The Hightower Report

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Our Own Worst Enemy

An ancient aphorism of war declares: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Well, what if you arm your "friend" to fight your enemies, but the "friend" later turns on you, using the weapons you provided -- are you then your own enemy? Or are you just bone-deep stupid?

This is no rhetorical question, because, for the past 20 years or so, America has been the biggest arms dealer in the world, supplying weapons to practically anyone and everyone who has the money -- or to anyone whose "friendship" is deemed by Washington to be temporarily convenient. These alliances of convenience often turn around and bite us on the butt.

When our troops went after Osama bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan, for example, they were fired at with made-in-the-USA stinger missiles, supplied to Taliban leaders by Ronald Reagan and Bush the First when the Taliban was our "friend" fighting our enemy, Russia, which is now our "friend."

And what a scream it is to hear Bush the Second wailing that our worst enemy is now Saddam Hussein, the evildoer who is so horrific that he's used chemical weapons. The irony is that it was the U.S., under Reagan and Daddy Bush, who provided the chemicals back when they considered Saddam our "friend."

Then there's Pakistan, who's our "friend" today, getting more than a billion dollars a year in U.S. military aid, even though its ruler is a vicious military dictator whom only a few months ago was denounced by the White House as an anti-democracy fiend. But, as one expert noted, "In the past 20 years, Pakistan was our friend, then our enemy, friend, enemy, friend." How long before the next flip, turning on us with the weapons we're now shipping to them?

The U.S. sells more arms than the next nine arms dealers combined, all to profit a few corporate munitions makers -- even though our own troops often end up paying the price. To help stop this careless proliferation, call Peace Action at 202/862-9740.

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Whacking the Children

If you want to see your future under President George W., just look at Texas. When he was governor, George W. slashed taxes, wildly miscalculated future revenues, and left such a fiscal mess that the state now can't meet its basic responsibilities.

The existing state budget already is one so miserly in its service to people that it would cause Scrooge to smile. But, because of the collapsing economy, the Legislature is $10 billion short of having the funds to finance miserliness, so they're proposing to move down to mingy (a cross between mean and stingy).

The state's clueless governor and other so-called "leaders" have responded to this budget crisis not with a plan, but a sledgehammer, demanding that every agency give up 12.5% of its existing budget, as though that'll magically make the state's problems go away.

They see the budget as numbers rather than people -- people like Daniel Wiederhold, a 10-year-old boy from Round Rock who has debilitating osteogenesis and is consequently unable to walk. The budget whacking threatens to eliminate funds that allow him to live at home and be cared for by his family -- instead sending him to an institution.

The governor's health commissioner has proposed budget cuts that, he admits, would cut off half the sick children like Daniel who're now served by the Children's Health Insurance Program. That's 250,000 children -- adios, amigos.

The governor's education chief proposed to eliminate the purchase of new textbooks and teaching materials for social studies, world history, prekindergarten, and other courses defined as "nonessential." He also says his agency won't have the funds to prepare every student for the mandatory state test that determines whether they get promoted.

Some of the richest people on Earth live in Texas, yet they pay no income tax and very little other taxes to the state. But instead of even considering taxing such enormous wealth, our "leaders" will cut back on Daniel Wiederhold and thousands of other children.