheney returned to the White House in 2001, Lockheed got the biggest plum in Pentagon history -- a contract worth hundreds of billions to make the next generation of fighter jets. Lynne and Dick Cheney: We're just doing our patriotic duty! [103] Richard Perle: As head of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, Richard Perle was a chief architect of both the war on Iraq and Donald Rumsfeld's efforts to "revolutionize" military technology. In 2001, Perle joined Henry Kissinger and other Washington insiders to form a company called Trireme Partners. Trireme raises venture capital from wealthy individuals and invests it in weapons companies, betting on those it expects will get lucrative government contracts. [104] Henry Kissinger: Insider trading? We prefer to call it guaranteed speculation! Perle has also served as an advisor to the Israeli government. Whether in Washington or Jerusalem, his advice is always the same ... War is the answer! Perle has particularly pushed for war against three countries he considers Israel's main enemies -- Iraq, Iran and Syria. Richard Perle: One down, two to go! [105] Cheney, Perle and their friends go back and forth through a revolving door that connects jobs at the Pentagon, the White House, Congress and corporate military contractors. Lots of money changes hands in Washington as weapons manufacturers make generous contributions to politicians and politicians hand out fat Pentagon contracts to weapons manufacturers. This leads to all kinds of shady agreements and overpriced goods. Here's to the Pentagon -- the only place you can sell a 13 cent bolt for $2,043! [106] The "War on Terrorism" has led to a tremendous windfall for the military contractors. The Army, Navy, and Air Force (and the contractors they represent) are lining up to get money for expensive new weapons systems, now packaged as indispensable for fighting terrorism. We can't afford to be without it! It's vital for homeland defense! We have to close the window of vulnerability! In fact, under the banner of funding the "War on Terrorism," Congress has abandoned efforts to avoid budget deficits. Instead, every year it gives the Pentagon what amounts to a blank check. For whatever it takes ... PAY TO THE ORDER OF PENTAGON $________ __________________________________ DOLLARS U.S. CONGRESS After the end of the Cold War, many in Washington were reconsidering the humongous size of the military budget, which had converted the U.S. from the world's biggest lender into the world's biggest debtor. Uncle Sam: Bonds, anyone? T-bills? Military Budget: Ouch! That hurts! In an effort to balance the federal budget, politicians were beginning to trim the Pentagon's toenails. After September 11 all this changed. Bush and the Congress started to pump up the Pentagon's bloated budget without restraint.
Even Congressional opposition to the far-fetched "missile defense program" collapsed. Beep Beep Missile defense, like the "War on Terrorism," promises to protect Americans from danger while actually creating a much more dangerous world. If other countries think there is any chance the U.S. could block their missiles, they will feel vulnerable to U.S. attack. China has already promised to build more and better missiles which could overwhelm the U.S. "missile shield." This will spur a nuclear arms race in Asia. If China builds more nuclear missiles, then India will. If India does, then Pakistan will. If Pakistan ... In 1972, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. signed the ABM Treaty to try to avoid this kind of arms race. In order to pursue missile defense, the U.S. unilaterally scrapped the treaty. But that didn't bother missile defense proponents. Hey, the world's changed. We can win an arms race with anyone! In this spirit, Congress rejected the nuclear test ban treaty (which has been signed by 164 countries) and it continues to finance nuclear weapons research and production. In fact, the Pentagon is eager to develop a new arsenal of small "battlefield" nuclear weapons. [108] The U.S. is keeping enough nuclear firepower to wipe out most of humanity. Just to be safe! As potential nuclear targets in Russia have declined, the Pentagon has been retargeting its missiles at "every reasonable adversary." Which makes other countries feel like they better hurry up and get nuclear weapons themselves. [109] In the post-Cold War world order, the U.S. does not seem to want to be bound by any arms treaties. It refuses to sign a new protocol to the 1972 biological weapons treaty because it would require international inspections of its biological weapons research facilities, where it is creating deadly jnew strains including highly lethal powdered anthrax. U.S. officials say they are only creating germ weapons in order to study how to defend against them. [110] Of course we would never use them ourselves! But can other countries trust a government that bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki and actually developed plans to use smallpox and other biological