Americans Learn Lessons From History the Hard Way
It is a blessing that the military and political leadership of the United States seems to be the most historically knowledgeable element of American society. If what appears in the media is any indication of what the American public understands about the Global War on Terrorism, we can all sleep better knowing that our common defense isn’t in their hands. Phrases like “No Blood for Oil,” and “War Is Not the Answer,” and the ridiculous attempts to get city councils to pass anti-war resolutions reveal how far removed many Americans are from historical and geopolitical reality.
The American public has always been slow in recognizing external threats not only to our own, but also the world’s collective security. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan are but the most glaring and shameful examples of American reluctance to look past our isolationist natures. That US military and materiel contributions in World War II more than made up for our late entry does not excuse American lack of foresight and resolve during the 1930s and early part of the war.
FDR and our military leadership were not to blame. Roosevelt early on recognized the threat to world peace that the Axis Powers represented, especially Hitler and the Nazis. It is a dark stain upon the American conscious that while Nazi panzer divisions were rolling across Europe subjugating millions of human beings, and Japanese forces were raping and murdering millions more in China, we had to wait until American lives were lost at Pearl Harbor before our “public” would stomach sending American troops to fight against tyranny. Ironically enough, there were still voices in the United States who questioned why we needed to focus our main effort against Nazi Germany, when it had been Japan that attacked Pearl Harbor! As if Nazi aggression wasn’t linked hand-in-hand with that of Imperial Japan.
Does this sound familiar?
There are Americans all around us today who do not understand that we are already at war. They seem to have forgotten that we have been at war since our country was attacked on September 11, 2001. United States military forces have been in continuous military operations in Afghanistan, and later, Iraq, ever since. We have military advisors and Special Operations forces fighting in the Philippines and East Africa. Currently, our military is preparing, if necessary, to launch another campaign in this war (not a “new” war) against the nuclear ambitions of the psychotic dictator in Iran. North Korea may be next.
Yet what do we hear and read about everyday? Americans asking why we are in Iraq, and perhaps later, North Korea? They’re not the ones who attacked America! It was Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda organization, backed by the Taliban government of Afghanistan. The Taliban’s fallen, and bin Laden’s probably dead, so we should all pack up, go home, and call it even, right? September 11’s been avenged. This war’s taking too long, it’s messing up my travel plans! Let the UN and Europe take care of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea—heck, Germany, France, and Great Britain got the world into the mess it’s in today, anyway! Who cares if Tehran and Pyongyang are trying to get nuclear weapons, we have them, too, so who are we to tell them what to do?
Can Americans really be this ignorant? Does anybody really believe that Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda are completely separate organizations, with no ties whatsoever to any other militant Islamic group or Arab government? Does American public and UN/world opinion actually need President Bush to conjure up evidence that Iran and North Korea are threats to world peace? What will be good enough? A photo showing Iranian dictator Ahmadinejad shaking hands with bin Laden? North Korea declaring a resumption of nuclear development, and a right to preemptively attack the US? They’ve already done this. Captured plans revealing Ahmadinejad’s intention to bring “Death to the United States” and “Death to Israel?” We already know he would love nothing better than to achieve this goal. What kind of “smoking gun” does the US have to find that will make folks put down their “War Is Not the Answer” bumper stickers, and make the UN actually do something to fight evil?
Is this what Americans want? A world where US leadership, power, and the right to defend ourselves has been subordinated to a consensus of timid appeasers both here at home and in the United Nations, whose sense of history goes back only to the point where America became the world’s sole superpower? These people are cut from the same cloth as those who let Hitler march into Austria and annex Czechoslovakia. Today, those who would want “Peace in Our Time” are begging that “diplomacy” and “talks” run their course. They want “inspections” before action. They will do anything to delay a US attack on our enemies for who knows what reasons! Maybe so they can continue trading and cutting “Food for Oil” deals with them.
America did not wake up after September 11, 2001. Trust me, we are still asleep. We will continue to be asleep until Americans realize that there are evil forces in the world that hate us “just because.” They hate our culture, our power, our wealth, they hate how free we are, and they hate all the good that we have contributed to humankind. They will hate us whether we support their causes or oppose them. They will try to destroy us whether we march for peace or war. Even if we stopped backing Israel, withdrew all of military forces from every corner of the globe, and gave every poor person in the world a check for $1,000, those forces would still hate us and want to destroy us! They are only emboldened by timidity and appeasement, and understand no diplomacy other than violence. And we are in big trouble if we refuse to accept the fact that at this very moment, there are groups of people—agents of Al Qaeda, Ahmadinejad, Hizbollah, and North Korea, who are planning to seriously harm Americans and the United States. No, America will not wake up until one of our cities is destroyed.
In a side note, the Pasadena Unified School District Board once tried to get one of those anti-war resolutions passed just before we launched the Iraq Campaign. Part of the wording of the resolution reads, in effect, that the school board “opposes any military action against Iraq unless as a response to a direct military attack by that country.” Ironic, isn’t it? I wonder if Americans would think differently if on September 10, 2001, all of the companies in the World Trade Center had signed a similar resolution opposing military action against Al Qaeda and the Taliban regime, “unless as a response to a direct attack” by them.
Preemptive attacks always seem more attractive when you’re the one who’s going to get killed waiting for a “smoking gun.”
Any volunteers?
