As I read a story about a Marine Sergeant who was killed in Iraq last week, I remembered an article I wrote last year that claimed our country would soon be involved in another unwinnable war in the Middle East, but more importantly I had a sudden and enormous fear that our next president would send troops into Iraq once again. This forced me to sit and think about the most important policies our next president must support. I considered income inequality, the Constitution, and freedom and equality for all Americans regardless of race, sex, sexual preference, or religious preference; all of which are under attack from right-wing extremists.

After much thought, I came to a conclusion that beyond every other concern, two issues surpass the rest. The first is an issue almost all Americans can agree upon; no more wars.

The United States is the most warlike nation in the modern world. The sad truth is that we’re not very good at it. Since the Vietnam War our nation has lost every military involvement in which we participated. Tens of thousands of our finest young men and women have been slaughtered, and our economy is a disaster; and all of this is war-related.

The training of some our nation’s finest young minds at West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy is obsolete. Guerilla warfare is now the new battle ground. The old white men who run our military forces are relics of wars which are only memories.

Billions of dollars have been wasted building tanks which immediately go to storage facilities. The ‘fighter jet to end all fighter jets,’ the F-35 is a complete failure, but the Pentagon insists on honoring the contracts they have signed. The focus is completely misguided; our ‘Joint Chiefs of Staff’ are no longer military leaders, they have become politicians.

Accomplished diplomats who can inspire our nation’s allies to fight and defeat a common enemy are far more valuable than those who have stars and bars on their shoulders.

An equally important issue is the environment. Although an entire political party separates itself from the rest of the world and denies that climate change is caused by man, and profit must be a priority to clean air and water, this can no longer be allowed to continue.

All other issues will lack importance if our planet becomes inhabitable. The greatest concern is clean water, and immediately behind it is air quality.

Many Republicans would eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency if offered the opportunity. Their support of special interests would insure that the profits of corporations would be supported while the life of planet earth suffered its inevitable death.

So where do our 2016 presidential candidates stand on these issues? None of the Republican Party’s offerings believe in either issue. Trump and Cruz would both send tens of thousands of troops to the Middle East, and are in complete denial of climate change.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton vacillates about another military conflict in Iraq, but does support environmental constraints for the future of our nation and the planet.

Only Bernie Sanders is a strong advocate for both issues. He has stated that he would not send troops into ‘harm’s way’ once again. Today he denounced fracking; the most dangerous mining practice by big oil in history; calling for an end to the process which destroys underground water supplies and increases seismic activity.

Any candidate who does not address these issues cannot receive the votes of the American people. We can live in ‘the now,’ but only in our personal lives. Our nation and the countries of the world cannot exist if war is accepted as normal, and the destruction of our planet is acceptable as long as the profits of big business increase.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

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Photo Courtesy of DonkeyHotey

Novels by James Turnage are available on Amazon’s Kindle