Military Base Closings, What Does It Mean?

Since the US spends so much on it's military [it's the largest segment of our economy] and we "at war", why are there so many bases closing these days? If the spending is increasing or atleast staying the same and the bases are shrinking, who is taking up the places once held by hometown bases? I guess it would be private firms taking their places. Just like in Iraq where there are almost as many private security forces as there are US Military forces, the private sector is more and more responsible for feeding, building, protecting and fighting on behalf of the government. It's not just Halliburton these days that are riding the gravy train.

So ask yourself this. If the private sector is getting more and more funding from the government and the politicians get money from these companies, isn't it in the interests of all involved to have a conflict to keep everyone happy? No conflict means no need to buy weapons, no need to rebuild what we've destroyed, no profits for the military complex.

I know this all sounds pie in the sky but Cheney saw first hand as Secretary of Defense in 1991 how much money you can make in war. In the Middle East of all places. So he leaves his political career behind and goes to run Halliburton, not merely work for, to really learn the biz. Low and behold he ends up VP and has a jones to start a war with Iraq from the get go. The Pentagoons are well up for involving more contractors than ever and before you know it, we're $300 billion in the hole for a made up war. Is it that simple? Maybe not. But you can't overlook it either.

It's a vicious circle. Like the old ad about the guy who does more cocaine so he can work harder, so he make more money, so he can afford more cocaine, so he can work harder, etc. And since Bush is a coke user, it's that much more meaningful. We need to stop this vicious cycle of leading with our military. Might does not make right. This use of force will only set up the next need for use of force, but that's whay they wanted all along.