Monday, September 29, 2014
Stumbling into war
So now the United States is a war with Syria. No, really. That's what happens when one country conducts military operations within the borders of another country. Dropping bombs counts. Any member of Congress could invoke the War Powers Act, but that would require taking a stand and having a backbone. We all know for sure they are all invertebrates, as strange subspecies of humanity.
Countries have stumbled into war before. How have they turned out? WWI comes to mind. Few expected it to get as large as it did, last as long, or kill so many people. Assassinate just one guy and one thing leads to another and before you know it the trenches run with blood.
Less known than WWI was the Crimean War. In many way it was precursor to WWI: diplomacy gone wrong, underestimation of the length and severity. Heck, it even had trench warfare. There were lessons about that type of fighting that were quickly forgotten before WWI. At least it settled the problems in the Crimea for all time. No? Guess that was a waste too.
The United States half heartedly stumbled into war in 1812. Yeah, Americans like to forget that one. Canada kicked our collective butts, the White House was burned down, New England seriously looked at seceding from the US. The biggest US victory was the Battle of New Orleans, which was fought after the war was officially over. In the end the peace treaty just restored the status quo.
So now we are stumbling into a wider Middle East war. Do we blame the Obama administration? Should we go back to the Bush years when the US invaded Iraq by lying about weapons of mass destruction? Historians can point to the mess that the colonial powers created when they established many of those countries with little regard for ethnicity, religion or even natural boundaries.
Am I an alarmist? Maybe. After all, nobody expects events in Syria to get out of hand -like they did in just about every conflict in the area.
Don't get me wrong. By all accounts the Islamic State dudes are bad news. Something probably should be done about them. Maybe, just maybe, we should look into the events that lead to the conditions that spawn such groups. Then maybe we can stop doing those things. Crazy talk, I know.
-Sixbears
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The powers to be control the President s the Congress, news, television, Hello 1984.Are we any better than the rest of the world.I do not think so.We have been droppong bombs since Korea non stop.WAR what is it good for . absolute nonething.
ReplyDeleteSay it again.
Delete1984 was supposed to be a warning, not a guidebook.
Give me an F !
ReplyDeleteGive me a U.
Give me a C.
Give me a K.
What's that spell ?
Don't ask me,
I don't give a damn !
Next stop is __________
"Be the first one on the block to see you kid come home in a box."
DeleteThought I'd skip the obvious one.
I know I'm uncomfortable with the amount of wars and hate being shown especially in the Arab countries. We in the USA have really never experienced modern war, bombs and rockets falling on us from the skies all night long, foreign soldiers (ISIS) on our soil directly attacking the citizens. I think we are soon going to be just like Iraq and other countries in that region where 20, 30 or more North American citizens will be blown up along with schools, shopping malls, supermarkets, churches etc. There's a bad moon on the rise.
ReplyDeleteWe may have to sleep in the bed we've made.
Deletea war make profits for those whom never serve in one
ReplyDeleteWildflower
Retirement funds invest heavily in defence companies stocks. Those profits fund an awful lot of pensions.
DeleteThe events that lead to such conditions? This one started in 610AD and has rumbled back and forth ever since. Unfortunately the west has such a short attention span it forgets that some ideologies hold grievances for centuries.
ReplyDeleteNature certainly has a sense of mischief though. If oil was in a different area the world would just fence them off and let them continue until they were literally back in the stone age. Unfortunately the world economy runs on the black goo under their feet.
. . . so let's fix that oil problem. It's not going to last forever anyway. Might put certain regions in perspective.
DeleteWars R Us. It's what we do. Maybe not well but who cares as long as the factories keep churning out the replacement jets, cruise missiles, drones etc. Plenty of jobs and moolah circulating around communities all across this great land. Politicians in the pocket of the military contractors, don't expect anything to change.
ReplyDelete