Men of War

A retrospective glance at a century of wars . . .

While I applaud the use of the internet and related technologies to generate accurate and relevant information, I condemn those “web-sites and media” that wilfully inseminate susceptible, uninformed people with incendiary disinformation. It might surprise many of those who now engage in unrelenting Bush bashing, to see that our “more innocent than thou” Democratic party, has had a remarkable proclivity for immersing itself in violent, multi-casualty producing conflicts.

WWI ~ (1914 ~ 1918) We entered this war in 1917 under the direction of President Wilson, a Democrat. How many of us know that during that conflict, our 1917 Espionage Act effectively made free speech illegal and many people served long prison sentences for statements of fact that were deemed unpatriotic? The Sedition Act of 1918 ordered that publications critical of the government were to be removed from circulation by postal censors. This war was ended on Nov 11, 1918, a date we continue to celebrate annually as “Veterans Day.”

WWII ~ (1939 ~ !945) Immediately following the bombing at Pearl Harbor by Japan, on Dec 7, 1941, President Roosevelt, a Democrat, led us into the war that was raging in Europe. Here at home he hastened to place 120,000 Japanese Americans in concentration camps. Although the magnitude of that war was global, one major facet of the conflict was the Holocaust, during which millions of Jews were gassed to death in Germany. Those who escaped execution fled to neighboring Eastern countries and beyond. In 1948, the United Nations sanctioned the establishment of a small Jewish State in the Holy Land, and Jews who had been emigrating there were permitted to re-start their lives.

WWII ~ (Aug 1945) With the war in Europe ended, the war with Japan was approaching a victorious conclusion, when President Truman, a Democrat, ordered our forces to drop atom bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. In an instant, more than a quarter of a million Japanese men, women and children were incinerated and the genetic structure of those few who survived, forever changed. Nagasaki, it will be recalled, was the venue for Puccini's unforgettable Madame Butterfly. (Imagine the brouhaha, then and now, had this unforgiveable atrocity been committed by President George Bush!)

The Korean War ~ (1950 ~ 1953) When North Korea attacked and invaded South Korea, the United Nations responded and the U.S., still under the direction of President Truman, a Democrat, entered the conflict. After many thousands of casualties, this war remains suspended by an armistice, and we are still there with substantial numbers of our military forces.

The Vietnam Indochina War ~ (1959 ~ 1975) Our longest war thus far. We entered into it under the direction of President Kennedy, a Democrat, who was emerging from a disastrous “Bay of Pigs” invasion of Cuba. More than 58,000 U.S. soldiers were killed and 304,000 were wounded. Millions of Vietnamese and people of neighboring countries were killed. Why this war was fought has never been clearly understood. Nevertheless, it remained for President Nixon, a Republican, to bring it to an indecisive conclusion.

The Gulf War ~ (1991) King Fahd of Saudi Arabia pleaded with the U.S. to intervene in the conflict between Iraq and Kuwait. Saddam Hussein of Iraq had destabilized the entire region. With Congressional approval, the first President Bush, a Republican, responded. Our intervention very quickly succeeded in defeating Iraq, liberating Kuwait and re-stabilizing that area. Our casualties were minimal. But it needs to be noted that Iraq and Iran had just concluded their own enormously violent, multi-casualty war (1980 ~1988) in which Hussein used poison gas against his foe. Fortunately, his nuclear weapon program had been interrupted by Israeli bombing in 1981. (Ironically, history does not record that Iran ever expressed its gratitude to Israel.)

Iraq War ~ (2003~ ~) This war began in 2003. With the support of Congress and the United Nations, President George Bush, a Republican, invaded Iraq. Our forces were already in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban and pursuing Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Misleading intelligence reports had attested to charges that war mongering Iraq was manufacturing and amassing additional weapons of mass destruction. But also factored into our decision were the many attacks on U.S. positions and people all over the world, culminating in the savage attack on NYC and Washington on 9/11/2001 by Islamic jihadists.

Iraq’s military forces were quickly defeated and Saddam Hussein was captured, tried and executed. Contrary to the oft stated, naive assertions by opponents of the war, it has been a few years since this war was actually terminated. The turmoil that continues is attributed to militants and insurgents who are doing everything possible to keep that country destabilized. But fortunately, with more enlightened military direction and support, we are slowly succeeding in reconstructing and breathing new life into that desperate, long suffering nation. Indeed, we are helping it to establish a genuine and viable democracy in the very heart of Islam and when that goal is ultimately attained, the whole world will be the better for it. But right now, our military establishment is urgently needed by Iraq’s slowly developing government and it is expected, that only with its expressed consent will our forces continue to be stationed there.

Although a single casualty is to be deplored, in contrast with all of the above wars, our casualties in Iraq have been relatively small. But we are still much too close to this situation to have a totally accurate perspective. Yet, it is already conceivable that retrospective history will view the Bush Administration as having done Islam, the U.S. and the rest of the world a vitally necessary humanitarian service.

Comment: mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net