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

[David Addleton]

I didn't mean to suggest USA had ICBMs in WWII or used them vs the Japanese

On Jan 5, 2008 11:24 AM, David Addleton <dfaddleton at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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)
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------
> > Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape<http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489>in the new year.
> >
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> >
> >
>
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