I realized that the talking point "shared sacrifices" was being heard more and more lately. Our president used it, governors of both parties use it, and they usually mean that we are in for some pain. By we, I mean us, the regular people of the country. It is understood that we will share the greater part of the pain, not the billionaires who keep getting richer.
It's kind of the main buzz word now in the realm of politics. A
search at Google brings up many pages using the term "shared sacrifices."
Pardon my resentment that I am being asked to sacrifice while we are giving tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans. And pardon my anger when I find out that the monster embassy in Baghdad is not the only one we are building.
From the Christian Science Monitor in May of last year:
US to spend $1 billion on embassy expansions in Pakistan, AfghanistanIslamabad
The US is embarking on a $1 billion crash program to expand its diplomatic presence in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, another sign that the Obama administration is making a costly, long-term commitment to war-torn South Asia, US officials said Wednesday.
The White House has asked Congress for – and seems likely to receive – $736 million to build a new US embassy in Islamabad, along with permanent housing for US government civilians and new office space in the Pakistani capital. The scale of the projects rivals the giant US Embassy in Baghdad, which was completed last year after construction delays at a cost of $740 million.
..."Other major projects are planned for Kabul, Afghanistan; and for the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Peshawar. In Peshawar, the US government is negotiating the purchase of a five-star hotel that would house a new US consulate.
Funds for the projects are included in a 2009 supplemental spending bill that the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed in slightly different forms.
And from Mother Jones and TomDispatch (which has been banned at the WH):
The Stimulus Package in KabulI was delusional—I thought one monster “embassy” was the end of it.
— By Tom EngelhardtMe, too, Mr. Engelhardt. Call me delusional also.
This story first appeared on the TomDispatch website.
You must have had a moment when you thought to yourself: It really isn't going to end, is it? Not ever. Rationally, you know perfectly well that whatever your "it" might be will indeed end, because everything does, but your gut tells you something different.
I had that moment recently when it came to the American way of war. In the past couple of weeks, it could have been triggered by an endless string of ill-attended news reports like the Christian Science Monitor piece headlined "US involvement in Yemen edging toward 'clandestine war.'" Or by the millions of dollars in US payments reportedly missing in Afghanistan, thanks to under-the-table or unrecorded handouts in unknown amounts to Afghan civilian government employees (as well as Afghan security forces, private-security contractors, and even the Taliban). Or how about the news that the F-35 "Joint Strike Fighter," the cost-overrun poster weapon of the century, already long overdue, will cost yet more money and be produced even less quickly?
...."The Largest "Embassy" on Planet Earth
Strange are the ways, though. You just can't predict what's going to set you off. For me, it was none of the above, nor even the flood of Republican war hawks heading for Washington eager to "cut" government spending by "boosting" the Pentagon budget. Instead, it was a story that slipped out as the midterm election results were coming in and was treated as an event of no importance in the US
The Associated Press covered US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry's announcement that a $511 million contract had been awarded to Caddell Construction, one of America's "largest construction and engineering groups," for a massive expansion of the US embassy in Kabul. According to the ambassador, that embassy is already "the largest... in the world with more than 1,100 brave and dedicated civilians... from 16 agencies and working next to their military counterparts in 30 provinces," and yet it seems it's still not large enough.
And oddly enough, the firm that built the embassy in Baghdad doesn't even mention it on its website.
From McClatchy Newspapers last year:
Firm behind huge Iraq embassy doesn't want to talk about itThe new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has almost everything architects love to talk about: big money, high profile, controversy, historic significance, fascinating location.
So, what’s the reaction from the Kansas City firm involved in designing it? Nothing, really.
“Really, we’d rather you talked to our partner company,” said Carl Yaeger, president of Berger Devine Yaeger, which came up with the overall look for the largest, most expensive embassy perhaps in world history.
No comment, said that partner, the Berger Group of New Jersey.
Look on BDY’s Web site. There’s nary a mention of the project’s $700 million price tag and no photos of Marines raising the flag, although the State Department is listed as a past client.
Monster embassies, continuing wars on countries that are no threat to us.
So I don't want to talk about "shared sacrifices" which include programs like Social Security which enable seniors to have dignity. That is not a "shared sacrifice".
There is nothing shared about it.
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