Did I Miss Something?

I admit, I have sort of been focused on domestic issues lately. I mean things are awfully bad here in the US. Our wealth as a nation has declined by 50 percent in a matter of months, and many Americans are out of work. Those of us who are lucky enough to have kept our jobs, find ourselves at the mercy of our employers, when wage and hiring freezes are suggested, we agree wholeheartedly to sacrifice for the good of the company. The pressure of competing in this market is intense, all of our competitors are trying to get a bigger piece of the same pie, actually a smaller pie, since consumers are trying to put money back into savings that they now no longer have. If we have survived the latest rounds of lay-offs, we go into work the next day feeling grateful, and willing to do anything to remain among the employed, which creates this Darwinian mentality in the workplace.

So, today I opened my e-mail, and read this newsletter from Naomi Klein. I was never one of those people who go down to the World Bank to protest some G-7 summit, I usually had to work that day. I'm not anti-capital markets, but I do believe that Naomi Klein is pretty sharp, and I do think that regular tax-payers, regular workers, have gotten some pretty raw deals in the past couple of decades, and not just from Republicans, some raw deals we have received courtesy of the very Democrats we have elected.

Ooops..I'm starting to rant.

What I was trying to say, was that the newsletter from Naomi Klein contained a link to Jeremy Scahill's blog, and some astounding reports about bombing attacks inside Pakistan. I guess, I really didn't know this before today, but I guess we are sending un-manned missiles into Pakistan, and blowing up people. I would have thought, forgive me for my ignorance, but I would have thought that sending missiles into a foreign country would be considered an act of war, and as far as I know, we have not declared war on Pakistan.

Did I miss some new declaration of war?

It must be so, because according to Jeremy Scahill, we have bombed Pakistan 14 times this year.

As we have previously reported, in just the first 99 days of 2009, US drone airstrikes against Pakistan have killed 152 people, averaging 38 killings per month and 11 killings per attack, according to the Pakistani government. Pakistani officials say three were carried out in January, killing 30 people, two in February killing 55 people, five in March killing 36 people and four were conducted in the first nine days of April, killing 31 people. Moreover, the government says that since 2006, the strikes have killed only 14 “al Qaeda” leaders but have taken the lives of nearly 700 civilians.

How can you bomb another country so many times without it being called a war? Or let me ask this question. How can you bomb a country that many times without a formal declaration of war? Why are wars allowed to begin in secret, without debate, without Congressional approval, and without the consent of the citizens?

We're not up for a war with Pakistan, I'm no military expert, but if we can't even win wars in impoverished countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, we have no business starting a war with Pakistan.

It is the very definition of insanity.

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