weapons against Vietnam and Cuba? [111] Would you? And U.S. "weaponized germs" not only represent a threat to people in other countries. What if some of the Pentagon's powdered anthrax got into the hands of some fanatic here in the United States? During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was a serious military competitor for the United States. Today, the U.S. maintains a huge war machine despite the lack of any serious competition. The U.S. military budget is now larger than the next 25 biggest spenders put together! It makes up a full 36% of total global military spending. [112] United States: $399 billion Annual Military Expenditures, The world's four biggest spenders: Russia: $65 billion; China: $47 billion; Japan: $43 billion. Being the world cop and all, we do have certain responsibilities! Chapter 6: The High Price of Militarism Maintaining this huge military machine is not cheap. Every year the U.S. spends hundreds of billions of dollars on the military. [113] $399,000,000,000 military budget 2004 fiscal year. This figure does not include tens of billions spent on the military occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. 2001: $308 billion; 2002: $351 billion; 2003: $396 billion; 2007: $470 billion (proposed) Since 1948 the U.S. has spent more than $15 trillion to build up its military might. Just how much is $15,000,000,000,000 worth? [114] Lemme see. My God! It adds up to more than the cumulative monetary value of all human-made wealth in the U.S.! [115] In other words, the government has spent more on the military over the last four decades than the value of all the factories, machinery, roads, bridges, water and sewage systems, airports, railroads, power plants, office buildings, shopping centers, schools, hospitals, hotels, houses, etc., in this country put together! Wow! Vote Duke. Buy Coke. ConEd. Park $9. Texaco. ConAgra. If we add up the current Pentagon budget, the nuclear weapons budget of the Energy Department, the military portion of the NASA budget, foreign military aid, veterans' benefits, interest payments on debt incurred by past military spending and other military-related expenses, the U.S. spends over $776 billion a year to feed its addiction to war. [116] That's more than a million dollars a minute! This costs you plenty. An average American household "contributes" over $4,400 in taxes every year to the cause of building up the world's most powerful military. [117] Now I know why we can't ever seem to make ends meet! Mom -- could we get... If you need anything else, just give a holler! Because Congress is so generous to the Pentagon... Social programs get short-changed. That's all we can afford -- we can't bust the budget, you know. Bridges, roads, sewers, and water systems are crumbling because the government fails to provide the money needed to maintain them. [118] Bus fares are rising and service is being slashed as the Federal Government has eliminated financial support for mass transit operating costs. [119] [RTD bus with signs on the side saying:] Be all you can be in the Army! [and] NOT IN SERVICE. [99] Schools are run-down and over-crowded. In some inner-city high schools, 80% of the students drop out. More than a fifth of all adults can't read a job application or a street sign. Yet federal education funding per student has declined substantially over the last two decades. [120]
We believe in bake sale financing. Skyrocketing prices are causing a crisis in health care. 43 million people have no insurance and millions more have inadequate insurance. More and more people don't get the medical care they need because they can't afford it. Yet public hospitals are being closed and the government has failed to enact any serious health care reform. [121] EXIT. INSURED PATIENTS [thataway]; UNINSURED PATIENTS [thataway]. Reception. [Mom leading boy to exit:] Mom, it hurts! One-fifth of all expectant mothers do not receive pre-natal care. This is one reason the U.S. has the highest infant mortality rate in the developed world (twice as high as Japan's). Every 50 minutes a child in the U.S. dies as a result of poverty or hunger. Yet Congress has been exceedingly stingy in funding maternal and child health programs. [122] [Politician kissing baby:] I just love babies! Vote for Me! [Baby:] Why don't you put your money where your mouth is, mister? Yuck! With rents rising and wages falling, millions of families are living on the verge of eviction. Millions of people end up living on the streets. Yet when it comes to funding for housing and homelessness, most of Washington seems to have adopted Reagan's attitude. [123] [Ronald Reagan:] Those people want to live on the streets! Drug addiction and alcoholism are crippling millions of people, and devastating families and whole communities. Yet there are not enough public treatment centers to handle even a fraction of those seeking help, and many centers are closing their doors for lack of funding. There's just no money! Oh yeah? Somehow you come up with billions of dollars