WikiLeaks and War Spending

WikiLeaks and War Spending

That big sucking sound you don’t hear? That’s the war—spending that’s getting away with murder.

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Last week we spoke to Ethan McCord, who featured prominently in the first bombshell release from WikiLeaks. On Friday there came another massive revelation, documents confirming all our worst suspicions about the Iraq war.

Iraq Veterans Against the War, of which McCord is a member, said "We believe that real national security is created where government transparency and accountability, free press, and an end to spending on illegal wars and occupations are the norm."

The free press failed this weekend, with the Sunday talk shows ignoring the Iraq War Logs in order to talk horse race strategy for the upcoming elections.

Wouldn’t you think this would be an election issue? After all, "spending on illegal wars" is what took us from surplus to deficit, helped create the situation in which we find ourselves today, with infrastructure crumbling, Tea Party candidates calling for Social Security cuts and overturning health care.

You’d think savvy Dems like Joe Biden and Tim Kaine would pounce on this opportunity to remind Americans who supported the Iraq war and its connections to our current problems.

But no. The Tea Party tall story is the only one out that’s out there. In the absence of any other explanation for why a country should go from rich to broke and its people get split into super rich and destitute, it must be big government’s spent too much on poor people and immigrants and crony corporate bureaucrats and bailouts.

That big sucking sound you don’t hear? That’s the war—spending that’s getting away with murder.

The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Support us by signing up for our podcast, and follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.

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