About 4 years ago I happened to reconnect with an old friend of my father at Dad's funeral. He was in his 80's and had served in both the Korean War and World War II. We agreed to meet the next day at the local American Legion to reminisce a bit. This gentleman makes a heck of an argument for justification of a war with Iraq.
I asked him to give me a little history lesson and his thoughts today on War. I am sharing this because it is a different look at the War. It is not my opinion just thoughts from an honorable man that lived through two Wars and that I have a great respect for.
Thoughts to think about:
I'm not going to get into a history lesson. The short, short version is that the League of Nations (established after WW I to prevent wars) failed to stop Mussolini's Italy from invading and conquering Ethiopia. It failed to stop Japan from invading and conquering Manchuria and much of China. Their committees wrung their hands spoke in platitudes but did absolutely nothing to stop war.
At France's coaxing Britain's Prime Minister Nevil Chamberlain met with Adolph Hitler in Munich and surrendered the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany in the interest of "peace in our time." The French and British watched as Germany took Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia. They all had committee meetings and wrung their hands and talked of peace.
World War II erupted when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Britain had a mutual defense treaty with Poland so they couldn't escape. They declared war on Germany. Germany had a mutual defense treaty with Japan so Japan declared war on Britain. France wet their pants and surrendered to Germany as fast as they could and gleefully shipped all the Jews they could find to death camps in Germany to prove to Adolph that they really were on the side of Germany.
Japan attacked the United States and, because of Japan's mutual defense treaty with Germany, Germany declared war on the United States. Up until December 7th and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a large number of our people were wringing their hands and saying, "Appease Hitler. He is really a good guy who just needed a little more land for his expanding population. The dear man just wants peace." And World War II was in full swing leaving better than 50,000,000 people dead including about 450,000 American soldiers and sailors. Three cheers for the League of Nations!
After World War II it was decided to do the whole thing all over again. This time we would call it the United Nations and we will have committee meetings and hand wringing parties and make sure peace prevails throughout the land. While that august body wrung hands the Soviet Union split Germany, invaded Poland and Yugoslavia, Rumania, Hungary and Bulgaria along with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
The peaceful world saw Korea with 37,000 American soldiers killed, over 1,000,000 South Korean soldiers and civilians killed and the country nearly destroyed.
Since then we have had over 50,000 American soldiers killed in Vietnam and have fought wars in Somalia, Herzegovina, Panama, Granada, plus the Gulf War when Iraq invaded Kuwait. We should have gone into Baghdad and taken out that evil regime then but the United Nations would have no part of that. All they would allow was for us to chase the Iraqis out of Kuwait, then peace would prevail.
Now, here we are with Saddam violating all 17 United Nations resolutions while he has massed poison gas and bio weapons. He is frantically trying to develop a nuke and his buddy, Kim Jong-II of North Korea may give him a few. (It was the United Nations who prevented us from taking North Korea when the war was hot and we had the means to do it.) Peace!!!!!!!! Sure.
France is wetting their collective pants in fear that the United States will take Saddam out and along with him, France's 60 billion dollar contracts with Iraq. Russia hedges because Iraq owes them 6 billion dollars that they sorely need.
In answer to your question... hell, yes, we should go to war with Iraq. We should have done it six months ago. We should also get out of the United Nations. Can you believe that the United Nations has appointed Iraq and Syria to head up the United Nations Disarmament Committee? Can you believe they have appointed Libya to head up the Human Rights Committee? All three of these countries are on the UN List of Terrorist States... Absolutely unbelievable.
Just don't get me going. Throughout recorded history the only time peace has prevailed is when the good guys have militarily whipped the bad guys.
Who are our best friends in the world? Japan because we whipped them. Germany because we whipped them. Italy because we whipped them. Britain because we whipped them.
This is one opinion, on the War but this is the eyes, ears and heart of an American Veteran...
