[at-l] (OT) Bombies, a Secret War, and Really Big Stone Jars

[David Addleton]

In our country, the United State of America, the decision to make war
theoretically lies with congress; foreign affairs is the province of the
president. But the cynics observe that war is just diplomacy by other means.


The constitutional framers separated these functions in hopes it would make
the USA a less bellicose nation. The framers failed, imho, because the USA
goes to war at about the pace of once a decade, for reasons hidden from the
public and for reasons stated to the public and often these reasons
conflict.

Americans ignore many wars they've fought, thinking they're too short-lived
or inconsequential to consider in their histories: exhibit A: "America's
Wars: a Complete History" at History Central on the web:
http://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox/1174981bdef804d9

Ignored in the "complete history" are the multitude of the wars against the
aboriginal peoples, wars that began before the USA became a nation and
continued unabated from its founding until the civil war; after the civil
war, the wars against the aboriginies resumed. Not listed: the war vs Mexico
to annex land for a railroad; the "cold" war that flared up in secret in
many times and places into a hot confrontation that may or may not have made
the headlines; military actions vs Panama and a caribbean island whose name
I've forgotten; the "war" on drugs which has affected primarily the northern
parts of south america; a failed effort vs Iran to rescue diplomatic
hostages; the Mayaguez incident vs cambodia; the secret proxy war vs the
soviet union in afghanistan, and the proxy wars vs the muslim countries
using Israeli soldiers, the Balkan Wars of the 1980s and 1990s, to name only
those that immediately come to mind . .

Whether word wide or limited in scope, the decision to go to war has always
involved consequences unintended by those who made the decision to use
violent diplomacy, and among them are the generational consequences that
follow from unexploded ordinance and the memories of the innocent bystanders
and the participants . . .

For better or worse, the United States IS a bellicose nation and is viewed
by the rest of the world as a bellicose nation for good and sound reasons,
reasons which are AT LEAST as good and sound as the reasons given for the
USA going to war in the first place. I will never forget what I heard many
times as a teenager growing up in south asia: "you don't know what terrorism
really is: its growing up and living with the knowledge that a nation you
cannot reach can destroy you without ever setting a human foot within your
borders; that the USA has not used its atomic tipped ICBMs since WWII does
not mean it won't use them again: it is the only nation that has ever used
such weapons of mass destruction and it may use them again whenever it
chooses." Reminding the speakers of the cuban missle crisis did not seem to
affect the speaker's opinions.

Reminding american voters of what presidential politics means about our
nation making war likewise does not seem to affect peoples' opinions in this
country . . .





On Jan 5, 2008 9:58 AM, <Bror8588 at aol.com> wrote:

>  In a message dated 2008-01-05 08:30:45 Eastern Standard Time,
> rcli4 at comcast.net writes:
>
> You forgot to tell how this was a main supply route that the loas govt
> rpeatedly promised to close.  The supplies brought in by this route were
> used to try to kill me.  Sorry if I don't fell sorry for the sons a bitches.
>
>
>
> What happened in the past is based upon War decisions but a new generation
> of children must live with the continuing danger in the now.  War is
> something that governments decide is necessary for one reason or another.
> As soldiers (or any military connection) do what they are ordered to do
> people are wounded and killed and the land gets scorched or left fallow with
> bombs and mines waiting for whomever will tread upon them. Little children
> of 2008 should not suffer from decisions made in 1968 or 1975 or whenever;
> the government -- USA or Laotian or the United Nations -- should address
> this situation (should have a long time ago) and clear the land of dangerous
> implements.  The people of today should not suffer from the decisions of
> yesterday.
>
> I can understand the anger and the righteousness that comes from having
> been a participant in a War from decades past and having to fight against
> phantoms and invisible forces (those not directly the enemy but certainly
> were and aided our sworn enemy at that time).  It is true that the area was
> a source of destructive supply, the aim of which was to harm our troops, and
> the tactics of that time probably needed to be efficient in obstructing said
> aid, but now we live in a time when the destruction continues long after the
> battles are done.
>
> After WW II in the Pacific there were those who hated the Japanese for a
> long time because of what they experienced in fighting the war that Japan
> instigated.  The Japanese were defeated and a system of occupation formed a
> nation that today has a strong economy and the people of Japan express their
> success in American markets, and in the world economy are fairly well off.
> The aid given to the Japanese after the War was the right thing to do.  What
> was left in the aftermath of the Vietnam War was a tragedy and continues to
> be a tragedy.
>
> Little children should not suffer the consequences of government decisions
> from decades past.
>
> Jack Wahlberg (AKA Skylander)
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
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>
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