When I read that in this morning's Wall Street Journal about the debacle unfolding in Iraq, Boka Haram routing Africa unabated, Syria in open civil war, etc, etc and yes our POTUS is "calming" our future military leaders with language that all is good; I just find myself rubbing my forehead in angst at this Administration. We read much today, a whole industry has evolved, about bullying. I have always detested bullying but learned in this life that to counter act a bully, you must yield strength and courage in the midst of the abusive nature.
Thinking of the thousands of men and women we have sacrificed and the untold trillions of dollars in these places to protect and defend and to rebuild their nations based on safety, democracy and freedom and then to see Iraq implode completely is simply sickening and inexcusable. We, America, has the largest and most well used intelligence gathering apparatus ever assembled and we love to tout that fact. So to read, "caught off guard" by the events in Iraq is hideous and unforgivable. But then we watch the other militant aggression in Africa and the Middle East and I seek to understand how this could happen but then I back up one more step and ask myself the more complex question, who really cares? That is cold I realize but honestly I think that question pierces the heart of the issue; do we as Americans in 2014 even care about an entire region that is being consumed in fundamentalist radicals SEEKING TO DESTROY AMERICA?
This is all more tangible to me in having taught so many returning Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers over the last ten years and thus seeing the ever present ghosts that will linger a life time manifesting their presence in myriad ways. I still feel the volunteer military concept is flawed on many fronts. I cannot escape trying to understand the parallel of history in the 1940s to the 2000s from a national, citizenry view. I pose that for I have long felt the landscape of America in the lead up to WWII versus today rests as core to where we are in this great "surprise" unfolding in Iraq. Some will say I am anti-Obama, again, but what I am is anti-wasting our lives and treasure for nothing in return. THAT is what I am seeing with Iraq and these other places. In WWII, the entire American public was involved in the conflict both at home and abroad. That has never happened since and we see where that has led us I believe. Nobody wants war but war, once initiated, must be fought with overwhelming power and force by the entire nation. Only a very 1% of America's population are in any way engaged in protecting the 99%. The numbers staggeringly speak for themselves.
In almost every class I taught for ten years, 142 of them, I would find a way to ask the question about the students thoughts on a volunteer versus a conscription system to protect America. Somewhere in the range of 100% of young people have no intention or desire to serve this nation in any capacity but especially in the military. We love our nation and its many opportunities and freedom yet will push against service to that nation to protect it from aggression; that always made my gut hurt in listening to the comments. That is not throwing a rock at the students of the new century but it reflects a complete lack of patriotism by their parents, the post Baby Boomers. That yields a sense of entitlement and expectation of being owed by this generation. NOBODY IS OWED ANYTHING in a democracy but the Liberal political machine would certainly paint a different picture.
America has not lost its scepter of power and strength. America has just chosen to lay that scepter of strength and respect on the altar hoping peace will reside; but it does not and it never has. Peace comes from freedom and freedom IS NOT FREE. What we sadly see unfolding in Iraq and soon to be Afghanistan is testament to America pushing back from our global, history responsibility. The great analogy of Nero fiddling while Rome burned is so unbelievably applicable today and that hurts me at the heart.
America and the treasured American experiment of our Fore Fathers has been placed in a closet and I think never to see the light of day. And the bullies of the world are watching and moving and moving toward America. The Wilson Era doves that wanted to just pull up the walls on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and let the world just go ahead with whatever while we enjoyed peace led to WWI, the II then Korea, then .. see my point? Nobody no long fears thus nobody respects America is the blast signal beaming throughout the world. THAT is dangerous beyond measure!
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