Ten years ago, Blackwater contractors and US troops unleashed two battles to take control of Fallujah. Thousands of Iraqis and scores of Americans were killed. Ten years later, Al Qaeda is back in charge, underscoring the utter pointlessness of war.
War is a Force That Gives Us Meaninglessness
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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The Revolutionary War was pointless?
In view of the fact that the U.S. Government is systematically dismantling the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, you might be right. In view of the fact that the People are acquiescing to the enforced elimination of those rights that were defended in WWII, you might be right.
In view of the fact that U.S. Customs has the authority to confiscate any and all electronic equipment at the border or at any airport, if they “feel” that something is amiss, you might be right.
Folks who claim: “Well, if you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear” make me sick. Google “Niemöller” of Germany.
The Japanese leadership was happy with a feudal economy and banned foreign ships so the serfs wouldn’t get ideas. The Brits forced the Japanese to accept British ships that landed quietly in remote places. The US humiliated the Japanese leadership, and showed that samurai were no match for US cannon. So Japan abandoned feudalism and industrialised. Their entire economy was based on buying cheap raw materials from the US and selling cheap products to the US. And still, most Japanese were malnourished, not getting enough to eat as children so their growth was severely stunted.
In 1930, the US banned all Japanese imports, and Japan was desperate, and came up with ‘East Asia for East Asians.’ The US pointed out that Japan had no right to touch any US colonies or concessions. Or else. Eventually, the US ordered an embargo on Japan. Japan was desperate, when someone suggested sinking all the capital ships in the US Pacific fleet. It was a desperate plan. And it was a miserable failure. The US economy, shut down for inscrutable reasons, re-started. In six months, the US had a new fleet. And six months later, another new fleet.
Japan tried to surrender, but the US refused. Truman wanted to turn all of Japan into Trinitite, but pity stayed his hand. ‘It’s a pity we don’t have any more nuclear weapons.’ The Japanese surrender was probably because the Soviets declared war, and Japan knew how the Soviets treated royalty. Surrender to the Americans might have resulted in the execution of the Emperor. A Soviet invasion would have meant certain slaughter of the entire royal family.
And that was the last war where the US went to war against those who actually attacked the US.
Korea, Vietnam, Latin American interventions, all were to stop the fall of dominoes. All were based on not repeating Chamberlain’s mistake, when Chamberlain did the most sensible thing, delaying the war for a year so Britain could better prepare (and put up the radar shield). Plus Grenada and Panamá. And then Iraq and Afghanistan.
America was attacked by 15 Saudis and four more Arabs, none from Iraq. So Bush, jr rightly punished Iraq and Afghanistan. Had he been president in ’41, the US wouldn’t have foolishly attacked our good friend Japan, Bush, jr would have demanded baksheesh from Japan and then invaded Thailand (about the only country that wasn’t a mercantile colony or concession of a Western European nation or the US).
The US is the strongest nation from a military perspective. A military that consumes as much as the rest of the world combined, and can destroy any other nation. And most voters support a strong US military that is able to impose US conditions on the rest of the world. And if someone in the rest of the world objects, US voters strongly support teaching someone, somewhere (probably someone totally unrelated) a lesson they’ll not soon forget.
‘How,’ some loony leftists (and rabid rightists like Fred) ask, ‘can we change this?’
The overwhelming majority of American voters say, ‘Change perfection? Why? Are you crazy?’
Your points about Japan cannot be made enough. Most people seem to accept without question that hundreds of thousands of definite deaths are better than millions of hypothetical ones. Unless the goal were actual conquest, why was unconditional surrender so necessary anyway? Why not allow a proud people to retain some dignity? And these same people who think that all this killing in Germany and Japan was necessary think fighting the Soviets would have been terrible because of the amount of life it would have cost…
I disagree over your points about American attitudes. A strong majority of Americans think “Defense” should be cut. A majority also thinks we should not “police the world.” The bloated military exists because the dollar is a good deal for only the bankers and US government. The rest of the world knows this and thus must be robbed at gunpoint.
Agree with you, Michael, about the importance of the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan in the decision of the leadership of that country to accept the Potsdam surrender terms, but your claim that «Truman wanted to turn all of Japan into Trinitite» is not supported by the evidence ; consider the exchange between Truman and Georgia senator Richard Brevard Russell (http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/documents/fulltext.php?fulltextid=22)….
As to Ted’s remark on the «pointlessness» of war, beauty is, as always, in the eyes of the beholder – to industrialists, politicians, and pundits who reap immense profits or at least a decent living from war, it is hardly pointless….
Henri
“Al Qaeda will be in charge again”………AGAIN!? Al Qaeda wasn’t in charge in Iraq…they weren’t there until WE invaded……god dammit Ted that is one of my biggest pet peeves of the whole thing, that they don’t even respond to this lie…..they don’t even argue their point, they just ignore it…and everyone ignores it….no…no no no no no. We created this mess like we created Al Qaeda and the Taliban to begin with.
@ Aggie_Dude –
Way back yonder when, I gave a speech in War Memorial Park, before a crowd of people protesting the invasion of Iraq. It included a reference to the fact that Al-Qaeda wasn’t a problem prior to the U.S. invasion. After their government was effectively deposed by American forces, Al-Qaeda felt confidant they could come out and bring havoc. Sad, isn’t it?
Little Rock, Arkansas
Ted. You’re thinking about this like a liberal. You gotta put yourself in the Republican mind to understand the “point of the Iraq war”. The point wasn’t to bring democracy, or even to make money and get oil. The point was to: KILL SADDAM. Why? Because the bush family felt Saddam had insulted them. That is literally all there was to this war. America won the war because we killed Saddam. Secondary objectives: prove to the Euros that we can do what we want and their opinions don’t mean shit to us. Mission accomplished! Distant third objective: kill Muslims. See them driven before us. Hear the lamentations of their woman. Mission accomplished.
to understand the Republican mind you have to think like a Mafioso, or a righteous warrior. Eye for two eyes, a tooth for your jaw. That’s the point.
Hey, Ted –
A couple years ago I saw a cartoon being reprinted, something along the lines of being in Iraq (Afghanistan?) until 2010. It was drawn during the early stages of the ‘war’ – but reprinted because it had accurately predicted the quagmire.
Was that yours? Or am I thinking of some other rabble rouser?
It could have been one of mine, but it sounds like it was probably a Tom Toles cartoon. I seem to remember that.