a year to operate 12 aircraft carrier battle groups! With the $1,000,000,000 it takes to maintain just one of those aircraft carriers for a year, you could build 17,000 homes for 67,000 people. [124] ... or you could provide free prenatal care for 1,600,000 expectant mothers, saving thousands of babies. [125] ... or enroll 384,000 more kids in the Head Start preschool program this year. [126] ... or provide intensive drug or alcohol treatment for 333,000 people. [127] ... or give 500,000 malnourished children in this country three meals a day for a year. [128] ... or you could put a down payment on a brand new aircraft carrier! U.S.S. Ronald Reagan Which is exactly what they are doing -- building a new aircraft carrier! The government can find hundreds of billions for new aircraft carriers and other military hardware ... But they say they can't find the money to deal with the pressing problems we face! [129] The price of militarism includes more than high taxes and poor social services. Building nuclear weapons, for instance, has probably been the biggest environmental disaster this country has ever seen. More than 100 nuclear weapons plants owned by the Energy Department have been spewing radioactive waste into the air, dumping it in rivers, and leaking it into the soil and groundwater for decades. All under the cover of government secrecy. RESTRICTED AREA. NATIONAL SECURITY. KEEP YOUR NOSE OUT. The administrators who run the nuclear weapons plants have knowingly subjected the people who work in them and the people who live near them to deadly radioactive contamination -- without telling them a word about it. The government now estimates it will take 25,000 workers at least 30 years to clean up the mess at these plants -- at a cost of $300 billion or more. [130] And guess who's paying the bill! What's more, nuclear weapons tests have spread deadly plutonium across large tracts of the Southwest and the South Pacific. Many of the 458,000 U.S. soldiers who participated in the atomic testing program are now dying of cancer. [131] Don't worry, kid. It's perfectly safe. Just wear these goggles! ? But they're not the only ones. High cancer rates plague the general population in the testing areas. One study estimated that previous nuclear testing would eventually cause at least 430,000 people to die of cancer worldwide. [132] And plutonium remains highly radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. Meanwhile, at military bases around the country they've been dumping hundreds of thousands of tons of toxic wastes, including chemical warfare agents, napalm, explosives, PCB's, and heavy metals, creating malignant lagoons and contaminating the groundwater of surrounding communities. There are 11,000 military dump sites that need to be cleaned up. The estimated cost -- $100 to $200 billion. [133] I say, let's fence 'em all off and call them national security sacrifice zones. DANGER. KEEP OUT. TOXIC WASTE. He's serious -- that's what some people are proposing. Another cost of foreign wars is the retaliation they bring. If we weren't always bombing other people, we wouldn't have to worry so much about people bombing us! On the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge admitted that the war would spur more terrorist attacks against the U.S. [134] "I think we can anticipate ... more threats because of a potential invasion. I mean it's fairly predictable." -- Rom Ridge, March 2003. In other words, the Bush Administration knew that invading Iraq would bring retaliation, but it decided to go ahead and place us in greater danger anyway! The "War on Terrorism" opened a new chapter in U.S. foreign wars, a chapter that may be marked by an endless cycle of violence. Some in Washington seem to relish the prospect. Emerging from his secret bunker several weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Dick Cheney predicted that the "War on Terrorism" would go on for a long time. [135] "It may never end. At least not in our lifetime." -- Cheney, Oct. 2001. As part of this endless war, he declared, we have to be prepared for ongoing terrorist attacks. "For the first time in our history we will probably suffer more casualties here at home than will our troops overseas." -- Dick Cheney, October 2001. [136] As a result, Cheney warned, we'll have to get used to invasive security measures. [137] "We're going to have to take steps ... that'll become a permanent part of our way of life." -- Dick Cheney, October 2001. Which brings us to another cost of militarism -- the loss of our civil liberties. We never said this war was not going to have costs! As the United States barricades itself against the world, we all suffer the inconveniences of increased security measures. But some of these measures are not simply inconvenient -- they are dangerous. FBI: Grrr "Homeland security" has become a slogan for eliminating civil rights protections long deemed inconvenient by the FBI and other police agencies. Agencies that often give priority to suppressing political opponents.
