SPOILS OF WAR: The Social and Health Costs of a War Economy

Description: When we discuss the atrocities of war, we usually limit our conversation to the readily apparent tragedies - loss of life, disability, collateral damage.  Rarely mentioned are the significant, long-reaching consequences of diverting human and fiscal resources from much needed social services to military spending.  More money spent on preparing for war means less money used towards addressing the problems of poverty, our education system, unemployment, public health, homelessness, and other socioeconomic and sociopolitical problems, which pose both immediate and long-term consequences for our society.  The burdens of war are not shared equitably across the economic, racial, and gender divisions in our society.  With past and current military spending closing in on approximately 50% of income tax dollars, what is the true immediate and long term cost of war to our societies?  How can we increase the awareness of the public?  How can we reassign funds to where they belong?

 Goal: As our economic woes increase and the fabric of our society unravels, we need to re-examine our financial spending and the long term consequences of what is becoming a permanent war economy. Conference attendees will learn from expert speakers about the true social, environmental, and health consequences of war and what we can do to rearrange our priorities.

Moderator:

David leads PSR’s nuclear weapons and disarmament efforts, works to promote constructive non-military solutions to international conflict and to cut excessive military spending to fund human and environmental needs. He has served as executive director of local, state, and national nonprofit organizations including Peace Action Maine and Veterans for Peace. He was the CEO of the Association for Conflict Resolution from 2001 - 2006.  David received a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies from Oberlin College and holds a master's in political science from Syracuse University's Maxwell School, where he earned Certificates of Achievement from the Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflict (PARC) and the Institute on Creative Conflict Management. 

Panelists:

Dr. Victor W. Sidel

Victor W. Sidel, MD is Distinguished University Professor of Social Medicine at  Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, and Adjunct Professor of Public Health at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. He has been co-president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and president of Physicians for Social Responsibility, its U.S. affiliate, and president of the American Public Health Association, He has written and spoken widely on the diversion of resources to war. He is the co-editor, with Barry Levy, of War and Public Health, Social Injustice and Public Health and Terrorism and Public Health, published by Oxford University Press.

Stephen K. Trynosky JD, MPH

Stephen Trynosky is a Medical Service Corps officer (health services administration) in the U.S. Army Reserve. In his civilian career, he is a Legislative Program Specialist for the Veterans Health Administration in Washington, DC. He was previously a Presidential Management Fellow in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Legislative Affairs where his legislative portfolio included the DHS Office of Health Affairs and the Plum Island Animal Disease Center. Captain Trynosky served for four years as an active duty officer in the US Army Medical Service Corps - first with the 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, NY; and later as an Army Health Professions Recruiter in New York City. He holds a Juris Doctor (2005) and Master of Public Health (2006) from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Bachelor of Arts in history from St. Peter's College in Jersey City, NJ (1998).

He is a licensed attorney in the State of New Jersey and a National Registry Emergency Medical Technician. His professional memberships include the American Public Health Association, the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Bar Association, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, and the Reserve Officers Association (Life Member). Captain Trynosky and his wife, Jill, reside in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC.  

Norman Solomon

Norman Solomon is a columnist on media and politics. He wrote the nationally syndicated "Media Beat" weekly column from 1992 to 2009.

His latest book is "Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America's Warfare State."

Solomon is the founder and president of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a national consortium of policy researchers and analysts.

His book "Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn’t Tell You” (co-authored with foreign correspondent Reese Erlich) was published in 2003 by Context Books. "Target Iraq" has also been published in German, Italian, Hungarian, Brazilian and South Korean editions.

A collection of Solomon’s columns won the George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language. The award, presented by the National Council of Teachers of English, honored Solomon’s book "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media."

Solomon has appeared as a guest on many media outlets including the PBS “NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,” CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, C-SPAN, public radio’s “Marketplace,” and NPR’s “All Things Considered,” “Morning Edition” and “Talk of the Nation.”

In 2003, Norman Solomon appeared on CNN more than a dozen times as an in-studio guest. In addition, he was a guest on MSNBC and Fox News Channel, and appeared on live broadcasts of C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.” He voiced commentary that aired on the nationwide public radio program “Marketplace.” In addition, Solomon appeared on such international outlets as the BBC Radio World Service, CBC Radio, CBC Television, Voice of America, Al-Jazeera Television, Australia’s ABC television and radio, and SBS radio networks. He also appeared on radio outlets in Ireland and South Africa.

Solomon’s op-ed articles have appeared in a range of newspapers including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, New York Times, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer and Baltimore Sun. His articles have also appeared in the International Herald Tribune, Canada’s Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and the Jordan Times.

His journalistic experience includes many years of free-lance writing for Pacific News Service and other media outlets, and several reporting visits to the Soviet Union during the mid-1980s. He is a former associate of the Center for Investigative Reporting.

Norman Solomon is a longtime associate of the media watch group FAI.