It is a blessing that the military and political leadership of the United States seems to be the most historically knowledgeable element of American society. If what appears in the media is any indication of what the American public understands about the Global War on Terrorism, we can all sleep better knowing that our common defense isn’t in their hands. Phrases like “No Blood for Oil,” and “War Is Not the Answer,” and the ridiculous attempts to get city councils to pass anti-war resolutions reveal how far removed many Americans are from historical and geopolitical reality.
The American public has always been slow in recognizing external threats not only to our own, but also the world’s collective security. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan are but the most glaring and shameful examples of American reluctance to look past our isolationist natures. That US military and materiel contributions in World War II more than made up for our late entry does not excuse American lack of foresight and resolve during the 1930s and early part of the war.
FDR and our military leadership were not to blame. Roosevelt early on recognized the threat to world peace that the Axis Powers represented, especially Hitler and the Nazis. It is a dark stain upon the American conscious that while Nazi panzer divisions were rolling across Europe subjugating millions of human beings, and Japanese forces were raping and murdering millions more in China, we had to wait until American lives were lost at Pearl Harbor before our “public” would stomach sending American troops to fight against tyranny. Ironically enough, there were still voices in the United States who questioned why we needed to focus our main effort against Nazi Germany, when it had been Japan that attacked Pearl Harbor! As if Nazi aggression wasn’t linked hand-in-hand with that of Imperial Japan.
Does this sound familiar?
There are Americans all around us today who do not understand that we are already at war. They seem to have forgotten that we have been at war since our country was attacked on September 11, 2001. United States military forces have been in continuous military operations in Afghanistan, and later, Iraq, ever since. We have military advisors and Special Operations forces fighting in the Philippines and East Africa. Currently, our military is preparing, if necessary, to launch another campaign in this war (not a “new” war) against the nuclear ambitions of the psychotic dictator in Iran. North Korea may be next.
Yet what do we hear and read about everyday? Americans asking why we are in Iraq, and perhaps later, North Korea? They’re not the ones who attacked America! It was Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda organization, backed by the Taliban government of Afghanistan. The Taliban’s fallen, and bin Laden’s probably dead, so we should all pack up, go home, and call it even, right? September 11’s been avenged. This war’s taking too long, it’s messing up my travel plans! Let the UN and Europe take care of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea—heck, Germany, France, and Great Britain got the world into the mess it’s in today, anyway! Who cares if Tehran and Pyongyang are trying to get nuclear weapons, we have them, too, so who are we to tell them what to do?
Can Americans really be this ignorant? Does anybody really believe that Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda are completely separate organizations, with no ties whatsoever to any other militant Islamic group or Arab government? Does American public and UN/world opinion actually need President Bush to conjure up evidence that Iran and North Korea are threats to world peace? What will be good enough? A photo showing Iranian dictator Ahmadinejad shaking hands with bin Laden? North Korea declaring a resumption of nuclear development, and a right to preemptively attack the US? They’ve already done this. Captured plans revealing Ahmadinejad’s intention to bring “Death to the United States” and “Death to Israel?” We already know he would love nothing better than to achieve this goal. What kind of “smoking gun” does the US have to find that will make folks put down their “War Is Not the Answer” bumper stickers, and make the UN actually do something to fight evil?
Is this what Americans want? A world where US leadership, power, and the right to defend ourselves has been subordinated to a consensus of timid appeasers both here at home and in the United Nations, whose sense of history goes back only to the point where America became the world’s sole superpower? These people are cut from the same cloth as those who let Hitler march into Austria and annex Czechoslovakia. Today, those who would want “Peace in Our Time” are begging that “diplomacy” and “talks” run their course. They want “inspections” before action. They will do anything to delay a US attack on our enemies for who knows what reasons! Maybe so they can continue trading and cutting “Food for Oil” deals with them.
America did not wake up after September 11, 2001. Trust me, we are still asleep. We will continue to be asleep until Americans realize that there are evil forces in the world that hate us “just because.” They hate our culture, our power, our wealth, they hate how free we are, and they hate all the good that we have contributed to humankind. They will hate us whether we support their causes or oppose them. They will try to destroy us whether we march for peace or war. Even if we stopped backing Israel, withdrew all of military forces from every corner of the globe, and gave every poor person in the world a check for $1,000, those forces would still hate us and want to destroy us! They are only emboldened by timidity and appeasement, and understand no diplomacy other than violence. And we are in big trouble if we refuse to accept the fact that at this very moment, there are groups of people—agents of Al Qaeda, Ahmadinejad, Hizbollah, and North Korea, who are planning to seriously harm Americans and the United States. No, America will not wake up until one of our cities is destroyed.
In a side note, the Pasadena Unified School District Board once tried to get one of those anti-war resolutions passed just before we launched the Iraq Campaign. Part of the wording of the resolution reads, in effect, that the school board “opposes any military action against Iraq unless as a response to a direct military attack by that country.” Ironic, isn’t it? I wonder if Americans would think differently if on September 10, 2001, all of the companies in the World Trade Center had signed a similar resolution opposing military action against Al Qaeda and the Taliban regime, “unless as a response to a direct attack” by them.
Preemptive attacks always seem more attractive when you’re the one who’s going to get killed waiting for a “smoking gun.”
Any volunteers?
posted by victor cass | 1:57 AM
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