In the name of "Homeland security" ... You can now be jailed indefinitely without trial. The police and the FBI -- and even the CIA -- can more easily spy on you, reading your mail and e-mail, listening in on your phone, and breaking into your home. Thousands of immigrants have been called in for questioning simply because they came from predominantly Muslim countries. [138] Many have been jailed for long periods on baseless suspicions. Nearly everyone in this country pays a high price for militarism. But those among us who have paid the highest price are the millions of soldiers who have been sent overseas to fight. More than 100,000 U.S. soldiers and sailors have died in foreign wars since U.S. troops were sent to Korea in 1950. [139] Hundreds of thousands more have been wounded, many disabled for life. Many Gulf War veterans are suffering the effects of "Gulf War Syndrome." Those who survive continue to be haunted by the wars they fought in. Half a million veterans of the Vietnam War suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder -- caused by memories of the horrors of the war. The number of Vietnam vets who have killed themselves since the war is greater than the number of U.S. soldiers who died in the war. [140] Hundreds of thousands of military veterans have ended up living on the streets. [141] And the killing goes on, even between wars. Every year, more than a thousand U.S. soldiers and sailors are killed in military accidents. They are burned to death in fires at sea, crushed by tanks, and blown up by practice artillery fire. BOOM -- U.S. NAVY They break their necks jumping out of planes in high wind, and crash in unsafe helicopters. [142] ?! -- SNAP These are all victims of Washington's addiction to militarism. And there are more victims ... Every year, hundreds of active-duty soldiers and sailors commit suicide. Of course, nobody is born with a desire to be humiliated and treated like a "grunt," much less to be killed. So indoctrination into the culture of militarism starts early.
[Baby with gun:] Bang! Bang! You're dead! Television, movies, video games, and toy stores all make killing seem not only glorious, but fun. [Big guy on TV with big gun:] Eat lead, scumface! [Boy watching TV:] Cool! High school principals lock the doors and hire armed guards, supposedly to protect the kids from drug dealers, pimps, and other dangerous characters. But they roll out the red carpet for the most dangerous characters of all -- the military recruiters. ARMY; NAVY; AIRFORCE; MARINES. The recruiters, who are not quite as honest as used car salesmen, come armed with slick brochures and glossy promises. Just sign here and you'll get money for college and we'll train you to be a nuclear physicist! Cool! By the time the recruits find out what military life is really all about, they're trapped.
I said lick it up -- you got that, wormhead! The ones who end up on the front lines are usually kids who can't find a job or pay for college. Almost all of them are from working-class families, and a disproportionate number are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Native Americans, and other national minorities. As a result, it's mostly the poor who die on the battlefield. That's why 22% of U.S. casualties in Vietnam were Black soldiers. Even though Blacks only make up 12% of the U.S. population. [143] The greatest injustice is that the people who start the wars are not the ones who fight and die. [Rich nerd playing golf:] My daddy told me I could serve my country better by going to law school! Maria Cotto spoke out against this injustice. Her brother was killed in the Persian Gulf War: "I saw them on television saying they were spending billions on this. I saw them on Wall Street and they were cheering. It was sick, they were cheering like it was a game ..." "Don't they know it means people will die? Not them. Not their families. Not their kids. People like my brother." [144] Ismael Cotto, 27 years old, Bronx, New York. Killed in Saudi Arabia, Jan. 1991. For some people war means handsome profits and overseas investment opportunities. STOCK PRICES; DAILY NEWS; IT'S WAR!; U.S. WILL PREVAIL -- PRESIDENT For others the price of war is high. Mission accomplished! Unfortunately, the costs of wars are paid by people who have little to do with starting them! Chapter 7: Militarism and the Media So how come every time there's a war, so many people support it? That's another good question. Most Americans are not very eager to fight wars halfway around the world. Here. Uhh ... lemme think about it. In order to win public support, pro-war politicians have always had to wrap foreign wars up in red, white and blue and tell Americans that it's their patriotic duty to support them. [Girl holding a present wrapped up in red, white and blue:] ?--TIC TIC Still, it would be hard to convince people without the help of the news media, especially the television networks. When it comes to war, the networks discard all pretenses of objectivity. [Four cheerleaders from ABC, FOX, NBC and CNN yell:]
Bomb 'em back! Bomb 'em back! Waaaay back! "[Television was] our chief tool in selling our policy." -- Richard Hass, National Security Council, 1991 It sure was. We were treated to live 240hour war coverage, sponsored by Exxon and General Electric and cleared by the Pentagon. Just how many lives can these new high-tech weapons save, Colonel?
