To the Editor:

Enough of the violence already!

Assault weapons killing children here at home is a horror. But it’s also a horror when U.S. drone strikes kill innocent men, women and children in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Can we ever feel the pain of those children?

The U.S. proclivity toward every problem needing a violent solution has led our nation to an military empire of more than 800 bases around the world. Our occupation in Afghanistan is costing us $8 billion a month. Secretary of Defense Panetta went to Afghanistan in mid-December and told U.S. troops that even after a so-called “pullout” in 2014 that we’d have an “enduring presence” there for a very long time. Much like our 65 year enduring presence in Korea, Japan, and Europe.

It’s a profitable “business” for some.

Here at home, mental health programs are being defunded, as are so many other important programs of infrastructure repair and social uplift. Martin Luther King said that America has approached a “spiritual death” because of our violence and neglect of the “least of these.”

The austerity budget is ready to push the poor and working class over the fiscal cliff but the endless war budget will just get a gentle trimming.

Until America recognizes its addiction to violence at home and abroad expect more sad episodes like Sandy Hook to be in our future.

Bruce K. Gagnon
Bath