I don’t deny that the threat of terrorist attacks against our America is both real and possible. But here’s a question that continues to plague me. What negative part, if any, have we in America played in creating this difficult challenge for ourselves? Many would have us believe that we are totally innocent and only trying to protect the rest of the world. I would differ with this view and argue that we have contributed significantly in terms of creating the problems we now face with terrorists.
For me, the Vietnam War is a good analogy for where we now are regarding terrorists throughout the world.
When President Kennedy ordered military advisors into Vietnam back in 1963, I supported his decision. And then, in response to a debate about his actions that began to take place in that year, I started to read all that I could about Vietnam, and I soon came to the conclusion that our president’s policy of military advisors in Vietnam would be counter productive to our own best interests. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the view that I held for the next dozen years became the minority view of our citizens, and thus, we soon found ourselves involved in a major war in Vietnam for a decade which cost us dearly in lives and money.
We lost that war. But were the results of that war as related to our international interests damaged forever? No! On the contrary, today we have a decent relationship with Vietnam, a Vietnam now controlled politically by the descendants of those who fought and won against us five decades ago.
And now, here we are again attempting to act as our earth’s police officer. And what is the cost for our actions which we have been taking for almost two decades in the Middle East? Thousands of our military lives lost, trillions of dollars spent, and all for what? So that we could turn Iraq and Afghanistan into mirror objects of America’s political and social system?
Our efforts during World War Two showed that when attacked, we had the will and the strength to resist and then overcome our military enemies. Our efforts over the past decade and longer have shown that we still may be strong enough to win military victories against anyone. But forcing other nations to become exactly like us remains a loosing proposition. Just ask the former Soviet Union officials who tried mightily to crush their next door neighbor, Afghanistan, with the Soviet’s second strongest military force in the world. Only after ten years of fighting their losing battle did they finally realize there was a better result for themselves in packing up and leaving that nation and allowing Afghanistan to fight its own internal battles.
It is past time for our America to refocus our energy on the challenge of making our national body, our people and our infrastructure, strong, healthy and safe, so that we might be better able to lead the world by example as opposed to by force.
Now, does all that I have said mean that we should ignore the terrorist threats against us currently out there? Absolutely not. I believe we were right to go after bin Laden and we should use our resources as well as we can to understand where the terrorists are and what what we need to do to combat effectively any actual planned attacks against our nation’s land and against our people. But is solving all of the problems faced by nations like Syria our job? I think not.
And there you have it. My view. Ask me in 20 or 30 years if I have been proven right. I may be able to tell you by then. And then again, maybe not.
For me, the Vietnam War is a good analogy for where we now are regarding terrorists throughout the world.
When President Kennedy ordered military advisors into Vietnam back in 1963, I supported his decision. And then, in response to a debate about his actions that began to take place in that year, I started to read all that I could about Vietnam, and I soon came to the conclusion that our president’s policy of military advisors in Vietnam would be counter productive to our own best interests. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the view that I held for the next dozen years became the minority view of our citizens, and thus, we soon found ourselves involved in a major war in Vietnam for a decade which cost us dearly in lives and money.
We lost that war. But were the results of that war as related to our international interests damaged forever? No! On the contrary, today we have a decent relationship with Vietnam, a Vietnam now controlled politically by the descendants of those who fought and won against us five decades ago.
And now, here we are again attempting to act as our earth’s police officer. And what is the cost for our actions which we have been taking for almost two decades in the Middle East? Thousands of our military lives lost, trillions of dollars spent, and all for what? So that we could turn Iraq and Afghanistan into mirror objects of America’s political and social system?
Our efforts during World War Two showed that when attacked, we had the will and the strength to resist and then overcome our military enemies. Our efforts over the past decade and longer have shown that we still may be strong enough to win military victories against anyone. But forcing other nations to become exactly like us remains a loosing proposition. Just ask the former Soviet Union officials who tried mightily to crush their next door neighbor, Afghanistan, with the Soviet’s second strongest military force in the world. Only after ten years of fighting their losing battle did they finally realize there was a better result for themselves in packing up and leaving that nation and allowing Afghanistan to fight its own internal battles.
It is past time for our America to refocus our energy on the challenge of making our national body, our people and our infrastructure, strong, healthy and safe, so that we might be better able to lead the world by example as opposed to by force.
Now, does all that I have said mean that we should ignore the terrorist threats against us currently out there? Absolutely not. I believe we were right to go after bin Laden and we should use our resources as well as we can to understand where the terrorists are and what what we need to do to combat effectively any actual planned attacks against our nation’s land and against our people. But is solving all of the problems faced by nations like Syria our job? I think not.
And there you have it. My view. Ask me in 20 or 30 years if I have been proven right. I may be able to tell you by then. And then again, maybe not.
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