The War Mirage

We met as soul mates on Parris Island, we left as inmates from an asylum

And we were sharp, as sharp as knives, and we were so gung ho to lay down our lives

We came in spastic like tameless horses, we left in plastic as numbered corpses 

And it was dark, so dark at night night night night

And we held onto each other, like brother to brother

We promised our mothers we’d write

                                                            Billy Joel  1982

             I don't like government.  But you knew that already.  My biggest complaint is that whenever they get involved to try and fix a problem, they make the situation worse.  As Ronald Reagan said, “the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" But what if you put in time and money into something that doesn't make it worse, but doesn't have any effect at all? That might not be as bad, but it's frustrating nonetheless. 

          Now let's add some dead bodies to the equation.  The troubling thing about our recent history with war, is that it sure looks like ultimately the same thing would've happened whether we fought or not.

We ended up fighting in Korea and Vietnam to counter the spread of communism, but it largely collapsed on its own.  Historians can debate whether the buildup of weapons championed by Ronald Reagan was the predominant cause of the fall of communism in the Soviet Union and Europe, but fighting these wars was not.  Communism has turned out to be both a morally and economically bankrupt system of government.  I think it's just a matter of time before the always-on-the-edge-of-starvation North Koreans unify with the democratic South, and even communist China has a far less restrictive free enterprise system than they used to.

Similarly, we have fought two wars in Iraq and one in Afghanistan for a bunch of jumbled reasons, but the main one seems to be to stop the spread of fundamentalist Islam. But look at the Arab spring.  As it turns out, Muslims like freedom and not being tortured by dictators also. Who knew? I think in the long run, say 25-50 years out, all these Middle East countries will be largely democratic. In other words, I don't think any of these wars changed what would've happened without a shot being fired.

Of course the criticism of this analysis is that hindsight is 20-20, that there's no way that we could have predicted communist or Islamic dictatorships from collapsing without military involvement. And that's true to a point.  But maybe we have to have more faith in Western ideals and economics, and understand that people will strive and die for them without it being forced upon them.

It's too late to go back and undo the deaths and disfigurement of American soldiers, but it's a good question to ask in the future.  When contemplating yet another war, is our ultimate objective going to happen with or without our involvement?

Have a good night everyone.

JR