As the first few days of 2012 slide by, there is very little indication that the new year will bring much relief from the political tensions and turmoils that embroil humanity from one side of the globe to the other.   The simmering tensions between the religious sects in Iraq continue to  heat up, the war between the Taliban and the government forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to be  more explosive and destructive than ever, the much sought-after political reforms in Egypt, Libya and Bahrain continue to be elusive, and …

On Friday, October 7, the United States reached  grim milestone. This date marked the ten year anniversary of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan.  During this period of time over 1,700 American service men and women have been killed,  thousands more have been wounded and maimed, and the cost to the taxpayers has exceeded one trillion dollars.  In addition to American losses, tens of thousands of Afghan men, women and children have met their demise.  U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan has now exceeded the ten year involvement in the War in …

After almost ten years of  U.S.  involvement in Afghanistan,  the American people have almost nothing to show for their spent treasure,  spilled blood, and thousands of disabled sons and daughters.  Not only is the war against  the Taliban insurgents going badly, but the entire Afghan economy has become totally dependent on the billions of dollars of military spending, combined with billions more in civilian economic assistance.   In fact, The World Bank has estimated that 97 percent of Afghanistan’s anemic economic output is from spending related to the international military and …