Mark Small

A good 1st step in building & keeping a strong defense is not to kill members of the U.S. military. As we have learned in the past several days, Putin offered a bounty of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) to the Taliban for each G.I. killed. 3/13

This as trump was trying to regain membership in the G7 for Russia (a/k/a Putin). As the land of the free, we aren’t supposed to do favors for a murderer like Putin. In this case he has shifted his aim from his own people to our G.I.s. Ms. Spartz supports trump. 4/13

Disconcerting is what we have done to this country: we are militarized. Commercials seek to recruit our youth with (1) No mention of whether we should have committed troops to the many places the USA has military personnel stationed and 5/13

(2) No mention of the implicit - Want college without $250K of lifelong debt undischargable in bankruptcy? Enlist. You’ll be one of those nifty players in video games or in the movies or the TV shows you’ve watched all your life. 6/13

When we indoctrinate our children in war, we have a growing militaristic culture. This has not made us more secure. We spend more money on weaponry and personnel than the next seven biggest spenders. 7/13

According to the Peter G. Petersen Foundation, our military budget accounts for thirty-seven percent (37%) of the World’s total military expenditures. This attempt to allay insecurities has caused us to be more insecure. 8/13

Our drone attacks of people half-way around the World have only an accuracy of five percent (5%). Those attacks result in 95% “collateral” damage. No matter the accuracy - or inaccuracy - of our weapons, we kill people. 9/13

When we kill people - by mistake or negligence - other people in that country, and around the World, bear hatred for us while our youth develop a siege mentality. As we know now, our armed forces are used cynically. 10/13

Putin pays to put a “button” on each of them and - who cares? trump does not care. His only concerns are self-aggrandizement and survival - i.e., currying the favor of Putin. The Framers were concerned about standing armies. 11/13

Our police, too, are militarized. It is difficult to avoid that reality. Ms Spartz would continue this culture, retrograde to Sparta. The Peloponnesian War pitted the war-like authoritiarian Sparta against the democracy-loving Athenians. Both sides lost, in the long run. 12/13