The United States at War

The Politics of War

The politics of war has changed drastically since World War II.  In Vietnam civilian leadership hamstrung military leaders. The President, and his cabinet, along with many in the State Department made the military decisions in Viet Nam that, in the end, failed miserably. Their mistakes included surgical bombing, pacifications before conquest, and sever restriction on their ability to seek out the enemy in its sanctuaries. For the most part, our government promised our military that this (another Vietnam) would never happen again.  

To some extent our government has kept its promises to the military.  The President, the Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces, has resolved to fight these wars with more resolve and less sanctuaries. He has also given much of the combat decision making power to ground commanders. That has to please the military brass and the troops alike.  But, he has also chosen to return to surgical bombing and pacification before victory. Let there be no mistake about it; surgical bombing creates sanctuaries for the enemy. And, pacification before victory usually ends up buying the bullets that are being fired your way. 

It bothers me greatly that we are paying damage claims in Iraq to people that may still be at war with us.  There has been on surrender in Iraq. There is no peace in Iraq.  President Truman was probably the last president to understand the full ramifications of war.  When he dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki he did not concern himself with civilian casualties. Neither city was a military target.  His concerns were saving American lives and the unconditional surrender of Japan.  Only after complete unconditional surrender did he authorize pacification (The Marshal Plan). 

The Media

During modern war the media is a double-edged sword.: or, perhaps a two-headed dragon. Democracy, as we know it, could not exist without the free press.  Were it not for the free press our government would be like many of the others in the world, riddled with conspiracies and stealing the wealth of their population.  This is what governments do without checks.  The free press is the only check that works. 

On the other hand, the free press has few checks and is largely free to report anything it wants.  If there is a conflict between ratings and the national interest, there is little doubt which direction the media will go.  It is not necessary to report body count every 10 minutes on national news. Nor, is it necessary to report only failures of policy.  But that is where the ratings are.   We are capitalist country that is driven primarily by money.  It is a system of government that has brought us great wealth and the ability to defend ourselves against all comers.  The dark side of the free press is just one of our democracy’s shortcomings. No system is perfect.

The American People

 I concern myself with the fact that the American people have become fat, dumb and happy when it comes to defending our nation.  I sense isolationisms and pacification in the more social elements of our society.  In the more conservative elements I sense a rally to fight, but with someone else doing the fighting.  It does not escape me that during the Vietnam War many who could not get deferments chose the safer National Guard and Reserve roles.  Vietnam was not my war.  I did not support the war for a number of reasons.  But, I volunteered to go to Vietnam because it was my country’s war.

Winston Rogers 11/28/03