Statement on acts of war by the Executive by Chair of Foreign & Military Policy
Military Foreign Policy working group of Houston Peace and Justice Center condemns the attack on Syria as an unauthorized act of war by the Executive. The Constitutional responsibility is with Congress, they need to debate and approve all authorizations of military force. The heavy handed use of military force and widespread use of intervention into the affairs of other countries has been a dismal failure. Instability has fueled population dislocation, political destabilization, violence and bloodshed, environmental degradation, diminished prosperity and massive flows of refugees moving to safer regions.
We need a policy that relies on the exercise of “soft power” international cooperation. Our military budget is bloated with waste and corruption. We spend more than the rest of the world and can no longer afford it. We have the most expensive healthcare in the world with almost 30 million uninsured, with the number expected to greatly increase under President Trump’s plan. Our educational and environment protection systems are underfunded and rapidly deteriorating.
The Profits of the “Deep State” (1) have bled our country dry; every $1 million spent on building arms provides 11 jobs,(3) same amount spent in alternative energy 17 jobs and in Education 27 jobs and a terrible 5.6 jobs in Fossil Fuels which gets subsidies of $10Million per minute. (2).
We must stop destroying our youth by sending them to wars we start. 2015 cost to maintain each soldier is $99,000 and increasing to $170,000 by 2017 and $215,000 by 2030.(4)
Almost one million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have made disability claims with the VA.
We have approximately one veteran per every hour committing suicide. Today we deport veterans who have veterans burial rights in the US. So the live body gets deported and the dead body can be returned for VA paid burial and tombstone!
(1) deep state” interchangeably with the bureaucracies of the military and spy agencies, especially those bits that leak against the government
(3) https://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/publications/Milex_Jobs_Fact_Sheet_0212_Update.pdf
(4) http://blog.historians.org/2017/03/boots-ground-us-soldiers-strains-overseas-deployment/