How can a politician send men and women off to WAR with a clear conscience? Said politician has no idea what horrors their war is going to inflict on innocent people and the very soldiers they sent.
Jeb bush has said he would have done the same thing his brother did, invade Iraq! That is one candidate I will be sure to remind everyone about if he gets into the debates. Guess he has no conscience just like his brother.
It is hard to understand how a sane person can send other people to fight in a war that he started. You don’t see politicians volunteering to go and fight. Nor do you see their family members going off to fight.
While the soldiers are being killed or wounded, people back home are dancing, going to concerts, movies, or enjoying themselves some other way. I can tell you from experience that a soldier is scared. But we rely on our training and do what we were trained to do. I admired oedics and the medivac pilots so much. They were some kind of brave. Hovering and taking live fire as we loaded wounded and dead on their chopper. All soldiers whether they are infantry like I was or drivers or whatever can tell you “war is hell”.
Who benefits from war?
President of the United States (and five-star general during World War II) Dwight D. Eisenhower used the term in his Farewell Address to the Nation on January 17, 1961:
A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction…
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military–industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.
We have not remained alert and knowledgeable. Far too many citizens are ambivalent and have no interest in politics.
Remember President Eisenhower warning us about the military industrial complex? Everything he said was true. Big multinational corporations (you know the ones that don’t pay taxes and outsource jobs) make weapons, ammo, bombs, and missiles. They benefit from war. How about those wealthy people who invest in those corporations? They benefit from war, too.
The republicans hurry to war but refuse to care for the veterans their war created. With that in mind, I believe that more veterans than ever are going to vote for a Democrat who is against senseless WAR! Bernie Sanders has been against all our wars since he has been a Rep. or Senator. Nearly all the GOP candidates are in favor of said wars. They even want to start another with Iran.
President Obama has started talks with Iran, ended the cold war with Cuba, and is trying to keep peace with North Korea and China. He has ended the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. With few exceptions (TPP) I am very pleased with the President. Diplomacy rather than jumping into another costly (in lives and treasure) war.
The GOP has no integrity. The last good Republican was Ike, in my opinion. Not one of their potential candidates can debate Bernie and win. They can’t beat any Democrat in a debate.
So tell me what you think?
This morning on Face The Nation, I heard a republican arguing that Iraq was destabilized because the president “pulled us out of war too fast”. As if ten years could be considered too fast.
The Only reason for the the USA to go to war is to “defend our homeland”, or possibly to defend our allies if it is really warranted. That’s what World War II was about; that’s what the War in Afghanistan was originally about, as we went there to get Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, who were responsible for the destruction on 9/11 that killed thousands of Americans. Under Obama, we have achieved our goal in Afghanistan: Bin Laden was captured and killed and Al Qaeda is a shadow of what it once was.
The problems created by the Iraq War are almost too many to mention, but here are a few:
The justification to go to war with Iraq was based on lies.
There was no clear goal as the goals were constantly shifting. As one goal didn’t pan out, we came up with another one to justify still being there:
> Find the “Weapons of Mass Destruction”: there weren’t any
> Bring down the Iraq government: we did, but replaced it with nothing and complete chaos was the result. A completely destabilized country.
> Bring “democracy” to Iraq, with freely elected leaders: we did that, but it didn’t end the war.
In retrospect, France deserves a lot of respect for refusing to fight with us in the “coalition of the willing.”
If we went to war with Iran, it would be the same nightmare but a lot worse for many reasons, one being that Iran has its own stable government.
The reason GOP ideology and foreign policy is so nightmarish is they can’t see past their own egos.
JJ, I’ll go a little further and say that ISIS is a direct result of “w” taking us to WAR in Iraq.
As for President Obama being blamed for pulling out too quickly. That is just repuke talking points for the unintelligent, apathetic, or ignorant people who blindly follow the republican liars.
Hey JJ. Besides invading in the first place, our biggest mistake was disbanding the Iraqi army. Almost overnight, we put hundreds of thousands of Iraqi men out of work, with no way to support their families or themselves, and they got to keep their weapons.
This is what created the insurgency and the very real hatred of the US military in Iraq. These men, who previously had been making a living as soldiers, were suddenly without any means at all.
That was the stupidest move we made there. Paul Bremmer was an idiot who knew nothing about Iraq or it’s people. He didn’t even know the difference between Sunni and Shia, and their centuries old rivalry.
Then, as you point out, we just continued to make one mistake after the other.
But of course, this is all Obama’s fault.
This is an edited version of the speech Iraq Veteran Mike Prysner delivered at the 2008 Winter Soldier in Maryland. Testimony of what’s really going on in Iraq.
