More War Funds Spent for Troop Surge

A few days ago, we heard from all over the news world about the sudden disclosure of confidential and important documents regarding the war in Afghanistan. The documents suggest that the US armed forces and its allies are indeed struggling to keep pace with the war and are starting to lose hold on it. With so many allied casualties reported every day, there might be more that went unreported. It also introduced the idea that the US may have fought the wrong war and are now starting the rip the consequences.

It is evident that the US has already spent billions and billions of dollars for this never ending war. Such a huge budget mostly goes to troop deployment cost, ammunitions and foreign aid. The US has been providing aid to foreign country where in fact they themselves have already accumulated so much debt. The US has also often claimed significant victories which the recent disclosed documents have proved otherwise. After 9 years of war, the Taliban insurgency hasn’t weakened and it may be stronger now than before.

Just recently, the US house has recently voted to approve $33 billion in war funding for the war effort in Afghanistan. This funding will be used for the additional 30,000 US troops which will be deployed in Afghanistan. The Government and the military forces seem unaffected by the scandalous nature of the leaked documents. Though they strongly condemned the release of such secret documents, it seems that they are unfazed and are still certain that they can handle the Afghan situation more precisely.

Before the actual voting procedure, one of the participants Rep. Jim McGovern, stated that the leaked documents indicated corruption and mismanagement by high ranking government officials in pursuing an Afghan government. McGovern also emphasized that the US government is more concerned at borrowing $33 billion to fund a foreign government rather than spend it on internal affairs such as education, health and social services.

The US goals in Afghanistan are all blurry and bleak. Too much lives and bloodshed are encountered by US troops and the government still hasn’t gotten the real lesson. The troop surge of 30,000 additional troops is a clear indication that the Obama administration is not paying attention to real and factual details. I personally hope that they wake up in their dreams and start realizing that the government of America is for the Americans and not for other foreign nationalities. If the US government is able to waste $33 billion on a silly and unwinnable war, why can’t they spend more money on basic social services such as unemployment benefits, healthcare insurance and education which will benefit more the American society?

War and Foreign Aid over Education and Social Welfare

If you were elected a high post in the government, what sectors would be your top priority? Would you provide more funding and more projects to the education sector? Or would you instead invest more in homeland security in order to promote peace and prosperity? Every voter puts a great deal of importance to the various agendas and priorities that a politician mentions during his/her campaign. Sadly, not all politicians have the right mind to put a reasonable weighing on various agendas.

In what could be another misguided and poorly reviewed decision, the senate has voted to reject the house bill passed by house Democrats. The bill was supposed to give $10 billion in grants to school districts in order to avoid massive layoff of teachers and other staff, $5 billion of grants to college students with low income, $1 billion for a summer job program that is supposed to benefit students who struggle to pay for their educational fees and $700 million to bolster security along the US-Mexico border.

Instead, the senate submitted a senate version of the bill that focuses more on the war in Afghanistan. Though the never-ending war in Afghanistan is thought to be unwinnable situation, it is surprising to note that the Obama administration is still persistent in pursuing the unimaginable war. In a time where the country is suffering from the devastating effects of a financial and economic meltdown, the government is spending more on a useless and expensive war. The cost of the war is expected to reach $1 trillion. That is more than the economic stimulus bill that Pres. Obama presented to help companies recover from recession.

While companies are declaring bankruptcy, citizens are without jobs, the middle class are losing their benefits and their homes; the government has been busy building bombs, producing war machines and hunting terrorists. It is a shame to note that the government who is supposed to promote the welfare and well-being of every American citizen, has instead give more priority to external affairs which are not really in need of much attention. Choosing military financing over education is such a shameful and unreasonable decision.

America, for many years, is seen as a global superpower. With high-tech and state of the art military technologies, no country can stand in its way. But what can military equipment do if the people, the taxpayers and the voters of the nation are suffering and starving. Soon, the only education that kids will get is how to fire a gun and how to kill someone. Would that be a suitable and ideal future? To the voting sector, it is time to start pressuring your politicians about their priorities as this will greatly influence your vote come the time of elections.