Posts Tagged ‘dennis’

Afghanistan is Lost

Monday, March 12th, 2012

“No amount of troops, training or money will result in a stable Afghanistan.  It is time to bring the troops home now,” writes Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich in a statement released today.

“Yesterday’s shooting in Afghanistan which left at least 16 civilians dead is a tipping point,” continues Kucinich, “This shooting follows days of deadly rioting after it was revealed that U.S. troops had incinerated copies of the Koran.  Despite more than a decade at war and nearly $600 billion of U.S. tax-payer dollars, it is obvious that the U.S. presence in Afghanistan has created instability in that country, not stability.”

Here we go. Yet another voice confirming the war in Afghanistan has failed.

Really, it was doomed from the get-go. Democracy cannot be installed by outside forces, lasting peace will never be found through violence, and the only thing a foreign military usually liberates is the people’s natural resources.

Let us learn from our mistakes and be sure not to repeat them. We have no room for war in our world, nor do we have the need.

Kucinich: End Illegal War in Libya NOW

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

(Watch out, Military Industrial Complex, there’s a new Sheriff in town.)

Congressman Dennis Kucinich has sponsored legislation that will end US military involvement in Libya on the grounds that it is illegal, unwinnable, and far too expensive. Congressman Kucinich makes some excellent points:

This war is misguided. An invasion would be a disaster. Nato already is out of control, using a UN mandate allowing for protection of civilians as the flimsy pretext for an unauthorised mission of regime change through massive violence. In a just world, the Nato commander would be held responsible for any violations of international law.

The US Congress must act to cut off funds for the war because there is no military solution in Libya. Serious negotiations for a political solution must begin to end the violence and create an environment for peace negotiations to fulfil the legitimate, democratic aspirations of the people. A political solution will become viable when the opposition understands that regime change is the privilege of the Libyan people, not of Nato.

Starting an armed conflict? That’s the easy part. Stopping the armed conflict? That seems to be much harder. All of these US-led wars – Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen – were begun with such ease, only to drag on in perpetuity.

But that’s all by design. The longer the wars drag on, the more profits can be made by a handful of people.

Modern warfare is predominantly manufactured. The rationales that we’re given – like freedom, terrorism or saving civilians – are used to distract us from the real reasons for war: securing US corporate interests on foreign soil and channeling billions of taxpayer dollars into those juicy defense contracts.

Fortunately this fact – that most war in the world today is unnaturally forced upon us – is coming to light. The more aware we become, the better equipped we will be to dismantle the military industrial complex. Earths major wars will soon come to an end as humankind stands up to the entities that create and perpetuate institutionalized violence.