Just how sick is our government?

Ten years ago Osama Bin Laden killed 3,000 innocent Americans. All of us were in shock. And then we took action. Unfortunately, almost all of our actions did nothing but compound the problems at home and abroad while vastly expanding the market for war profiteers.

We started our thinly disguised vengeance with massive bombing in Afghanistan, packaged as “shock and awe” entertainment. Then we bombed and invaded Iraq on the pretense of fear of weapons of mass destruction. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to show the world our total disregard of human rights by bragging about our waterboarding torture, rendition, and indefinite detention without charges.

Osama, in his wildest fantasies could not have imagined a better result from his evil act. He’s not only gone now but all of his dirty planning and plotting for these past six years are now in our possession. We could double the hundreds of thousands of troops and mercenaries already deployed and we still would probably not have as much information about al-Qaida as was gathered by our Navy Seals in a few hours.

If we can’t bring this war to an end right now our real motivation will be clear to all thinking people. Our sickness: we thrive on war and fear peace. Now we will learn how sick we really are. Republicans have made Medicare — not war — the target of draconian budget cuts. They strongly favor continuing, even expanding, the military and defense budgets, yet they want to pay for war by denying seniors Medicare.

Polls continue to show that over 70 percent of Americans want us out of Afghanistan and Iraq. Similarly, a large majority of Americans want to preserve Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Is our government so sick that the clear will of we the people doesn’t matter?

Frank Goetz

Wheaton