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Tell Us Why We’re At War, President Trump
People speak of Afghanistan as “our generation’s” Vietnam, a quagmire, a war that goes on simply because it has been going on.
The Afghan war is dragging into being our generation’s, and soon the next generation’s Vietnam as well, over a decade and a half old. There are troops deploying now that were two years old when the conflict started. There are fathers and sons deploying together. Bin Laden’s been dead for years.With a slight break, the current war in Iraq has been ongoing for some 14 years. If you want to think of it in a longer view, Trump is now the fifth consecutive president to make war on that country. Saddam’s been dead for years.
And though of more recent vintage, the war in Syria appears both open-ended in duration and ramping up in U.S. involvement. If Assad died tomorrow, the war would likely only intensify, as the multiple parties in the fight vie to take over after him.
The reason we’re fighting all of these places and more can’t still be “terrorism,” can it? That has sort of been the reason for the past 16 years so you’d think we would have settled that. Regime change? A lot of that has also happened, without much end game, and nobody seems to know if that does or ever did apply in Syria to begin with. America can’t be under threat after all these years, right? I mean, world’s most powerful military and all that.
So maybe it’s time for the current president to tell us why we’re still fighting in all of these wars. Because previous presidents’ track records on explaining to the ever-bloodthirsty American public why we are fighting is poor. Perhaps history has a lesson for us?
— When I was a kid, successive presidents told us we had to fight in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, because if we didn’t fight them over there, we’d have to fight them on the beaches of California. We believed. It was a lie.
— I was a teenager during the Cold War, several presidents told us we needed to create massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons, garrison the world, maybe invade Cuba, fight covert wars and use the CIA to overthrow democratically elected governments and replace them with dictators, or the Russians would destroy us. We believed. It was a lie.
— When I was in college our president told us that we needed to fight in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua or the Sandinistas would come to the United States. He told us Managua was closer to Washington DC than LA was. He told us we needed to fight in Lebanon, Grenada and Libya to protect ourselves. We believed. It was a lie.
— When I was a little older our president told us how evil Saddam Hussein was, how his soldiers bayoneted babies in Kuwait. He told us Saddam was a threat to America. He told us we needed to invade Panama to oust a dictator to protect America. We believed. It was a lie.
— Another president told us we had to fight terrorists in Somalia, as well as bomb Iraq, to protect ourselves. We believed. It was a lie.
— The one after him told us that because a bunch of Saudis from a group loosely tied to Afghanistan attacked us on 9/11, we needed to occupy that country and destroy the Taliban, who had not attacked us. The Taliban are still there 15 years later, ISIS now too, and so is the American military. We believed. It was a lie.
— After that the same President told us Saddam Hussein threatened every one of our children with weapons of mass destruction, that the smoking gun would be a mushroom cloud, that Saddam was in league with al Qaeda. We believed. It was a lie.
— In 2011 the president and his secretary of state told us we needed regime change in Libya, to protect us from an evil dictator. We believed. It was a lie.
— In August 2014 the same president told us we needed to intervene again in Iraq, on a humanitarian mission to save the Yazidis. No boots on the ground, a simple, limited act only the United States could conduct, and then we’d leave. We believed. It was a lie.
— That same president later told us Americans will need to fight and die in Syria. He says this is necessary to protect us, because if we do not defeat Islamic State over there, they will come here, to what we now call without shame or irony The Homeland. We believed. It was a lie.
So with a new guy in the White House, maybe it’s time to renew the question. Perhaps the media can take a day off from what borders on sexual pleasure gushing over the latest super bomb and ask the president a few simple questions: why are we fighting, what is the goal, when will we get there? Someone should have asked a long time ago, but since no one did, this is as good a time as any.
Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. The views expressed here are solely those of the author(s) in their private capacity.
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Rich Bauer said...
1We could stop it f we wanted. But we are addicted to it, and we enjoy it. We need an intervention.
04/24/17 8:14 AM | Comment Link
StarkNakedTruth said...
2PVB…
You ask too many hard questions.
And there aren’t enough smart people in the room.
04/24/17 9:16 AM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
3PVB
These are fights that have to be finished.
Do I like it…. Hell No!!!!
But, they do have to be finished. Or, we have already seen what the premature draw down of our military caused… Think its called ISIS.
We must finish it…. Period. If we don’t…. We will be wiped from the face of the Earth.
And blaming the new guy after a hundred days or so, for 20 years of BS, does not change that.
M
04/24/17 9:33 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
4And Mitch has volunteered to go. I will even drive Mitch to the airport to show my support.
04/24/17 11:09 AM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
5Rich.
You would have to be a US citizen to drive me to the airport.
M
04/24/17 11:58 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
6Patriotism is more than a word, chickenhawk.
04/24/17 12:36 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
7Comrade Chickenhawk could be Trump’s retarded twin.
04/24/17 12:48 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
8Or is Trumpie your retarded twin?
TRUMP: So the Republican Party has various groups, all great people. They’re great people. But some are moderate, some are very conservative. The Democrats don’t seem to have that nearly as much. You know the Democrats have, they don’t have that. The Republicans do have that. And I think it’s fine. But you know there’s a pretty vast area in there. And I have a great relationship with all of ’em. Now, we have government not closing. I think we’ll be in great shape on that, it’s going very well. Obviously that takes precedent.
