As a child I was taught how peaceful a nation we are and in no way is our history comparable to the warlike nature of other nations. Throughout its history Europe had its unending wars led by conquerors or religious fanatics who wanted more land and bring religion (theirs) to the world. The same was true of the Middle East, and the list of conflicts could go on and on. But not the United States. We were the exception. But as I have grown older with more time to study and reflect I find this isn’t quite true, and it is saddening.
Just look at the list of major conflicts and deaths of American troops (wars, police actions, “necessary” invasions, etc.) that have happened just in my lifetime (1937 to present). It’s a lot for just 73 years.
World War II 1941-1945 (407,316)
Korean War 1950-1953 (36,914)
Vietnam War 1959-1975 (58,169)
Invasion of Dominican Republic 1965
Secret Bombing Laos, Cambodia 1968-1970
Lebanon Incursion (1982-1984) (266)
Invasion of Granada 1983 (19)
Invasion of Panama 1988 (40)
Persian Gulf War 1991 (269)
Somalia 1992-1993 (43)
Afghanistan War 2001 to present (1,244)
Iraq War 2003 to present (4,417)
And this does not include the dozens of troop movements, protection assignments and minor skirmishes that have happened within the same time frame. There are more than can be counted. Generals love them.
Except for WWII when the Japanese attacked us at Pearl Harbor or the Korean War when we led a United Nations defense of a member state, the cause and reasons for this tremendous loss of American lives is utterly shameful and ridiculous. It would seem that those gentlemen with the five pointed stars on their shoulders, working in that five sided building have kept the youth of our country fighting and dying.
Take the Vietnam War. It was based upon the Tonkin Gulf Incident which held that the USS Maddox had a run-in with a North Vietnamese ship with no damage to either party. At the time there was a claim of a second “battle” involving both the Maddox and the USS Turner. This raised the battle flag and President Johnson ran to Congress and demanded and received permission to do whatever was necessary to protect the United States. Later release of secret State Department documents (the Ellsberg files) proved that the second round with the Turner involved was an absolutely phony story. But the net result was the death of 58,169 Americans, and untold numbers of casualties.
Similarly was the well known story of our entrance into Iraq to stop them from using Weapons of Mass Destruction that they reportedly held. Our Secretary of State went before the United Nations and “falsely” claimed these stories were true. We all now know this was a fabrication. The result? 4,417 Americans killed and a couple hundred thousand injured physically and mentally. Yes, we deposed a dictator, but all this happened because of oil and a threat to the life of the president’s father.
And on the subject of oil, try to imagine the Gulf War happening if a small country in Africa invaded its neighbor instead of Iraq invading Kuwait. No oil….no war.
We invaded Afghanistan because of 9/11, which was justified. But we did it to: 1) Punish them and drive out the Taliban (we did….into Pakistan) and: 2) to catch Osama Bin Laden (we haven’t.) Nine years this month and we are no closer to Sen. McCain’s screaming for “victory,” the mission has once again changed to who knows what and our military leaders tell us we are going to be there for a long time.
So what should I tell my grandchildren about America and peace? I love this country. It gave a home and opportunity to my grandparents who escaped Europe and made us safe from the Holocaust, gave a good life to my parents, me, my siblings and my children and made us all feel proud (we still are.) But what do I tell them about our country’s penchant for war? What should I say about the 508,697 American war deaths just in my lifetime and the trillions of dollars that have been spent on things other than health, education, jobs, roads and the betterment of our people? What do I say about this money that could have made us higher than 25th in math and 22nd in science in the entire world? What do I say about all this war money that could have changed the fact that we are 19th in the world in life expectancy and 20th in infant mortality?
Let’s face it; we can do so much more if we were not so prone to war. All I can hope is that the next 73 years will not be so murderous for our country. The old question when it came to government money was “Guns or Butter?” I’d like to see some butter for a change.
