Military spending cuts

Today, Feb. 20th, there was an editorial in the Dispatch that tried to tie our economic success, or lack of it, to having military troops and equipment deployed here and around the world. The long and the short of it, when we are at war, we are creating jobs. I have long wondered when this argument would come out and now it shows how desperate that we are becoming. But it does bring out a truth we never could talk about before. That truth being that war is big business.

I fully recognize that we must stay strong with a military that is ready to protects us, here and around the world, but the misuse of our military lately has far out weighed the good it was intended for. To all of you that have suffered the loss of a loved one, I am sure that you take no solace in the fact that fighting that war gave somebody back here a job.

There are numerous countries in this world whose focus is on keeping their country safe and strong. They stay out of skirmishes and wars that don’t directly threaten them and for the most part are in better financial shape then we are. In other words their military is not big business. Right now cuts are being made in military spending but it will not be because we want to, but because we have to. Let’s hope the day comes when it will be because we want to and we will have money to build new roads and bridges here and not in some country that we just bombed.

Mike Holst

Crosslake