Disgraceful Failure
In a book entitled: “The Twenty-Five Year War, General Bruce Palmer observed, “With respect to Vietnam, our leaders should have known that the American people would not stand still for a protracted war of an indeterminate nature with no foreseeable end to the U.S. commitment.”
We again find ourselves mired in a “protracted war of an indeterminate nature with no foreseeable end to the U. S. commitment.” The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in our military accommodating the enemy by fighting on their terms. The purpose of our continued involvement in these protracted wars has become increasingly difficult to discern. Apparently, avoiding the humiliation of disgraceful failure is the primary motivation.
We face the prospect of perpetual conflict, because the present generation of senior officers have forgotten the lessons of Vietnam, and instead embraced open-ended wars. Regarding Iraq Gen. David Petraeus has asked: “Tell me how this ends.” Unfortunately, no one has the foggiest idea how it will end, and for the American soldiers there is no end in sight.
There is a notable difference from the last time we found ourselves mired in an endless war. During the Vietnam era, many young Americans fought against the war itself. In the 1960s, the war created a climate of intense political engagement, but nearly 50 years later the prevailing mood of the country is a dull acceptance. Most Americans have accepted the prospect of wars that go on and on, because there is no draft and few of us have an immediate personal stake in this conflict.
Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April 1971, a young John Kerry reflected the views of other Vietnam veterans who had turned against the war in which they had fought, by saying: “we are probably angriest about all that we were told about Vietnam and about the mystical war against communism.” Kerry concluded by asking: “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”
It’s a disgraceful failure, that Congress continues to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We again find ourselves mired in a “protracted war of an indeterminate nature with no foreseeable end to the U. S. commitment.” The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in our military accommodating the enemy by fighting on their terms. The purpose of our continued involvement in these protracted wars has become increasingly difficult to discern. Apparently, avoiding the humiliation of disgraceful failure is the primary motivation.
We face the prospect of perpetual conflict, because the present generation of senior officers have forgotten the lessons of Vietnam, and instead embraced open-ended wars. Regarding Iraq Gen. David Petraeus has asked: “Tell me how this ends.” Unfortunately, no one has the foggiest idea how it will end, and for the American soldiers there is no end in sight.
There is a notable difference from the last time we found ourselves mired in an endless war. During the Vietnam era, many young Americans fought against the war itself. In the 1960s, the war created a climate of intense political engagement, but nearly 50 years later the prevailing mood of the country is a dull acceptance. Most Americans have accepted the prospect of wars that go on and on, because there is no draft and few of us have an immediate personal stake in this conflict.
Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April 1971, a young John Kerry reflected the views of other Vietnam veterans who had turned against the war in which they had fought, by saying: “we are probably angriest about all that we were told about Vietnam and about the mystical war against communism.” Kerry concluded by asking: “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”
It’s a disgraceful failure, that Congress continues to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
posted by Jim O'Leary | 12:58 AM
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