Newton board of aldermen endorse 25 percent cut in military budget

The resolution passed by the Board states that “our country is in need of good governance, and its bloated military budget is an example of endemic poor governance,” and that “the military budget is much larger than is necessary for the legitimate defense needs of the nation.” It “endorses the goal of using the reduction in military spending to fund programs to meet the needs of the people of Newton and of the United States…and the needs of returning armed forces personnel and veterans.” The Board will send letters containing the resolution to the President of the United States and to the Massachusetts Congressional delegation. Newton Dialogues hopes that the resolution will encourage other representatives and senators to join with Congressman Frank in pursuing this common-sense measure.

The number of our external enemies who can be effectively combated or even deterred by nuclear weapons, naval battleships and stealth bombers has dropped to zero. Yet today the United States continues to spend as much on its military as the rest of the world combined.

While some in Congress try to block health care legislation on the grounds that it might cost a trillion dollars over ten years, the same Congress routinely passes a military budget of nearly a trillion dollars every year. To the detriment of our reputation abroad, the U.S. maintains 800 military bases all over the world. American invasions and sustained military occupations of some of the poorest countries in the world accomplish nothing positive to recommend them, but they do contribute toward the diminishing of both our Treasury and our moral stature. Our government has thus far spent nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars on Afghanistan, insisting that our safety requires partnership with an Afghan president, “whose confidants and chief advisers comprise drug lords…who mock our own rule of law and counternarcotics efforts,” as pointed out by Matthew P. Hoh, a State Department political officer who recently resigned from his posting to Afghanistan, having “lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States’ presence” there.

The Board of Aldermen’s vote in favor of the resolution to cut military spending was close, 13-10. Those who spoke against it indicated that as a local governing body, the Board should not concern itself with national issues. Alderman Ted Hess-Mahan disagreed, quoting the popular maxim, “Think globally, act locally.” He is right, because this particular issue impacts all of us in Newton along with all of us in the country, and indeed in the world.

Jerry Manning, of Newton, is a member of Newton Dialogues on Peace and War, a local antiwar group.