The chart on the left shows the so-called coalition countries that are allegedly involved in enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya. Note the "deployment status." (Click on the chart to enlarge).Despite the political distortions out of Washington about our taking a backseat in this latest military action, it is clear that once again the United States has no problem essentially going it alone to police the world. As the chart indicates, our launching of bombs in Libya has been non-stop while most other nations sit idle.
Folks, we're spending over $1 million for every Tomahawk missile that we propel into Libya. No matter how honorable our intentions might be, do we have the money to spend on another campaign of explosions that is likely to produce even greater costs as time goes on? This isn't even our fight.
The cost of deploying American jets and ships to the region is off the charts. And I take no comfort in the fact that a handful of countries are cheering us on from the sidelines as we empty our wallets again.
We're still trying to recover from the worst recession of our lifetime and dealing with a record deficit, and we're doing so while fighting three wars. Running a peace-time economy in war-time era is beyond stupid. How do you explain to a layoff-weary nation that we need to keep bombing foreign lands rather than pay for unemployment benefits or job-training programs at home?
We bomb countries and don't seem to leave after we do, yet at the same time talk about possibly reducing Social Security benefits to save what we spend in a matter of weeks in Afghanistan, Iraq and now Libya. Republicans slam health-care reform but won't say boo about the expense of the war against the Taliban -- the longest war in our nation's history -- a war that is not winnable. There simply seems to be no fiscal worries whatsoever when it comes to flexing our military muscle, even when we're not at risk of being attacked.
It is truly amazing that ever since the U.S. got rid of the draft, Americans have lost interest in protesting something that is just as ill-conceived today as it was during the Vietnam era. We're still losing lives in no-win conflicts, but since no one is forced to serve anymore, well, the deaths and financial costs are just not on our radar screens.
We can't pay for basic domestic services anymore, but we can apparently fight a third war while coalition partners like Spain stand "ready to participate" in the attack. Ready to participate?
Yeah, right.
I never thought President Obama would drag his feet in getting us out of Iraq and Afghanistan, especially when we could use the money to employ teachers and rebuild infrastructure at home. But he has. What is more shocking is Obama's selling of this operation in Libya as something it is not. We're paying the check again and that is shocking at this time, in this economy and with this president in charge.
The media covers the Libya story as a military operation but says little about the battles we all face on a daily basis on countless American Main Streets. Reports fail to put Libya into context because there is no context for the average American. Additionally, the media, like the politicians, seems to have a tendency to take its eye off the ball. And the ball is and will continue to be the economy.
Source: Chart compiled from The Washington Post
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