U.S. politicians seem unable to keep us out of foreign wars. The United States has been in a state of war throughout the world since 1960. In that time we have fought in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and many smaller engagements. We have lost every single major war except the First Gulf War despite our military never losing a battle in 60 years.
Our military is the finest in the world. The soldiers and officers demonstrate skill and bravery on the battlefield and they also have worked hard at creating better schools, roads, and institutions in the war zones.
The latest Iran war is a war of choice started by Donald Trump. It is a war nobody will win and everybody will pay for. U.S. citizens are now paying crazy prices for gas and groceries. It is important to remember that our national defense goals are not the same as the national defense goals of Israel, our only ally in this war. Big business profits from the war but the working people of our country must pay daily at the gas pump and the grocery store, and farmers are paying more for fertilizer.
I do not mean to single out only Trump and the Republican party. The Democratic party started and ran the Vietnam war, another disaster. Another similarity to Vietnam is the daily reports from the government about how we are winning the war, until suddenly, we lose. The United States since 1960 is like a big bully, starting wars and supporting wars all over the globe. Some of the earlier adventures could be partially forgiven because we faced the communist threat.
But with the fall of the Soviet Union, our constant wars cannot be justified.
I feel like our great senator from West Virginia, Robert Byrd, who spoke in 2003 when he voted against the Second Gulf War, “I weep for my country…no more is the image of our country one of a strong benevolent peacekeeper”. What happened to our great country, the country that fought World War II, rebuilt Europe with the Marshall Plan, and saved South Korea? Our brave men and women in the military are still equal to those who served in the past, but our leaders are stooges of big business and the arms industry. We need a strong military to defend our country, but we do not need to constantly practice war.
Mark Robertson
