Ho Chi Minh said, early on in our military involvement, that we would kill 10 of his soldiers for every one of ours that died, and we would give up because we would not stand for that level of casualties. The ratio between our casualty level and theirs was never that high. At a meeting in Hawaii, a Marine general presented an intelligence report that was a compilation of data from the CIA and from military intelligence sources. Attending the meeting were Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and several top officials from the Department of Defense and the Pentagon. The report was brief, in terms of the normal length of military intelligence briefings. It indicated the pool of available soldiers for North Vietnam was about four million. McNamara was always a whiz with numbers, so he would not have needed a calculator to grasp the significance of that figure. It meant that, given the Pentagon estimate of two of their soldiers killed for every one of ours, and given that some of the casualties on our side would be allied soldiers rather than Americans, it would take more than 300,000 Americans killed to reduce the North’s pool by 20% (which was not likely to affect their willingness or ability to wage war). He knew the American public would never stand for that level of casualties. That meant that the war of attrition, which was the Defense Department’s strategy, was not going to work and would ultimately result for the U.S. That briefing was given in January 1966. It was many years and many casualties later before we finally pulled out. President Johnson and later President Nixon ran the war based on a strategy that the facts indicated would not succeed. They ignored that information because they believed that action based on that data would be contrary to what they wanted.

The decision to attack Iraq was made shortly after 9-11 (maybe before?) and that decision was made before the evidence was examined. The Bush administration used documents that supposedly showed Iraq was trying to purchase uranium from Niger to show that Iraq was developing nuclear weapons. In fact, the documents in question were forwarded to the U.S. intelligence community by the British, who said they believed the documents were fake. They were, indeed, fake, but the Bush people ignored that evidence.  Colin Powell presented satellite photos to the U.N. that he claimed showed a mobile bio-weapons lab. The vehicle in question was actually a fire truck. Any evidence that indicated a war with Iraq was not necessary was simply shoved aside. The administration also claimed (and Dick Cheney still claims) that Iraq had close ties to al-Qaeda. That is just nonsense. These claims have been made by people who allow their ideology to drive their perception of reality. If the facts do not fit their pre-conceived notions, then the facts must be wrong. It is a blind and dangerous approach to foreign policy, or any other policy.

     In the past, communicating has always been a problem because it involved a great deal of effort – especially if the distances were vast. In the past, it was a labour to send a message overseas, occasionally taking months to be delivered; however, a person with a computer today would only take a moment to do the same thing. Today, with the development of email and instant messaging, people are now communicating effortlessly with each other. In an instant message, people have developed new ways to write and express their ideas which allows them to be more efficient.

     Communication in computers has not only changed speed and efficiency of writing, but also the quality. There has been an improvement in neatness, grammar, spelling, word-use in many word-processed essays. “[People] with word-processing experience exhibit an editing style that is characteristic of better writers,” says Richard Pearce. It seems the handy tool has not only extended the complexity of written work, but also gives idea-generating prompts and increase “maturity” in the work as well. Yet, some people believe it is the complete opposite. They consider computers as negative things that eliminate discipline and create simpler writers. Former Secretary of Defence, Robert McNamara believes otherwise, “A computer does not substitute for judgment any more than a pencil substitutes for literacy. But writing without a pencil is no particular advantage.” In fact, many people create astonishing works all from writing with a computer.

     In another revolutionizing development, the computer has aided the advancement of business, science, and research. In business, companies depend on the computer to get tasks done and frequently update everyone with crucial information. A sprout of growth in science occurred as well, especially space exploration. In fact, the study of space and the world around us would not be possible without computers!  Just think, using a computer would quicken so many labouring calculations, search through many research papers, or conduct a lab experiment with a click of a mouse. The invention of the computer is an amazing benefit to modern science; it’s basically a worldwide access of data right at the scientist’s fingertips!

     Computers really have changed our society, the immense amount of positive effects are countless! In addition, communication with computers has revolutionized the world into a better place that is constantly benefiting people. No wonder people believe the twenty first century is fast-forwarding, and ever-changing!

Well some are abducted and some are sold.The world is filled with many small impoverished villages where parents sell their children into the industry for a fee. The children are then taken on as indentured servants who never see a penny of the money they make from selling their bodies-it all contributes to their “debt”. Some of these children have more than thirty clients a day. Over a third of these child prostitutes have tested positive for HIV/AIDS. Many become pregnant and are forced to have abortions.The girls are usually locked into the brothels and forced to live with multiple girls in one room. Those who run these “homes” confiscate the girl’s traveling documents to obtain them. The girls are also often beaten if a customer complains(or if they do it themselves). In some instances the girls(and boys) were drugged. Many girls are lured by fake modeling agencies promising them money and a glamorous lifestyle. They often auction off the girls who are virgins-the rates can raise well into thousands and millions of dollars! If the brothels are tipped to agencies they often try to intervene.However, how can you get someone when they are forced into an international business of trafficking?That is the point, that they are often on the move from country to country to keep from getting caught; the women are rotated to keep the agencies off their trail. 

The organized sex industry began in the early seventies. In 1971 the Secretary of Defense,Robert McNamara, recommended that Thailand find a way to bring in tourism to pay the countries debts to the World Bank for loans they had taken out for agricultural development. Robert McNamara was also the head of the very same World Bank. His contribution to the economic initiatives for the country led to a $4 billion dollar per year sex industry. As others saw the success of the sex industry, they too decided to cut in on the action. The industry as a result, spread to South Korea, the Philippines,and Cambodia to say the least. However, the industry ventures out not only internationally but locally with airlines, tourist groups,hotels,banks and bars within each country. It is a collaboration of businesses that make this industry flourish. There are even tours of brothel areas in countries such as Thailand-where business men and tourists are taken. Those who run the airlines, hotels, and bars often tip off the sex traders of girls who are traveling alone and look like a safe bet to abduct into the industry. Robert McNamara’s suggestion to make economic initiatives has taken the sex traffic industry to be exactly that. It is a commodity, it is a business, it is about money-and women are the  product. We are not immune. Bombay and Bangkok’s $8 million industry has San Fransisco as one of it’s most largest commercial centers. As I mentioned we ,Americans, take part in these endeavors as well. The Central Intelligence Agency revealed that 14,500 to 17,500 human trafficking victims are passed through the United States a year. This number may be shocking and doubtful but they were based of off 1500 different sources. Some say that this trade will surpass drug and gun trafficking in the years to come.In 2001, a report stated that Asian women were sold for $16000 each! You may say that is a lot-but the truth is that there is no price to put on a woman’s life. This is what sex slavery truly is- it is real and it is right here.

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To see:

Modern Slavery:Part 1

http://www.socyberty.com/Issues/Modern-Slavery-Part-1.873817

Modern Slavery:Part 2

http://www.socyberty.com/Issues/Modern-Slavery-Part-2.875383