FWIW, a "statistics stew". I was sorting through articles, mostly from Information Clearing House, wanting to write something provocative before Obama gives his Tuesday Afghanistan War address. I think this random collection of statistics sums up things better than I could put into words:

THE HUNGER CRISIS:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24016.htm

In the next 60 seconds, 10 children will die of hunger

For the first time in humanity, over 1 billion people are chronically hungry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report Monday stating that in 2008 one in six households in the U.S. was “food insecure,” the highest number since the figures were first gathered in 1995.

The reason people go hungry is because of poverty.

Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, … has estimated that it would take $44 billion per year to end hunger globally …

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24005.htm (American Hunger)

nearly 50 million people — including almost one child in four — struggled last year to get enough to eat

In 2008, nearly 17 million children, or 22.5 percent, lived in households in which food at times was scarce — 4 million children more than the year before.

the number of youngsters who sometimes were outright hungry rose from nearly 700,000 to almost 1.1 million

Among Americans of all ages, more than 16 percent — or 49 million people — sometimes ran short of nutritious food, compared with about 12 percent the year before.

most families in which food is scarce contain at least one adult with a full-time job

Last year, people in 4.8 million households used private food pantries, compared with 3.9 million in 2007, while people in about 625,000 households resorted to soup kitchens, nearly 90,000 more than the year before.

Food shortages… are particularly pronounced among women raising children alone. Last year, more than one in three single mothers reported that they struggled for food, and more than one in seven said that someone in their home had been hungry

people who are black or Hispanic were more than twice as likely as whites to report that food in their home was scarce

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24029.htm

Wall Street will have eliminated 35,000 jobs by the end of this year

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24029.htm

Given that total revenues from individual federal income taxes amount to $904 billion, 40 cents out of every dollar paid by US taxpayers is going to service the debt

CRISIS WITH THE TROOPS:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24077.htm

Some of our war fighters will be in their fourth or fifth tour of duty in combat zones

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23992.htm

American military’s inculcated operations — has resulted in over 43,000 troops that are reportedly classified as ‘non-deployable for medical reasons’

Every day, on average, 18 American veterans reportedly commit suicide.

130,000 veterans that are homeless, and twice that number will experience homelessness for part of the year.

over 2,200 U.S. veterans died in 2008 because they didn’t have health insurance

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/iraq-as-actor-and-stakeholder#more-1558
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/afghanistan-war-resister-to-put-the-war-on-trial#more-1550
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23458.htm

Army Desertion was nearly 4,700 in 2007. (the highest rate in 27 years)

The Stop-Loss program (a program used to keep soldiers enlisted beyond the terms of their contracts) has affected over 185,000 soldiers since Sept. 11, 2001.

Between 2003 and 2007 there was an 80% increase in overall desertion rates in the army.

8,000 soldiers in Iraq have rap sheets. Standards have profoundly dropped. (Skinheads have been recruited. People with serious medical issues.)

Alcohol and drug abuse have spiked among the military, along with mental problems. The highest rate of suicide has been reached within the Army since records started being kept 3 decades ago. Suicides are up 31% in the first 6 months of 2009 against that same period in 2008.

38% of all army personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan have served multiple tours of duty.

By October 2007, the army reported that approximately 12% of all combat troops in Iraq were coping by using antidepressants and/or sleeping pills (psychotropic drugs).

The Rand Corporation released a study in April 2005. Nearly 20% of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, 300,000, report symptoms of PTSD or major depression. Most don’t seek treatment.

Sexism is rampant in the military. (sexual assaults are common)

For every soldier killed, it is estimated that 8 are wounded. (ratio in Vietnam was one killed to three wounded)

The two wars have cost the U.S. 5,000 American lives

Military contractors are paid 10X more than military personnel. They do not have to abide by UCMJ or International Law.

WALL STREET PIGS AT THE TROUGH:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24029.htm

profits on Wall Street will set a new record in 2009, with its four largest investment firms―Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase―having already earned $22.5 billion in the first nine months of the year

bonuses paid at six of the top bankholding companies―Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo―are likely to top their 2007 record of $162 billion

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY FOR THE WAR, BIG OIL, CARPETBAGGING CONTRACTORS AND EVEN THE TALIBAN:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24077.htm

The cost of the war there [Afghanistan] could top a trillion dollars over the next 10 years.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24064.htm

… the estimated $1 million per year per new soldier (not to mention private contractors)

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24016.htm

According to the Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation, the U.S. has spent on average about $265 million per day in Afghanistan since the invasion of that country in 2001.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23992.htm

The fact that Exxon-Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell have gotten development awards to plunder Iraq’s oil, …

Major American and other transnational energy conglomerates are gaining control over some of the largest oilfields in the world as a result of the Iraq war

… an influential former American Ambassador to the Kurdish regional government that has played a major role in shaping the Iraq war, stands to reap a hundred million or more dollars in oil profits.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23955.htm

US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the Pentagon’s logistics contracts–hundreds of millions of dollars–consists of payments to insurgents. "The Army is basically paying the Taliban not to shoot at them. It is Department of Defense money." That is something everyone seems to agree on.

Moving ten trucks, it is probably $800 per truck to move through an area.

One major hauler in Afghanistan, Afghan International Trucking (AIT), paid $20,000 a month in kickbacks to a US Army contracting official, according to the official’s plea agreement in US court in August.

The American trucking official told me that Ruhullah "charges $1,500 per truck to go to Kandahar. Just 300 kilometers."

NCL sends its portion of US logistics goods in Watan’s and Ruhullah’s convoys. Sources say NCL is billed $500,000 per month for Watan’s services. To underline the point: NCL, operating on a $360 million contract from the US military, and owned by the Afghan defense minister’s son, is paying millions per year from those funds to a company owned by President Karzai’s cousins, for protection.

Rachel Maddow sometimes calls it "an ethical freakshow of a universe." Hard to argue running down this list.