When the Pentagon is preparing to invade a foreign country, the news media faithfully repeat the official justifications for war and paint monstrous pictures of the enemy of the hour. Reliable sources reported that ____ [Fill in the blank] eats babies for dinner. Lawrence Grossman, who was in charge of PBS and NBC News for many years, described the role of the press this way: [146] "The job of the President is to set the agenda and the job of the press is to follow the agenda that the leadership sets." As a result, you get just about the same message no matter what channel you turn to. ABC: Our game plan is right on schedule ... CNN: Our game plan is right on schedule ... EYE TV: Our game plan is right on schedule ... Why do all the networks sound the same? Why are they all consumed by war fever every time the White House decides to send troops overseas? Maybe it's got something to do with who controls them. The television news media are owned by some of the largest corporations in the country -- NBC is owned by GE, CBS by Viacom, ABC by Disney, Fox by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, and CNN by Time Warner. The members of the boards of directors of these corporations also sit on the boards of weapons manufacturers and other companies with vested interests around the world such as Boeing, Coca-Cola, Texaco, Chevron, EDS, Lucent, Daimler-Chrysler, Citigroup, Xerox, Philip Morris, Worldcom, JP Morgan Chase, Rockwell Automation, and Honeywell. Our networks tell you everything you need to know. XEROX; HONEYWELL; CHRYSLER; BOEING; ROCKWELL AUTOMATION
In fact, the corporations that control the television industry are fully integrated into the military-industrial complex. For example, let's take a look at the media empire of one of America's premier military contractors -- General Electric. GE has major investments around the world, which it expects the Pentagon to protect. It is also a charger member of the military-industrial complex. A member in good standing, I might add! GE is the country's third largest military contractor, raking in billions of dollars every year. It produces parts for every nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal, makes jet engines for military aircraft, and creates all kinds of profitable electronic gadgets for the Pentagon. It's also the company that secretly released millions of curies of deadly radiation from the Hanford nuclear weapons facility in Washington state and produced faulty nuclear power plans that dot the U.S. countryside. "We bring good things to life!" -- GE Top executives at GE have long been aware that in order to keep billions of Pentagon dollars flowing into its coffers it was necessary to build public support for massive military spending. In 1950, President Truman named Charles Wilson, GE's board chairman, to head the Office of Defense Mobilization. In that capacity, Wilson told members of the Newspaper Publishers Association: [148] "If the people were not convinced [that the Free World is in mortal danger] it would be impossible for Congress to vote the vast sums now being spent to avert this danger. With the support of public opinion, as marshalled by the press, we are off to a good start. It is our job -- yours and mine -- to keep our people convinced that the only way to keep disaster away from our shores is to build up America's might." -- Charles Wilson, 1950. (Of course, Wilson and his buddies at GE expected to get their hands on a hefty chunk of those vast sums.) Under Wilson, GE got into the media business itself to promote its pro-war message. In 1954, it hired a floundering actor named Ronald Reagan to be its corporate spokesman. GE furnished Reagan with an all-electric house and gave him his own TV show, which was called "GE Theater." It also furnished Reagan with "The Speech," GE's political message for America, and sent him around the country to deliver it. He continued to deliver variations of "The Speech" throughout his career. Meanwhile, GE was busy buying up TV and radio stations across the country. Then in 1986, GE bought its own TV network -- NBC. [150]
Good evening, I'm Tom Brokaw and this is the NBC Nightly News. General Electric and the other huge corporations that own the news media are hardly unbiased sources of information. Yet most of the news available to us -- about war and peace and everything else -- is filtered through their perspective. This gives them a powerful influence on public opinion. Everyone is rallying behind the President. Hmmm ... But their influence is not as complete as they might hope. Chapter 8: Resisting Militarism In fact, there's been strong opposition to foreign military adventures since the Mexican-American and Spanish-American wars of the last century. The anti-war movement grew especially strong during the war to conquer the Philippines. "I have seen that we do not intend to free but to subjugate the Philippines. And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land ... I have a strong aversion to sending our bright boys out there to fight with a disgraced musket