Let's Get Loud!

Commentary by Ron Washington, native Chicagoan living in Las Vegas, disabled Marine Corps combat veteran, business owner (Premiers Secours), and proud NU grad. Son of Bernadine C. Washington, former WVON GM, who inspired his love for writing.

The war headlines are always absent two main stories: 1) actual death accounts, not only of military casualties but civilians; men, women and children, and 2) the cost of waging war, tax payer money that should be invested elsewhere for and with our fellow citizens in need. 

You may remember the war in Yemen that we engaged in ten years ago against the Iranians and their buddies the Houthi’s? My guess is that most of us won’t remember, and this is one major problem. We have a short memory. The under reported facts about that war reveal that the U.S. lost a significant number of a weapon called the MQ-9 Reaper drone which cost about $30 million each, and the United States lost two F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter planes, at $67 million each. You probably didn’t hear this did you? You need to look deep for these facts, facts most of us don’t have time to be concerned about because we are so distracted. That war, which accomplished nothing, cost tax payers an estimated $8 billion dollars and this war was not the most expensive either.

Can you imagine how many homeless and other underserved families could have benefited from that $8 billion? How many hungry children and their families could have been fed? How many schools could have used that money for improvements? How many struggling small businesses including struggling farmers could have been served . . . and the list goes on. This war as with others cost not only lives but wastes valuable money at the expense of all of us, the tax paying citizens of this country and they spend our money frivolously and we say or do nothing about it. It’s time to speak up and the midterms are the megaphone. Let’s Get Loud!