By Henry McRandall
WRISEUP.COM
In light of United States President Barack Obama’s assertion today that Americans “will remember” the alleged al-Qaida attacks of September 11, 2001 that cost the lives of 3,000 people — mostly Amerikkkans, but also a few Americans — perhaps it is time for Americans to ponder what these wars have truly cost the Other 99 Percent — particularly the poor and working class kids who place life and limb on the line in the desperate hope of getting an education they could otherwise never be able to afford.
The U.S. government officially spends close to $600 billion a year on so-called “national defence,” which is more than every other country in the world combined. But that’s just the spending that is “on the books.” The additional military costs that are hidden from the public are almost as high, for a total cost of more than $1 TRILLION a year. That works out to a cost of almost $3,000 a year to every man, woman and child in the country.
And the devastation caused to the generally poor and largely defenceless victims of this murderous Amerikkkan aggression is in the TRILLIONS of dollars a year. If the TRILLIONS of dollars of destruction that Amerikkka causes around the world each year plus the more than $1 TRILLION a year Amerikkka spends on invading and occupying mostly Third-World countries were spent on construction rather than destruction, it would be almost enough to abolish poverty throughout the world. And what about the human costs? read more »