Obviously.
04/24/17 12:51 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
9Rich.
Agreed.
Seeing it through to the end is an example.
Realizing that horrid decisions have to be made.
And… Of course…. Not pirating your State Department internet.
As for ‘chickenhawk’…. Nope….
I did not start this mess…. I wish to God it did not exist…. But… It has to be seen through to the end…
If its not…. You get your wish and pray…. And Millions of Americans will die.
Which is something I can Not abide.
Hell… Your a State Department employee… You helped create the problems that exist today.
M
04/24/17 12:53 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
10Rich.
Get over it…… Hillary LOST.
I realize you were counting on job security and a big raise…..
But….
GET OVER IT…… HILLARY LOST !!!!!!!!!
M
04/24/17 12:55 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
11State Dept employee? But Comrade Chickenhawk, you just said I was not a US citizen, Make up your retarded mind.
04/24/17 12:55 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
12Rich.
Just quoting you.
Hillary was fond of hiring people of questionable backgrounds.
M
PS.
The name calling….. It shows a definite trend of your being defenseless.
M
04/24/17 12:59 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
13Rich.
Example for you….. If we do not see these fights through to the end…. This WILL happen again…..
And, again….. I do Not like it…. I hate it…. But its like taxes…. No real choice.
This can Never Be Allowed To Occur Again…. EVER!!!
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39062221
Trump did Not cause it…. Decades of bungled Statesmanship did… It is now his to solve…. And expecting a solution in a hundred days is just plain stupid.
M
04/24/17 1:14 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
14Comrade Chickenhawk Mitch, you are obviously in an advanced stage of dementia and confused that I have any regard for the War Witch. Please get help.
04/24/17 2:09 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
15Or leave talking points for your other Russian troll army friends when they take your place.
04/24/17 2:38 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
16Rich.
Pretty weak. ….. Actually…. Really weak.
M
04/24/17 3:04 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
17PVB.
I really hope, and pray…. Your right.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/04/24/entire-senate-being-called-to-white-house-for-north-korea-briefing.html
M
04/24/17 3:09 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
18Rich..
Didn’t know you traveled over seas.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/04/24/french-presidential-election-leftist-protesters-grow-violent-after-results-come-in.html
M
04/24/17 3:12 PM | Comment Link
As long as Americans continue to believe... – The Real Strategy said...
19[…] great foreign policy analyst and author Peter van Buren recounts the lies that have kept the American war machine […]
04/24/17 8:18 PM | Comment Link
RICH BAUER said...
20Mitch, I’ve told you many times that I live in South America. You poor demented goof, have you forgotten so soon or did you neglect to tell your Russian troll friends?
04/24/17 8:23 PM | Comment Link
Bruce said...
21Volks, To continue to advance on EurAsia for Poppy’s ‘New WorLd Order’ under US, 0f CUR$E !
04/24/17 10:32 PM | Comment Link
As long as Americans continue to believe... - The Dakota Homestead said...
22[…] great foreign policy analyst and author Peter van Buren recounts the lies that have kept the American war machine […]
04/25/17 3:25 AM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
23Rich.
I’m SO Happy your down there…. There are far enough decisive people who just want to destroy already in the US.
M
04/25/17 7:23 AM | Comment Link
RICH BAUER said...
24Comrade Chickenhawk, I just watched a movie about you: Split.
Which personality are you today?
04/25/17 7:33 AM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
25Rich.
Like I said…. Divisive…. And not skin in the game…. Hiding in south America…. Telling the world how stupid you nation is.
M
04/25/17 11:51 AM | Comment Link
RICH BAUER said...
26Comrade Chickenhawk, congrats you are making less sense than ever.
04/25/17 1:06 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
27Rich.
Your a complete, un repented anarchist……. And I make no Sense ??????
M
04/25/17 3:41 PM | Comment Link
RICH BAUER said...
28Classic dementia.
04/25/17 7:42 PM | Comment Link
RICH BAUER said...
29Mitch, please read:
— people with dementia undergo behavioral changes during the course of the disease. They may become anxious or repeat the same question or activity over and over. The unpredictability of these changes can be stressful for caregivers. As the disease progresses, your loved one’s behavior may seem inappropriate, childlike or impulsive. Anticipating behavioral changes and understanding the causes can help you deal with them more effectively.
What is the behavior telling you?
Persons with dementia often lose their ability to express themselves before they lose their ability to understand. Behavior becomes a means of communication. Ask yourself why your loved one is behaving this way. Then you can take steps to manage the behavior.
Tips for managing behavioral changes
When your loved one exhibits an undesirable behavior, your reaction may be to try to stop or change the behavior. But remember, you can’t reason with or teach new skills to a person with dementia. Instead, try to decrease the intensity or frequency of the behavior.
In your best interests, Mitch, stop trolling. Take up basket weaving.
04/25/17 8:03 PM | Comment Link
As long as Americans continue to believe... - Australian National Review said...
30[…] great foreign policy analyst and author Peter van Buren recounts the lies that have kept the American war machine […]
04/26/17 6:02 PM | Comment Link