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War is, by its very nature, bad for the economy. It produces nothing and destroys much. By definition, this is anti-economic behavior. Certainly there are opportunities to rebuild when war is over, but these can never justify to losses and costs.

A small segment of the population has long been able to exploit war for short-term profits. Thomas Paine complained in Rights of Man that the governments of Europe had frequently generated war to justify taxes. President Eisenhower in his farewell address warned of the dangers of the Military-Industrial Complex. Today, Dick Cheney's firm, Halliburton, and the oil giants seem to be profiting at the loss of US service people and the citizens of Iraq.

Aggressive war is a violation of treaties promoted by the US at the end of WWII, Nuremberg, Geneva, and the UN Charter. When we hold the criminals accountable for this misbehavior, it will be time for a Truth & Reconciliation Commission on Complicity in War Profiteering. If we dig deep enough, each of us who buys the oil they fight over must take some responsibility.

Imagine all the good we could accomplish if the US weren't spending more money than any government in history on military, more than twice all our potential enemies combined. Besides solving more of our own problems, we could generate goodness all over the planet, following Lincoln's advise on the elimination of enemies by converting them to friends.

Learn more about this author, Vernon Huffman.
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