When Will They Ever Learn?

As the mid-20^th century ballad laments,

… “When will they ever learn?”

With the exception of the Persian Gulf War, the United States has not fought a major war to a successful conclusion since the Korean Conflict.

I’ll sing it again.

When will they ever learn?

Let’s consider a few examples:

Vietnam 

(to which the afore-mentioned ballad alluded)

After years of war, our government signed a peace treaty with the North Vietnamese in 1973 laying out a demilitarized zone which split the peninsular in half. North and South. Two years later the North Vietnamese Army marched, unopposed, into South Vietnam. 60,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines spilled their life blood over the course of a decade, and countless thousands were maimed, and emotionally devastated. And for what? One has only to visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall to begin to (literally) count the cost in human lives and suffering.

Afghanistan

As the result of 911, our military ground forces invaded Afghanistan in order to teach the Taliban a lesson; given their refusal to turn over Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the infamous wide-scale terrorist attack on the United States.

The longest war in the history of the United States. Granted, Bin Laden is dead, but the hordes of Taliban fighters have only migrated to new strongholds, and continue to recruit new members. In the meantime, multiplied thousands of our troops have given the last full measure of devotion, and at this writing several American Army brigades still reside there.

Iraq

As the result of faulty information about the so-called “Weapons of Mass Destruction” President Bush sent in troops to occupy Iraq, and depose President Saddam Hussein. Well, ultimately Hussein was captured, tried and hung. But in the meantime, the initially appreciative Iraqi citizenship have become less so, and several thousand of our military men and women received mortal wounds and succumbed to their inevitable fate. And ultimately, after the expenditure of blood, sweat and tears, and the investment of a trillion dollars, the massive U.S. military presence was withdrawn.

And the clincher of all clinchers, as the result of the deposal of Saddam, and his previous ability to maintain the status quo, ISIS has raised its ugly head, and is on the verge of mounting a successful campaign against not only Iraq, but Syria, and the destiny of additional Arab countries remains an unknown. At last report, over a thousand American troops have returned in a mission to undergird Kurdish rebels and the ( thus far cowardly) Iraqi Army in their struggle against the “Islamic State.” And sadly enough, perhaps a third of the hard-won territory our troops conquered in the initial invasion is now in the hands of ISIS.

Syria

Today the latest so-called President of the United States announced that he was sending a small number of special forces troops into Syria in order to provide logistical assistance to the Kurds and Free Syrian forces involved in the ongoing undeclared war with ISIS. Given the history of the United States military, and their inept civilian overseers “A few” so often metamorphoses into “A few more.”

Strike up the band

“When Will They Ever Learn? 

… When Will They Ever Learn?”

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**(And to be sure, nothing to which I have alluded detracts from the brave service of our military men and women. They have rendered the most honorable service to this great nation; and whether good, bad or indifferent, they always go where they are sent. The foregoing blog is more of a sad commentary on the errant plans of a civilian government which time, and time again errs on the side of occupying foreign countries, when occupation might have been avoided, and thus repeating the same old worn-out mistakes of the past).

By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 17, Copyright pending

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