by James Glaser
July 15, 2002

I Can't Write About George Today

I am just too burned out after reading all the reports about George and how he made his money. Corruption isn't my favorite subject so I will write about other things.

The Troops, those men and women that America has all over the globe. We have the corporate criminal investigation, We have Israel doing whatever it wants to the Palestinians now, and we have most Americans worried about their retirement accounts. Everything acts like a smoke screen so that those young people that are fighting our WAR, (you all remember that WAR don't you), are screened off the pages of our papers and our TV sets.

Yes we still have those young people all over the world doing who knows what and that is the point to having a smoke screen. There is a build up of troops into the Middle East for our new war with Iraq. True, our old war with Iraq never ended and we have kept bombing them for the last 12 years, but those bombing missions have fallen from the front page to some where near the back of the paper and never make the nightly news anymore.

Troops are still in Afghanistan and their mothers and fathers have the same apprehensions that all parents have had in any war at any time. Those troops have been under attack from Afghans that are for some reason were upset because we killed so many at a wedding. We told them that we regret those killings, but they don't get it. Those Afghans just don't see that mistakes will be made, when all we are trying to do is help them.

We have troops in the Republic of Georgia. Yes they are still there, fighting terrorism. Troops are still in the Philippines, yes fighting terrorism. Troops are still in Korea, need I say that they are on the border with one of the "Axis of Evil? Troops are still in Bolivia and Columbia, fighting terrorism or propping up someone. Those troops we have in Portugal are still there, I have no idea why.

Germany, yes we still have lots of troops there too along with troops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, England, Japan, Okinawia, all of those "Stans" above Afghanistan. In point of fact America has troops in well over 100 countries and that is the whole point here.

Just who in America is standing up for our troops. Things can happen to those young people if we at home forget that they are out there. We have troops in several places that put them in "harms way." Without the American people saying anything, our government has just a free hand in deployments that make little sense. They Cold War has been over for a long time, so why the troops in Germany and the rest of Europe? Who is making money off of these troops staying there.

American troops are a "cash cow" for a lot of American Corporations and that is why we keep them in places for decades. Can any of you imagine what it costs to keep a few thousand troops, like thirty six thousand in Korea? Really now some people have made hundreds of millions of tax dollars over the years on those troops. That goes for Germany and other country that we keep troops in for decades

Some local people in these countries work their whole life for the American government on these deployment bases. Here is a hint, when you go to a foreign country and see that America has built their Headquarters and service buildings out of bricks, it is a good bet they will be there a while, but why? For the money.

Troops are really not all that important, but the money that some one is making, and that money filters out a long way is what this is all about. Can you imagine what your land is worth if America decides to buy some of it and put a base that will house thousands of Americans that get paid twice a month? Would you be willing to have some American partners help you in securing contracts to sell supplies to that base?

Americans really have to wake up to the fact that the Military is a big cash machine for lots of very wealthy people and our troops are just fixtures or excuses for this outlay of tax dollars. To protect those troops, Parents have a duty to keep asking questions on why their sons and daughters are there, keep putting out news releases about their children's current service, and those returning service people have a duty to tell America both the good and bad we are doing to those countries.

American bases breed terrorists in every country that we have them in. Just imagine if you would that you have a Russian base down the road from your home. A occupation force that makers new laws and rules that you must follow. Believe me it would start to grate on you just as our bases grate on those in every country that we occupy.

Stand up and speak out for our troops, make sure why they are where the are. Keep them in the minds of all citizens and those in Washington. Close those bases just as soon as we can and just maybe those countries that we went to help will remain our friends if we get our troops out of their country as soon as possible. Sure their are Americans that will lose some really big money because we move those troops. Remember each troop withdrawal will be a little victory in our war on terrorism.