Heat and Idiocies

It's high 90's; the humidity is climbing. We try to shelter in our cooler houses, go to air-conditioned movies, or are almost thankful we're at work in air-conditioned offices.

It's hot here in the northeast.

Do people ever consider the plight of people in places like Baghdad? There, the temperatures soar into the 120's and 130's, and, in the city, where you'd expect air-conditioning, most people consider themselves lucky if they get a few hours of electricity.

Why? Before the US invasion, Baghdad had power outages, but electricity was generally available. The US, back in 2002, was going to make things better for the Iraqis, by driving out Saddam Hussein. We drove him out; his own people executed him. Meanwhile, Baghdad suffers heat we can hardly imagine. It has no air-conditioning, because when we invaded, we destroyed their power plants. Many billions of dollars later, many power plants have not been successfully repaired, nor the distribution system.

Meanwhile, American troops in their big bases have air-conditioning, hot and cold running water, all the amenities. Probably, in most forward operating bases, Americans enjoy air-conditioning and hot showers.

But the Iraqis do not.

The story is probably similar in Afghanistan, except that there was less to destroy, so Afghans may be less worse off after our invasion than the Iraqis.

What have our invasions accomplished? In Iraq, we got rid of a bad guy, who had been a CIA client, and we also killed a lot of people, destroyed a lot. We so totally destabilized the society that we had to stop a civil war. It could break out again once we leave.

In Afghanistan, we drove the Taliban from power, restored education for girls in a very few places, and put in place an ineffectual government that is one of the most corrupt on the planet. We also killed (and continue to kill) many Afghans, both combatants and non-combatants. But we failed to destroy the Taliban. Despite its unpopularity, Afghan majorities now believe it will return to power in some form; they also want the US and NATO to leave, because we're repeating Vietnam: destroying villages "in order to save them."

Which Afghans want us to stay? The ones who have grown fat on US contracts, or US-funded bribes, are maintained in power by our military, or are allied with those who are: a small minority.

Why do we stay--in either place?

Is it because our military craves large budgets and opportunities for promotion? Is it because defense contractors sell larger and larger contracts?

Meanwhile, the long-term unemployed can't get jobs, and the Senate refuses to extend their benefits--because of budget deficits. The largest discretionary budget item is Defense: $680,000,000-1,300,000,000. (Social Security/Medicare is larger, but self-funded and not discretionary).

Our best plan for a stimulus would be: cut bases worldwide and get out of both wars; spend the money at home.