under a polluted flag." -- Mark Twain, Vice President, Anti-Imperialist League, 1900 [151] Let's go back to Charles Wilson's era, when he and the media were mobilizing support for the Korean War. At first they were very successful. But despite their impressive efforts, the support didn't last long. After the body bags started coming home, the majority of people turned against the war. [Mother:] I ant my son back home! Now. The government and the media once again did their best to whip up support for the war in Vietnam. But as the war escalated, the greatest anti-war movement in U.S. history arose. At first, the opposition was small but determined. [Anti-war demonstrators:] BRING OUR MEN HOME But opposition grew by leaps and bounds as people began to learn what was going on in Vietnam. By 1969 there were 750,000 people marching on Washington, and millions more marching in cities across the country. In May 1970, after police and National Guard troops fired on anti-war demonstrations, killing four students at Kent State in Ohio and two students at Jackson State in Mississippi, students at 400 universities across the country went on strike -- the first general student strike in U.S. History. [152] When police shot and killed three people during the Chicano Moratorium against the war in August 1971, a rebellion raged through East Los Angeles for three days. [153] Resistance to the war took many forms. People refused to pay war taxes. People burned their draft cards. Hell no, we won't go! SELECTIVE SERVICE
The most famous draft resister was Muhammad Ali. [Muhammad Ali says:] I won't serve in a white man's war! People blocked the path of trains hauling troops and munitions bound for the war. STOP THE WAR! STOP THE TRAIN. 14,000 people were arrested when they moved to shut down Washington, D.C. for three days in 1971. It was the largest mass arrest in U.S. history! [154] Even more serious for the Pentagon, discipline was breaking down among the troops in Vietnam. The soldiers saw no reason to fight, and they wouldn't. By the end of the '60s, a virtual civil war simmered between soldiers and officers. A U.S. military expert warned the Pentagon about the state of its army: [155] [156] "[By] every conceivable indicator, our army that now remains in Vietnam is in a state approaching collapse, with individual units avoiding or having refused combat, murdering their officers and non-commissioned officers, drug-ridden and dispirited where not near mutinous." -- Col. Robert Heinl, U.S.M.C. retired, 1971. Record numbers of soldiers and sailors deserted or went AWOL. Organized resistance was developing among the troops. Hundreds of underground G.I. newspapers were springing up at bases around the U.S. and around the world. Contingents of soldiers and sailors were marching at the head of anti-war demonstrations. Soldiers coming home from Vietnam were telling the country about the horrors of the war and they were organizing to stop it. In April 1971, more than a thousand Vietnam veterans gathered at the Capitol Building in Washington and threw back the medals they had received in the war. [157] By the end of the decade, the majority of the people were against the war. The anti-war movement, together with the struggles waged by African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and other oppressed peoples in the U.S., and the women's liberation movement were opening people's eyes to a whole system of injustice. The growing opposition to the war played an important role in convincing the government that it had to pull out of Vietnam. "The weakest chink in our armor is American public opinion. Our people won't stand firm in the face of heavy losses, and they can bring down the government." -- President Lyndon Johnson, 1968 [158] As a result of the Vietnam War, a broad anti-militarist sentiment developed among the American people, which was derisively called the "Vietnam Syndrome" in official circles. Don't talk about that dreadful disease! Because U.S. leaders knew that Americans would not stand for large numbers of U.S. war casualties, they had to restrain their military impulse. They kept on bombing other countries, but for almost two decades they did not send large numbers of U.S. soldiers to fight on foreign soil. Until 1991 ... Then when George H.W. Bush did send hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops to the Persian Gulf, people were very apprehensive. The majority did not want to go to war. A powerful anti-war movement grew more quickly than ever before in U.S. history. Soon the streets were filled with demonstrations. Immediately after the war began, hundreds of thousands of people marched in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. George the Elder knew he had to finish the war quickly and with few U.S. casualties or the people would turn against it. When Iraq chose to withdraw rather than fight and the war ended with a one-sided slaughter, Bush was euphoric. "By God, we've kicked the Vietnam Syndrome once and for all!" AMERICA IS NO. 1 -- AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT! [159] After 