And just about every representative in Congress is in cahoots. Lieberman wants his sub, the company that builds subs is in Conneticut. He is not unique. The Arms manufacturers make sure parts and supplies are spread over many Congressional Districts, especially those districts whose elected members are in the right Committees and have the seniority to push agendas. Even staunch liberal Democrats get into the act.

But, Bush has out done even the self serving Congress by pushing weapons systems into space and relauching the nuclear arms race with reformed atomic weapons.

"The supplementary budget to pay for the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not part of the official defense budget, is itself larger than the combined military budgets of Russia and China. Defense-related spending for fiscal 2008 will exceed $1 trillion for the first time in history. The United States has become the largest single salesman of arms and munitions to other nations on Earth. Leaving out of account President Bush's two on-going wars, defense spending has doubled since the mid-1990s. The defense budget for fiscal 2008 is the largest since World War II." ~ Chalmers Johnson

Chalmers Johnson, How to Sink America http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174884

What's the answer? How can we get to a rational defense budget, say half of what we now spend? It's the trillion dollar question and we had better find an answer quick.

Michael McKinlay

Hercules, CA

Under Bush leadership, everything is opposite to a common sense.

He declared that the NATO has to win in Afghanistan and we have to be victorious in Iraq.

Neither NATO nor we have any business in those Muslim countries.

Imagine how crazy it would be if the Muslim countries declared they need to occupy the USA and Great Britain in order to prevent some potential attacks on both them and us.

There was not a single Afghani or Iraqi or Iranian or Libyan or Palestinian terrorist involved in the 9/11 attacks.

Every one of them came from allegedly friendly countries.

We should pay far more attention where, why, when and how the terrorism was created, not where the terrorists have ended up.

We can not win by fighting the consequences, we have to deal with a source of the problem.

Kenan Porobic

Charlotte, NC

Indoctrinated from childhood to revere the military, the American people will not care about the great waste in military spending.

They stupidly equate patriotism with militarism. That has not yet led to Fascism but it certainly could.

Norman Ravitch

Savannah, Georgia