Modern "Wars" - a comparison

Bush's "escalation" plan to deal with the abysmal failure of his war in Iraq (aka - the "What we're doing isn't working, so let's do more of it!" plan) brings to mind another government "War" initiative that hasn't worked in the past, isn't working now, and probably never will work -

The War on Drugs.

Both were based on misleading or false information:

Iraq - non-existent weapons of mass destruction;

Drugs - anybody seen "Reefer Madness" lately? These days it works better as a satire, but people treated its "demon" characterizations as gospel truth then and now.

Both have claimed innocent victims:

Iraq - Thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands. The total is unclear because the U.S. military doesn't "do body counts."

Drugs - Untold numbers, both in victims of the violence associated with the business of narcotics trafficking under the conditions created by our laws and of the paramilitary tactics used by law enforcement personnel.

Both have greatly benefited the *bad* people that the war is supposed to be against:

Iraq: Bush's war has led directly to increased recruitment of jihadists/"terrorists" in Iraq and to the reduction of international respect for the U.S. Oh, and there is that escalating civil war in Iraq.

Minor detail, that.

Drugs - Much as the Prohibition of alcohol sparked the growth of the Mob in the 1920s and 1930s, our country's narcotics laws have given today's drug cartels the vastly profitable core business that fuel their economic engine.

Both are strongly supported by corporate America:

Iraq - Not only is the government buying equipment and supplies for the war effort, it has also outsourced many functions that were previously performed by the military/DOD. Halliburton is just one of the corporations reaping billion$ from the deaths of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians. And that's the just from official activities; it doesn't even count the many cases of outright contractor fraud.

Drugs - Big Pharma's efforts (and those of other industries) to keep hemp banned are well-documented. There's no profit in hemp-based products or medicinal marijuana for large corporations (too easily cultivated for personal use); however, the ban increases the amounts that can be charged for "legal" drugs, aka the drugs that benefit Big Pharma more than they benefit patients.

And, worst of all, with both there's no end in sight:

Iraq - Even super-conservative Republican congressman Ron Paul of Texas admits that the war is a failure and was wrong from the beginning, but still Bush and the White House want to send more troops to their deaths and give more public money to corporations to conduct the war.

And even if open U.S. involvement in Iraq ends, Iran is next on Bush's dancecard.

Drugs - Even former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged this fact. The staunchly conservative National Review, normally an abject apologist for the most insane right-wing programs, admits the War on Drugs is a failure, yet the White House and other government organs slog on with their escalating war on the American people.

And even as the latest drug "scare" wanes, inevitably, a new one looms on the horizon.

Lastly, even the responses of Arizona's senators to critics of the War in Iraq and the War on Drugs are similar:

Iraq - Kyl says that dissent "emboldens" the enemy; McCain calls critics "intellectually dishonest" and says they "insult" the military.

Drugs - When Arizona voters passed Prop 200 in 1996, a proposition that decriminalized possession and use of marijuana for medical reasons, he said that we (AZ voters) were "hoodwinked."

They may think that we are insultingly dishonest intellectual traitors who aid the enemy (whoever this week's "enemy" may be) with our questions and criticisms, but they may be on to something with the "hoodwinked" part.

We keep electing them, don't we?

If we want to end these endless, crippling, soul-shredding wars, we need to change who we send to D.C., state capitals, and even to county and municipal governments. The change started this past fall, but we need to continue the movement until our government (at all levels!) is more responsive to the will of the people.

Or will at least admit when they've made a mistake, learn from the mistake, and then correct it.

Later!