From the Pain Dealer AP Briefs this morning:
The United States needs a new, modern arsenal of nuclear weapons to use as a deterrent to attacks from other nations for the rest of the 21st century, the top military commander for strategic warfare said Tuesday. Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, head of the military’s Strategic Command, said if the Pentagon develops an improved, more reliable nuclear weapon, the United States will be able to reduce the number of warheads it keeps on hand. “So long as there are other countries in the world that possess enough nuclear weapons to destroy the United States of America and our way of life, we will have to deter those types of countries,” Chilton said.
. . . and our way of life.
I keep hearing that over and over since 9-11 and I want someone from the military-industrial complex to explain to me what “our way of life” is. Because I have the sneaking suspicion that what they see as “our way of life” resonates very little with most Americans trying to keep it all together down here in the trenches.
I would also like these same people to explain what “our way of life” is to the thousands of grieving Iraqi families who have lost loved ones because of our illegal and immoral invasion of their country. Of course, in most cases, like in the movie Brazil, we gave them a receipt and a check for their loved one. I guess that’s part of our American “way of life:” a sincere appreciation for the sanctity and value of each human life - and each human life has a dollar sign attached to it.
Maybe we could also explain “our way of life” to the 2 million Iraqi refugees. Perhaps, like the way we handled our own people after Hurricane Katrina, we could provide them with FEMA trailers where they could breath the air of freedom as well as a healthy dose of formaldehyde.
That’s “our way of life” for many Americans. That’s why we need enough nuclear firepower to destroy the world many, many times over. Because in the end, if our elites can’t run the world, no one else will.
But Gen. Chilton has a soft side as well. He cares about the children. No, not the Iraqi children or children of other lands, but his own kids:
“These are absolutely powerful and terrible weapons,” Chilton said. “I’m a father, too, of children, and I would love to have ’em grow up in a nuclear-free world. Absolutely. And I don’t want to equivocate on that at all.
“But I’m not for unilateral disarmament,” he repeated. “I also want them to grow up free. And as long as we have other nations out there with nuclear capabilities … that threaten our freedom, then I think we need to have a nuclear deterrent force that can do the mission of preserving our freedom.”
Do you think General Chilton even, for a moment, considers how his words will sound to parents of kids in other countries all over the world?
Nah.
I’m sure his kids will grow up ‘free’ as they are are the lucky offspring of a four star. They will certainly experience far more ‘freedom’ than the kids born to inner city parents or Katrina survivors. They will walk the earth with the assurance that thousands of their country’s nuclear warheads stand ready to defend their ‘freedom’ from whatever boogie man their dad is selling the public this week.
But the folks that will really be smiling are the contractors that will make beaucoup bucks off the tax dollars that right wingers don’t mind spending on these magnificent weapons of global destruction.
Yes, those well-heeled contractors stand with their hands over their hearts fervently pledging their allegiance to “our way of life” that keeps them among the most obscenely wealthy and amoral people on the planet. America is so good to them and they know a good thing when they see it.
“Our way of life” is so beneficial to the planet of course. We don’t even need to talk about the outsized percentage of the planet’s resources our population used to ensure their birthright as masters of the planet and good consumer citizens that will answer the call to colors and rush the malls whenever the President tells them that shopping is what is needed for America’s defense.
And other countries are just so jealous of “our way of life” that far from seeking to destroy us, they and by they, I mean China and India, are trashing their own ecosystems as well as the worlds to emulate us.
What a legacy “our way of life” will eventually leave this planet! We should already be designing a 100 foot titanium plaque to mount somewhere for future star travelers to find when they reach the ruins of our planet.
Whether by nuclear holocaust, global climate change or some rogue virus that escapes from one of our Defense Department labs to kill all of us, these star travelers should be able to discern the words on the plaque that will say:
“This Earth was destroyed as necessary to protect our sacred American Way of Life” Anno domini 20XX
