War Is Peace- Is America Hooked on War?

[Orwellian_Ghost]

Is America Hooked on War?

By Tom Engelhardt

"War is peace" was one of the memorable slogans on the facade of the Ministry of Truth, Minitrue in "Newspeak," the language invented by George Orwell in 1948 for his dystopian novel 1984. Some 60 years later, a quarter-century after Orwell's imagined future bit the dust, the phrase is, in a number of ways, eerily applicable to the United States. Last week, for instance, a New York Times front-page story by Eric Schmitt and David Sanger was headlined "Obama Is Facing Doubts in Party on Afghanistan, Troop Buildup at Issue." It offered a modern version of journalistic Newspeak.

...

Here, according to the two reporters, was the gist of Levin's message about what everyone agrees is a "deteriorating" U.S. position: "e was against sending more American combat troops to Afghanistan until the United States speeded up the training and equipping of more Afghan security forces." Think of this as the line in the sand within the Democratic Party, and be assured that the debates within the halls of power over McChrystal's troop requests and Levin's proposal are likely to be fierce this fall. Thought about for a moment, however, both positions can be summed up with the same word: More.

In other words, however contentious the disputes in Washington, however dismally the public now views the war, however much the president's war coalition might threaten to crack open, the only choices will be between more and more.

State of War

Because the United States does not look like a militarized country, it's hard for Americans to grasp that Washington is a war capital, that the United States is a war state, that it garrisons much of the planet, and that the norm for us is to be at war somewhere at any moment. Similarly, we've become used to the idea that, when various forms of force (or threats of force) don't work, our response, as in Afghanistan, is to recalibrate and apply some alternate version of the same under a new or rebranded name -- the hot one now being "counterinsurgency" or COIN -- in a marginally different manner. When it comes to war, as well as preparations for war, more is now generally the order of the day.



http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175115/war_is_peace

[virgogal]

1. America's not hooked on war,humanity is.

[msongs]

2. america's economy depends on blowing up stuff and people. its "righteous" to do that nt

[spanone]

3. the military has gone from defense to offense.

[FormerDittoHead]

4. Is someone just figuring this out NOW? We've been in "the business" since WWII... n/t

[Kaleva]

10. Actually, since the late 1700's.

[Bobbieo]

5. I got a phone call just a few minutes ago asking for a donation to "Support Our Troops".

I replied, "Bring them home" and hung up.

[Ardent15]

6. The MIC is hooked on war...

...and has a stranglehold on our republic.

[timeforpeace]

7. Not sure about America, but President Obama seems to be.

[appamado amata padam]

8. We are so accustomed to it

that days at a time go by, with hardly a mention of our two present wars in the "newspapers." It just goes on and on without too many people even noticing, much less thinking about it.

Our country is very, very sick. We are collapsing, not from an enemy's assault, but under the weight of our own corrupt leadership, and ignorant sloth.

[mmonk]

9. It feeds the rich while it buries the poor.

No country wants a direct confrontation in a hot war with the US. We are the most militarized country in human history with the biggest stretch.

[Quantess]

11. Seems apparent.

With our military so bloated and huge, we can't seem to stay out of other countries' conflicts. We are a militaristic empire.

Is that an H.R. Giger painting?

[Fumesucker]

12. War.. What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing..

http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm

[blindpig]

13. Just follow the money....

it explains so much.

k&r