Oil Will Drive the U.S. to More Wars Unless America Changes

by Magnifico

The United States of America is the world's biggest military spender and allocates more on its war machine than any other nation in the world. The U.S. paid $661 billion to the armaments industry in 2009, a recession year, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). "This represented 43 percent of the total global spend, and was $47 billion higher than the 2008 U.S. expenditure, according to SIPRI." America has increased military spending by 63 precent since 2000, according to SIPRI. This increase has partially been driven by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes estimate the "budgetary and economic costs" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will now be "between $4 trillion and $6 trillion". An upwards revision of 25 percent in just two years. The U.S. has already spent $1 trillion in Iraq and "spending in Iraq and Afghanistan now comes to more than $3 billion weekly, making the wars a major reason for record-level budget deficits."

continued at Daily Kos....

EcoJustice: The best of grassroots in the Congo.

by rb137

In December, one of the HEAL Africa counselors was dispatched from Goma to Lubutu, a seven hour drive, to advocate for a woman that needed legal help. The woman was a patient in a hospital where a nurse raped her. She was poor and powerless to prosecute him without HEAL Africa's help.

When the counselor intervened, the hospital administration fired the nurse, and he was sorely indignant at losing his job. He had been well paid, so his family lost their standard of living. Tribal leaders in the local villages saw this as a grave injustice, and began to make dire threats. They threatened to kill the counselor, and they promised to band together and sabotage HEAL Africa's operations throughout the region.

continued at Daily Kos....

The Famine Of 2011

by Stranded Wind

 Thanksgiving of 2008 I published The Famine Of 2009. I was right about starvation, only partially right about the causes and conditions, and two years premature.

    I called my wheat farmer friend Bryan Lutter today to double check my thinking, and I'm really, really worried about what I see coming at us in 2011.

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EcoJustice: "What I do" and What it Means to be Ruined.

by rb137

My interest is in conflict resolution, and when I can, I volunteer my skills as an analyst and writer to help bloody circumstances in Democratic Republic of Congo. I've been writing about it a lot lately, because conflict minerals are getting some action in congress.

This is an EcoJustice issue because mineral rights are at the root of this horrible violence. And it's more than a regional war. It is a looming climate threat. Many ecology groups work to stop the conflict; the Dian Fossey Foundation was one of the first. The heart of Africa's ecology lives in the Congo basin, and it is threatened by the instability. Our industry empowers the warlords that destablize the country. As we put wealth and technology into their hands, their power to plunder increases.

But the violence and suffering does not make the whole story. There is hope and grassroots action taking the country to a new place. One of the groups behind this excellent work is my favorite NGO, HEAL Africa.

continued at Daily Kos....

What is Behind the War - Our Real Issue and What I Can Do

by Ellinorianne

We can argue all we want about why we fight but ultimately the issue comes down to resources and what is at stake it is the survival of us as a species and our place in the world.

Our hubris as a species has not only put us in peril but has systematically wiped out species after species due to habitat loss from our encroachment on their space because we just need more.  

Deforestation, desertification and urban sprawl is snatching up vital space and pushing out species at an alarming rate.

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EcoJustice: Action -- Help create conflict-free green technology.

by rb137

The Second Congo War, also called Africa's World War, killed 5 million people between 1998 and 2003. It was the largest war in Africa's history; it involved eight African nations and more than twenty armed militias. Although there was an agreement between the warring parties in 2003, the conflict continues in the eastrn region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It continues because of the metal mines that the armed groups fight to control.

There is an action item at the end of this diary that will certainly help save lives and impact suffering: The Senate Financial Overhaul Bill contains a provision that requires companies that use targeted metals to annually report where they buy them. The House Financial Services Committee is reviewing the Senate bill during the next two weeks.

We need to preserve that provision as a necessary first step in conflict relief. These metals are used in clean energy and green technology, as well as medicine and industry in the US across the board. Transparancy is key to resolving this war.

continued at Daily Kos....