We hear so much rhetoric about making America great.  I don’t think it’s valid to say the word “again” after that line.  By many measures, compared to the rest of the world we are great.  But improvement is always an honorable goal, so how can we make our nation better?  Being involved in a very bad situation in Iran and in the middle east in general I was wondering about the cost of that war and the previous middle east wars. 

Afghanistan     2.3T     20 years

Iraq/Syria        2.9T      15 years

Iran                  100B      6 months and counting

TOTAL          5.3Trillion

Now first, I want to state my appreciation for all those that served in those wars and in our military.  Our country called and you answered, and for that all Americans should be grateful.  However, in my mind, and with the benefit of hindsight those were all mistakes.  We have nothing to show for the entire expense of money and lives lost.  Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Iraq is full of Iranian militias while we have been boots on the ground for OVER 15 years, and in Iran since that war started, we are in worse shape than when Obama was president, and our standing in the world is very diminished. 

Now I am not looking for this to be a political piece.   I will leave that to the reader to decide who is to blame for our current situation.  I am sure both the right and the left hold some blame.  I am just thrown by the sheer amount of money spent on WAR, instead of really making America GREAT.  We spent so much on policy which not only didn’t benefit us as a country, but contributed to the death of so many people.  While we spent $5.3 Trillion on unnecessary wars, we still have children and many families not having enough food, millions without healthcare, a very poor educational system, crumbling infrastructure, and a worsening affordable housing crisis.  We spend almost $1T a year for the military, and the current administration is asking for $1.5T. 

In my opinion, our priorities are terrible.  The world view of always flexing our muscles while never getting a benefit has to change.  The ability for one man, whoever that might be, to have the power to commit us to these actions and expenses also has to change. 

It’s insanity and it’s illogical. 

When actions are done and decisions made that are illogical then they are ego driven.  Either for power, or for profit, those decisions are wrong, and the thinking behind them must change.  Enough mistakes already! 

We must stop supporting violence in the world.  Our government said we were squandering money on humanitarian efforts throughout the world.  So, they stopped many of those programs, and so easily made the decision to spend so much more money on war in the middle east.  We cut food stamps at home for our poor, and spend billions on bombs and rockets. 

Something is wrong here. 

ALL WE ARE SAYING IS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.