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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (77238)	8/3/2011 10:35:23 PM
From: Hawkmoon	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 217750

Certainly would remove a lot of CURRENT expense to leave Afghanistan. The question is what price we'll pay if we permit it to default back into Taliban control, or become a puppet state of Pakistan again (which is what the Taliban actually represent). And there's just no way to know the answer to that. The problem is that the US people have not been put on a "war footing" in their minds. They are not prepared to sacrifice in order to protect the country. I know that the whole "war on terror" is controversial, but I still see the significant threat that exists and believe that we have to either "incentivize", and/or assist, those people who are just as threatened by militants to defend themselves and shape a more positive future for their children. I think of the economic damages from some militant/terrorist faction gaining access to biological, or nuclear tech and using it against us. Either would have long-term political and economic repercussions that far outstrip the current financial outlays. Besides, the military budget is not the biggest problem. That lies with the current entitlement system that seems to be ever growing and becoming entrenched in our social expectations. Government spending without ROI is the primary problem that I see. Handouts that merely sustain people in meager existence, and not investment in their future skills and education, so that they can become productive and earn a fair living. Hawk