Murph, the more things change , the more they stay the same. This is just like Vietnam!
I said before we invaded Iraq, that it would be a quagmire just like Vietnam was. I was right, huh?
Ike’s first draft of his “Military-Industrial Complex” speech used this term “Legislative-Military-Industrial Complex” to emphasize how government is the linchpin in the process.
Murph, thanks for the vid above and the first draft of Ike’s speech.
Ike was right and there is no doubting it.
The consequences of war that we seldom hear about when we are too busy counting our own casualties.
I posted this in Wednesday’s MB and it is an amazing story of suffering and strength from two opposing side soldiers during the Iraq/Iran war. There must be millions of stories out there like this that we will never hear about. Wonderful short documentary.
There are no winners in war except for those who continue to profit from it.
—-
NYTimes: ‘My Enemy, My Brother’
In this short documentary, two survivors of a brutal war in the Middle East meet again years later under astonishing circumstances.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/opinion/my-enemy-my-brother.html
Kalima, I too have heard of enemies from war reuniting as friends. I never had a chance to meet anyone from the other side of my war.
Thanks for the link.
Hello Nirek. My father kept in touch with an American soldier he met in Normandy during D-Day. They shared cigarettes and conversations about home and the families left waiting for their safe return. I believe they wrote to each other until the end of the 70’s when the letters and Christmas cards from the U.S. suddenly stopped. My father assumed the man might have been sick and had passed away, and told me that meeting him there under those terrible circumstances was a fond memory he would never forget, and he never did.
Oh by the way, where are my manners? I forgot to thank you for the article, so thank you.
Peace.
Nirek, you put your finger on the major reason the U.S. can’t avoid eternally being at war, the Military Industrial Complex and their political pawns who are paid off in Congress and at times in the WH to seek out wars to profit from.
Conservatives are also quick to favor war because of the Old Testament mentality of God being vengeful, and trying to reflect that hateful intolerance in their constituency that sees the killing of others as necessary and affirming of their beliefs.
Some wars are necessary, such as WWII, when others are the aggressors and fighting a war is an urgent and defensive response. But the U.S. should never be the aggressor and start wars or inject ourselves into wars that are between others and don’t truly threaten us, such as Vietnam, those wars always turn out to cause such unnecessary and exponentially increased harm to our country and many others.
War should always be a last resort, a defensive act when our nation is truly and substantially threatened and never taken as lightly as just another legit response to a situation in the world that we’re unhappy about.
Ad, I have to agree with you, again. WWII was one war that we needed to fight. My Dad spent the whole time in Europe. He was part of “the greatest generation”, they sacraficed so much to end Hitler’s reign of terror. Even back home Mom worked to help with scrap metal and other necessary materials.
Most of our other wars have been unnecessary, in my opinion.
I think you’re absolutely right, Nirek. I can’t imagine any veteran of the Iraq war voting for another Bush who has said that he would make the same decision his brother did. After all — American memories may be short — but they’re not THAT short. And any veteran who’s battling PTSD, or who has lost a limb or had a traumatic brain injury has a vivid and daily reminder of what that other Bush put him/her through.
This is a video I saw recently warning people about the eerie similarity of the build-up to Dubya’s Iraq war and the drum-beating by the GOP for what they hope will be the next one — the Iran war.
https://fbcdn-video-n-a.akamaihd.net/hvideo-ak-xtf1/v/t43.1792-2/11129384_741429905976676_1970283449_n.mp4?efg=eyJxZSI6ImVuY29kZV9vbGRfdG9wX3ZpZGVvX3YyLGVfZnJvbXNkNDAwXzA0MTMifQ%3D%3D&oh=46a6e1fdfef74cd60329305ee38e4960&oe=55540F86&__gda__=1431569100_e4a9d9217d310fcacf8835b6ab9a5d79
Thanks for the link Kes.
We need to keep this kind of thing in the voters memories and remind them that every one of the GOPers want WAR!
I for one can’t think of a single republican that I would trust in charge of this country.
HI Nirek ,
RSGmusic,
Great article and not much to add but this!
What Ethical party does not fund the VA benefits and try to negotiate with intentions of peace to not go to war????
The GOP
RSGmusic, good to see you again. Yes, to me the GOP is not worth zip! They don’t want to care for the veterans who come home “broken” but they don’t mind sending people to war.
Ya the GOP is terrible Friend!!
I have been away teaching music theory for synthesizers in my city in my state. My corp that i retired from provides me funds. Mostly in middle schools and some elementary schools! Those programs have been lost in this state unfortunately
All wells here well family and friends , i hope the same for You and yours
THe ghost