A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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power. Now, as Republicans are showing the same weakness, I am no longer comfortable with that adage.The baby boomer Republicans have joined the ranks of the crowd, that thinks nothing is worth fighting for. Never mind that some poor dog face soldier gave his life so the entire baby boomer generation could live, and prosper, in freedom. Talk about ingratitude!
We, as a nation, are going to have to do something. Americans no longer have the stomach for a fight. I mean a REAL FIGHT! Trying to fight a "politically correct war", "winning the hearts and minds of the enemy," and having a large portion of our troops assigned to "Nation Building" is NOT WORKING and it is getting our combat forces chewed up, resulting in the needless deaths of our servicemen and servicewomen.
The micro-managing of our war(s), by our politicians, is dragging out every conflict for years when they could have been finished -- decisively in our favor -- in months or even weeks. American lives are being lost just to make a political point.
Add to the above this: maintaining a standing military force at a level about half (or even a third) the size it ought to be (for its mission) is grinding up our soldiers, sailors, Airmen and Marines in tour, after tour, after tour, in combat zones and producing mentally exhausted automatons in the ranks and mentally damaged civilians when the finally DO finish their enlistment and get to go home.
Now add the social experiments the federal government is running on our captive service men and women such as homosexuals allowed to serve, and placing women an combat roles, and the stress level adjusts exponentially upward.
We are in great danger of having the quality of our war fighting people degraded. Thomas Sowell once said: "If the battle for civilization comes down to the wimps versus the barbarians, the barbarians are going to win."
At the same, time the US is cutting the size of its military, across the board, which will bring much more stress on the troops. At some point our military will have more on its plate than it can realistically handle and it will crumble under the weight.
Not to worry. China and Russia are standing in the wings ready to take over from the US as policeman of the world. Scary enough for you?
Now for a little history: When FDR decided the time was right to invade Europe and conquer the Nazis, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower was given the job. The President relied upon Eisenhower to get the job done. It was a clear case of allowing the military to do its job. We all know how that turned out.
Even though we won WWII decisively, we STILL, to this day, have US troops in Germany. We fought to a tie in Korea, and we have thousands of troops in South Korea today, as well. We lost in Vietnam. Both those war efforts, Korea and Vietnam, were micro-managed by Washington at the cost of thousands of US lives, and… over half a century later…. we are STILL in Korea -- and -- we lost the war in Vietnam to an inferior opponent! Clearly, our national leaders have learned nothing from their predecessor’s mistakes… or… from history.
There is something else that is abundantly clear. The philosophy of “Winning the Hearts and Minds” of the enemy is so much wimpy bunk! Defeat them first, defeat them decisively, then make-up… IF we really want to.
Today, in he Middle East, we are setting the stage for a regional war. We have NOT decisively defeated our enemy there and there is a better than even chance that Iran will soon attempt to assert its hegemony over the entire region. Once Iran acquires the nuclear bomb it will have the means to back up its breast beating and boasting. It Will BE number one, at least within the Arab/Persian community in the Middle East and North Africa.
Soon our forces will be withdrawn from Afghanistan leaving it for the Taliban to "re-seize" and then visit their revenge upon the current leaders of that hapless country and anyone else who has the temerity to even look askance at them.
The US has what has been called (charitably) a "Reluctant Warrior" as President in Obama. It is clear that he doesn't want to fight ... period. It has also become clear that he is trying desperately to cloak any US operations in Syria in dark secrecy to preserve "plausible deniability."
Unfortunately for the President, deniability is not plausible anymore and hasn't been, since, well -- before the Benghazi Betrayal! Some of us told you then
that the US was running guns to the Syrian rebels from Libya through
Turkey to the rebels -- all handled by the CIA with the US Ambassador
likely read-in to the operation. Obama's efforts throughout the Middle East have been successfully countered by the Muslim countries and Muslim organizations and now -- Obama wants out.
Closing nearly two dozen embassies throughout the Middle East on the strength of some ethereal threat not only makes the US look wimpish, it also enhances the terrorist's claim that they are driving the US out of the Middle East.
Look. It's no secret that, save for Israel, America would be glad to shake the dust of the Middle East off our feet and leave them to kill each other off. Trouble is, their kind of hatred cannot be contained. It cannot be placated nor passified. It must be met with force -- and obliterated.
Chances are very high that sometime soon we will be at war, on some level, with Iran. Wishing the coming conflict with Iran away will not work. The planet cannot allow Iran to gain nuclear weapons.
There are, currently, only two countries capable of taking on Iran: the US and Israel.
There is no way the US is going to be allowed a clean break from the Middle East.
It is interesting to note, I think, that many theologians believe that all human life had its common beginning in the Middle East around the Tigress and Euphrates Rivers in current day Iraq. Could it be that all human life will have its common end there, as well. If so, then man will have come full circle on this planet.
The unending war WILL end -- but it will conclude on the last day of the End of Days.
Look. America's days as a warrior nation are ended. It pains me to say this BUT -- Americans no longer take pride in their soldiers as a result of the social experiments the political left has forced upon our military. Without the support of the American public the US military is in serious danger of losing its connection to the heart and soul of America and will likely become little more than a collection of mercenaries fighting -- not for flag and country -- but for the paycheck each month.
Once our national economy begins to pick up, for real, we will see enlistment in the military begin dropping. Christians, especially evangelical Christians, are going to have to decide between serving their God or serving the US military. There can be no question as to their decision NOT to serve in the military. Many Christians already serving will not be re-enlisting when their current hitch is completed.
The plain truth is this: More damage has been done to the US military in the past two decades by its own leadership, both military and civilian, than the damage done by all America's enemies combined.
In the meantime, the never ending war continues apace as a leaderless America blunders from one crisis to another, from one battlefield to another with victory always elusive, maddeningly close but just out of reach.
As the Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux Chief, Sitting Bull, watched his people and his nation crumble and fall to the white man he is quoted as wondering aloud: "When I was a boy, the Sioux owned the world. The sun rose and set on their land; they sent ten thousand men to battle. Where are the warriors today? Who slew them? Where are our lands? Who owns them?
Apparently the old expression: "Everything that (What) goes around, comes around" has credibility, because in recent years I have found myself asking some of the same questions the old Sioux tribal chief, asked himself. Unfortunately, while the answers may be different, the end result appears to be the same. Apparently the laws governing the rise and fall of nations apply to both great and small nations. The Fates, it would seem, don't really care who you are -- the Sioux or the Americans.
© J. D. Longstreet
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