The logical outcome of 2½ more years...

Editors, Asheville Global Report, Recently Army General Peter Schoomaker in defending the US military budget lambasted critics of US war spending by stating, "I just don't understand.... What's the problem?" I will try to explain. The US spends nearly half-a-trillion dollars annually for military purposes. This includes not only the Pentagon budget, but the cost of "intelligence" and other related costs. The rest of the world combined does not spend as much on military costs. While I deplore the waste of such an amount and wonder how the world could be changed if the money was spent productively, the biggest problem is that this money is spent to spread and defend an imperial system by allowing the US to either make or threaten war against others. For those that deny the US is an imperial power, consider that the Pentagon has troops in 120 countries. The US weapons arsenal contains 10,000 nukes which "our leaders" allege are needed to defend the nation against attack. The US is engaged in aggressive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush is threatening war, including the possibility of nuclear war, with Iran. US covert teams are already on the ground in Iran identifying and spotting future targets for attacks. Is it any wonder that according to polls, people in most of the world consider the US as the greatest threat to peace? The Bush regime in its National Security Strategy states that it will preemptively attack "future threats" to national security. Such supposed threats are defined by a president who claims to receive directions from god to attack other nations. The military budget gives him the capability of doing so. That is the problem, General Schoomaker. I feel uncomfortable for a president who revels in his ignorance to have such vast military power at his command. I do not believe in the "divine right of kings or presidents." I prefer to drive the Bush regime from power rather than finance its ability to impose its will on the world. The world cannot wait to see what the logical outcome of 2½ more years of the Bush regime will bring us. Kenneth J. Theisen Oakland, CA