War Spending Helps Rural Economies -- Is That Good?

"Facing South", the Institute for Southern Studies' blog, asked the question first but we couldn't have said it better ourselves: "Is it good that war spending is helping rural economies?"

"Facing South" is based in North Carolina, but the report actually covers eight Southern states (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia). All have seen big influxes of military money.

Certainly, money matters, but so do a lot of other things, including the "big" ones like whether our country's international reputation is better now, or better before we went into Iraq ... we say, "No." Or, do we have fewer enemies -- or more enemies -- than we did before 9-11? ... we say, "More." Or is our economy in general better or worse? ... when we answer this question, we're thinking about working families. Are jobs more secure? Is it easier to send a child to college? and more. We say, "Everything is more difficult."

You may agree, or disagree, but one way or the other, we challenge you to read, consider, and also to ask yourself hard questions. Because of the higher recruitment rate for soldiers from rural communities, our sons and daughters are dying at a 60 percent higher rate than urban families' children (Carsey Institute data).

Ask yourself too? Did your Senator or Member of Congress vote against the new GI Bill that Senator Webb and others worked so diligently to pass? President Bush opposed as did Senator McCain. The Washington Post recently offered an editorial about "What the GI's Deserve." Long story short, Bush eventually signed the bill into law but McCain continues to oppose.

Iraq & Afghan Troops Take Daily Dose of Anti-depressants

Bob Herbert reports in the NY Times: "Wounds You Can't See" some of the saddest news:

• Because the pool of volunteer soldiers is so small, our sons and daughters are called back to the war again and again, and the more they go back, the more they risk.
  

Paul Rieckhoff, Ex. Director of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, an advocacy group working to make it easier for our veterans to receive mental health services, says,

"This should be a top issue in the presidential race, and it should be a top issue in the news. When you come home from Iraq, you feel like you're lost in the wilderness sometimes. You feel like you don't fit in."

A new RAND study reports that 300,000 US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan have mental problems with 320,000 brain injuries inflicted so far. Many of these injuries are ones that our soldiers will suffer from all the remaining days of their lives.

And TIME Magazine reports in "America's Medicated Army" by Mark Thompson, about how our troops are running on Prozac.

We challenge you to read every word of at least two of these stories.

Admiral William "Fox" Fallon Quits!

Who would have thought? Admiral William "Fox" Fallon has resigned. See story from Times OnLine: Admiral Fallon Quits Over Iran Policy. Only a few days ago, Esquire magazine asked the question:

"As head of U.S. Central Command, Admiral William "Fox" Fallon is in charge of American military strategy for the most troubled parts of the world. Now, as the White House has been escalating the war of words with Iran, and seeming ever more determined to strike militarily before the end of this presidency, the admiral has urged restraint and diplomacy. Who will prevail, the president or the admiral?"

And now we have the answer ... the President is once again firm in his intent to escalate the possibility of another war -- this time with Iran.

What we worry about ... (1) Afghanistan needs more troops; (2) Iraq is a mess and we don't seem to be able to fix it, i.e., it is one thing to declare victory and another to have peace; (3) our military is stretched entirely too thin to support a third war.

What we worry about -- our shrinking middle class, the possibility of deeper recession, almost one-half billion dollars wasted in the Iraq war, the fact that our soldiers from rural America are dying (and being injured) at a 60% higher rate than the soldiers from urban America. What's fair about any of this?

We think the answer is nothing if fair, or right --just more proof that bad politics results in war.