War is a Racket

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. ” – Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States, 1961

It seems like the United States occupation of Afghanistan is coming mostly to an end. The USA officially invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and will withdraw most combat personnel in 2021. The American public, along with the rest of the world, is coming to terms with the extensive political, economic, and psychological costs of this conflict. Take a long rip of your smokeable of choice or a big swig of piss beer and continue reading if you want help grasping the costs of this bloodshed. Or not and stay in ignorance, the true American way. It’s your life.

$2.2 trillion. That’s how much this conflict is estimated to have costed the American people as of April 2021. This includes spending by the Department of Defense, Secretary of State, paying veterans benefits, and interest so far on borrowing this money. On top of this, the United States has committed to pay in health care, disability, burial and other costs for roughly 4 million Afghanistan and Iraq veterans to the tune of $1.6 to $1.8 trillion. Interest from money borrowed will continue to rise throughout the century with the peak being around 2050, where it’ll be an estimated $6 trillion.

The actual human cost of this arduous war is unclear, however we can say with certainty that at least 6000 American citizens lost their lives in this conflict. The numbers become staggering when considering the Afghan human cost of our occupation. At least 66,000 Afghan military troops and police lost their lives, 47,000 civilians, and 51,000 opposition fighters (presumably Taliban and other groups) also paid the ultimate price.

To put this in perspective, World War 2 had a human cost of 35 million to 60 million from both the axis and allies. The monetary cost of this conflict is pegged at about $1 trillion worldwide although this cost certainly does not represent the generational hardships of nearly 21 million refugees displaced by the second war to end all wars.

What baffles me is the cost of killing represented in the Afghanistan conflict. Every death of an Afghan opposition fighter comes to about $43 MILLION if you take the $2.2 trillion number. In WW2 every death of an axis fighter (which is around 7.66 million) cost the allies $131,000. Wowie, where is all this money going?

So….I have to preface this with it’s really hard to determine where these dollars went. The fact that the Department of Defense has never passed an audit (could also say never been audited?) is astonishing. Every other American citizen, business, company, governmental department has to go through this financial process to determine they aren’t committing fraud. To me, this stinks like poop. Poop that’s been left in the toilet, continues to pile up, and hasn’t been flushed for 60 years. The American people have been conned out of their tax dollars for decades at the behest of politicians on both sides of the aisle.

Okay so who is actually profiting? The American government doesn’t really produce many goods on their own so everything is developed and produced by

private industry and bought by government agencies. Guns, boots, training simulations (the original purpose of Call of Duty), sunglasses, missiles, food, toilets, the list goes on. This is the Military Industrial Complex. Here’s some numbers representing defense revenue from government contracts in 2018: Lockheed Martin made $44.9 billion, Boeing made $26.9 billion, Raytheon made $23.8 billion, Northrop Grumman made $22.3 billion, General Electric made $3.8 billion. Check this out, even Starbucks, KFC, and Taco Bell made $1.45 million from the military opening franchises in Guantanamo Bay around 2010. Shoot me please this is freaking ridiculous.

And you know what? You could benefit from armed conflict too. You could bathe in the blood money of countless humans, animals, and plants destroyed by the literal pursuit of profit over life. Just go and work for any company I’ ve mentioned. Or here, I’ll list them again and a few more: Honeywell, Northrop Grumman, Triple Canopy (Formerly Blackwater), Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing, or any company that has taken money for death. These are the devils of our world and will continue to be a cancer to society until we vanquish them with a silver blade. I have friends who have gone on to work for some of these companies. It’s hard to call these people my friends anymore, but they ’re just trying to live in our ruthless capitalist hellscape. Not their fault right? After all, Nazi commanders and troops were just following orders right?? The real blame must be placed on the executives of these companies and those who enable them. I know this, I hope I’ll be there to cut the heads off their fucking disgusting ugly bodies. Thanks for reading.

For All Time,

Conor Crennell

P.S. Here are my sources for figures and facts referenced. Go ahead and check them and tell me I’m wrong. Bet you won’t.

Afghan war human and monetary costs: https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/figures/2021/Human%20and%20 Budgetary%20Costs%20of%20Afghan%20War%2C%202001-2021.pdf https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/cost-afghanistan-war-lives-dollars-7 8802965

WW2 human and monetary costs: https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II/Human-and-material-cost https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II/Costs-of-the-war#ref53608

Defense contractor revenue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List _ of _ defense _ contractors#List _ of _ defense _ cont ractors _ by_ arm _ sales

TACO BELL, STARBUCKS, AND KFC FOR WAR CRIMINALS: https://www.eater.com/2010/6/9/6730541/the-military-spent-1-45-million-opening -a-starbucks-and-a-kfc-taco