9-11, George W. Bush set out to test his father's proposition. He promised us a long and bloody "War on Terrorism." [160] "So long as anybody's terrorizing established governments, there needs to be a war." -- George W. Bush, October 17, 2001 Americans were stunned by the horror of the September 11 attacks and Bush's bellicose words resonated among many. But others were not so easily led. Thousands march to protest U.S. war plans for Afghanistan, Washington, D.C., Sept. 2001. Then as Bush was gearing up to invade Iraq, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across the country. It soon became clear that the Vietnam Syndrome was alive and well -- a huge part of the population remained profoundly skeptical about foreign military adventures. "EMPTY WARHEADS FOUND IN WASHINGTON" -- NO WAR IN IRAQ Many of the country's largest labor unions and church federations resolved to oppose the war. Over 150 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, San Francisco and Cleveland went on record opposing the war. That never happened before -- not even in the 1960s! Regime change begins at home! The whole world was angry. On February 15 and 16, 2003, millions of people in the U.S. and over sixty other countries participated in the largest international protest in history. Montreal: 150,000; Toronto: 80,000; San Francisco: 100,000; Seattle: 50,000; Los Angeles: 50,000; Sao Paulo: 30,000; Antarctica: 50; Sydney: 250,000; Athens: 150,000; New York: 300,000; Madrid: 1,000,000; Barcelona: 1,000,000; London: 2,000,000; Paris: 200,000; Berlin: 500,000; Rome: 3,000,000; Tokyo: 25,000; Calcutta: 10,000; Damascus: 200,000; Cape Town: 20,000; Jakarta: 100,000. The great majority of Americans were not at all eager to go to war. Most people told pollsters they opposed invading Iraq if Bush could not win U.N. support or if a war would result in large numbers of casualties among U.S. troops or Iraqi civilians. After Bush launched the invasion, however, the pro-war media blitz convinced many people that they shouldn't oppose the war because they might endanger U.S. soldiers. [161] The media forgot to mention that it was Bush who put us in danger in the first place. And that the best way to get us out of danger is to get us out of here! There were a few pro-war rallies, but not many people showed up. Turn Baghdad into a parking lot! Operation Iraqi Liberation -- OIL The war ended up polarizing the American population and isolating the United States internationally. And the ugly reality of the American occupation of Iraq has further alienated people here and around the world. George W. Bush: Don't they know that God is on our side? While the killing continues in Afghanistan and Iraq, Pentagon strategists are busy planning the next round of wars. What if American casualties reach an unacceptable level, General? Plan B is a preemptive tactical nuclear strike. We seem to have reached a point at which war is constantly on the agenda in Washington. But next time they whip up war fever and ask you to put your life on the line -- whether as a soldier in a distant land or as a potential victim of attack at home -- ask yourself ... What is this addiction to war doing to the people of the U.S. and the world? How much does it cost? MILLION $ A MINUTE Who's going to profit? WAR PROFITS Who's going to pay? And who's going to die? Think about it. Do something about it. Kick out the war junkies! How can we do that? That's up to us to figure out! The Next Chapter: Do Something About It! Here are a few groups that are trying to figure that out ... We've only been able to include in this list a small number of the many groups conducting anti-militarist education and organizing anti-war activities in the U.S. The movement is growing rapidly and is very diverse. Some of the most vibrant organizations are fledging, local groups that we were not able to include here. More organizatins are listed on Frank Dorrel's website (www.addictedtowar.com). We encourage you to contact groups whose activities are most closely aligned with your own concerns, beliefs, and talents. American Friends Service Committee Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman G.I. Rights Hotline Central Committee of Conscientious Objectors Global Peace Campaign Fellowship of Reconciliation Center on Conscience & War Global Exchange Peace Action International Action Center Military Families Speak Out War Resisters League School of the Americas Watch Office of the Americas Teaching for Change True Majority Voices in the Wilderness Not in Our Name Witness for Peace Veterans for Peace Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom I. For updated information on the U.S. military
budget, see the Center for Defense Information website (www.cdi.org).
Discretionary spending is money that must be specifically appropriated
by Congress every year, as opposed to mandatory budget items, such as
social security benefits and interest payments on the national debt. Photo and Drawing
Credits
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