American Wars Seem to be Never Ending
American wars seem to have become a permanent part of the American landscape. While World War II is the last declared war , and the last truly necessary war that America has fought, the list of undeclared wars is long and ongoing.
After World War II American presidents and the American Congress became obsessed with all things involving the spread of communism, a competing political system. The Korean War and war with Vietnam tragically involved America in brutal combat in Asia, largely due to the domino theory which proposed that if one nation in Asia chose communism other nations would soon follow.
American has Wasted Vast Amounts of Resources Fighting Wars
In what were largely wars to boost America’s morale after losing the Vietnam war America sent troops into Panama and Granada. These actions were followed by the first George Bush president sending troops into the Mideast in Gulf War one. This was after the United States fought a proxy war with the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The mujahedin, with US support caused the withdrawal of Russian troops from Afghanistan in 1989. The involvement of American support and influence in the region after the Soviet defeat helped to create conditions in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan that led to the creation of Al Qaeda by Osama bin Laden, a former mujahedin and US ally in Afghanistan.
The 10 year war in Iraq led to the withdrawal of American combat troops, at least officially, in December 2011. The war in Afghanistan, which began in 2001 is still ongoing. Even after 11 years a relatively small number of Taliban fighting an asymmetrical war have prevented American and NATO troops from being victorious.
The Afghanistan war has gone very badly for America. President Obama originally set the time for American troop withdrawal to be 2014 but recent events have accelerated that timetable to 2013. It appears that conditions in Afghanistan have deteriorated sharply over the last two years and as the Soviets in 1989 America will not have a satisfactory conclusion to many years of warfare.
Even with the war in Afghanistan going so badly war drums are now being loudly for an American engagement with Iran. We seem to learn nothing from our wars. We enter wars without a clear exit plan, spend hundreds of billions of dollars and cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, including thousands of our own troops, without having realistic goals as to the purpose of the war.
American wars have had a detrimental effect on America. The money spent on wars could be far better spent on rebuilding infrastructure, revamping a declining educational system, developing a reliable railroad passenger system, investing in new technologies, rebuilding our manufacturing base, and generally working to make America a better place for its citizens.
Unfortunately, American wars have led to the militarization of America. Even police forces, those sworn to protect and serve, in many communities have become heavy-handed organizations equipped with military weapons and using military tactics to suppress any signs of opposition to the government.
Since world war two American wars have not served the country well. The military industrial complex has drastically expanded and seems to be controlling the United States government rather than serving the interests of the United States.
Should America enter into a war with Iran the consequences will likely be tragic. But for a country that seems to have become hooked on warfare the possibility of yet another unfavorable outcome may not be enough to prevent the war. Tragically,American wars seem to have become a permanent fixture in American life.
