While our sanctions were effective but our soldiers were sent to war to keep Kuwait royalty, our Arabic allies plus our oil and top weapons companies profit.

The losers of war that pay are soldiers, with taxpayers defraying the financial costs of our 1980s wars and our newest war or “threat.”

Our royal Arabian allies such as rich Kuwait’s royal youth wait out the war dancing in Egypt’s discotheques. Kuwait royalty gained nearly an extra $40 billion in oil revenues.

However, the United States-protected kingdom’s workers without royal blood remain for the war.

The pre-war foreign workers left in Kuwait, who once had migrated from Jordan or Turkey as foreign, oil-well technicians, now flee back to their native nations returning penniless.

None of this labor force was protected as Kuwaiti royalty.

Similarly it is doubtful non-democratic Kuwait or despotic Saudi kings or other royalty there or the wealthy of any nation enlist much in the battle.

Even our scion general of WWII brought another to suffer the long march. War hides our dire, domestic problems, enriches the main weapons and oil companies.

“Public Citizen” says the war can total $260 billion. And even if rich, despotic Arabia, or perhaps Japan and Germany who did not ask us to “protect” either Saudi Arabia or Kuwait—the White House stated reasons as shifting as the desert sands—do contribute some $50 billion for our U.S. declared war, we lose.

Who will pay? A Harvard economist suggests the president tax all Social Security benefits and raise by 40 percent the taxes on the well-paid.

Our nation becomes merely a military power but not economically powerful like Japan or Germany.

But with the Cold War ended, we need to convert to civilian production for economic power and a sound economy in order to conquer joblessness, provide more jobs than weapons production, and avoid wasting war fuel.

Laborers here, in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, or other kingdoms, are not safeguarded by war.

They can be soldiers, many of whom enlist for economic reasons; cast off like our federally ignored Agent Orange or nuclear-exposed soldiers; but most wealthy skip war costs.

B. Russell

Alumnus

Economics