Quote:
Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna
Your response was thoughtful and I appreciated reading it. I want to agree Rubicon, but my head nodding up and down is limited by a couple facts... - We've entered three wars in the last fifty years and haven't won any of them. Not only haven't we won militarily, but we haven't achieved many of our original objectives for entering those wars. We can study and debate the military and political reasons for those results, but our failure to "win" is unassailable.
- In the process of fighting those three wars, we've killed and maimed thousands of young Americans. The result is that the American public has largely lost it's appetite for war. The sacrifices made by American families who sons and daughters fought hose wars are all in a very narrow slice of the American public, generally the lower income, less well-educated classes. If a vote was held today to question whether we should enter a war as you suggest, but that the human sacrifice be shared by all classes of Americans, it's almost certain that the answer would be a resoundingly 'NO'.
- And it's quite apparent that our war efforts in recent decades have cost the country so much treasure that it's arguable that we couldn't afford to finance another long war, which an attack on Iran surely would cause.
So as much as I'd like to agree with all that you've said, I'm afraid that we've reached a point in our national history where we're simply incapable of doing what you suggest. Or if we did, it would likely be the fourth consecutive losing effort, which would likely tip the county into complete bankruptcy. |
VK Thank you for your return response. I pose the question of who were our leaders in those last three efforts? Democrats. Bush's efforts were succeeding in both of our recent theatres. It was not until the Democrats assumed power that things really went down hill. Why is that so. It is so because if you really want to win then you need a full commitment from Congress and the President and you need to get out of the way of Generals
How can you say that you are effectively fighting a war to win when you announce to the enemy your day of withdrawal. Its plain insanity. If I were a solider on the line I might be saying to myself about now "Why the heck should I expose myself to death or injury if we are wrapping this thing up in a few months"....and then walk away from the battle. Who could fault any solider from doing so?
Secondly as much as it displeases many people we really need to go back to a draft. Paid mercenaries contributed greatly to the fall of Rome. The draft while not perfect will fall pretty equally among the soci-economic spectrum
We have young people that are so apathetic about foreign policy that they don't even know where most of these countries are located. They are so detached that they can't recognize the importance of defending our democracy. I have engaged conversation with young people and when it comes to the issue of defense their response is "its not my problem"
Why do they say that because they have noskin in the game and because there are kids responsible enough or in need of an opportunity that will enlist. However there are not enough of them and they continually get recycled until they are dead or spent
There is another reality and its is raising its ugly head as I knew it would and that is the costs associated with an all volunteer Army. It is becoming cost prohibitive to maintain such a military. Frankly I am half serious about the fact that I am surprised that a union hasn't recruited memebers of the Armed Forces.
Just my opinon...others to decide