United States Must Stop Engaging in Unwinnable Wars

Every American must stand up to the United States government and demand the end of unwinnable wars. The United States military no longer wins wars; it loses them. So, as thousands of young men and women await the invasion of another country halfway around the world, which is not threatening the country, many ask, “why put our finest young men and women in danger of losing their lives or limbs?”

The people of Ukraine are unafraid, so why is the United States government focused on intervening in a situation which has no possibility of affecting the lives of Americans?

Anyone reading this and doubts my pacifist comments, tell me when the United States military was victorious in a major war. The Korean Conflict has never been resolved: no treaty has been signed. The war in South Vietnam ended in disgrace in 1975. Hundreds of men and women who aided our effort to defeat the Vietcong were left behind.

The invasion of Afghanistan, the nation’s longest war, ended when President Biden dared to remove all American forces from a country that had never been defeated by invading troops. Iraq was a disaster created by a corrupt administration. There were never weapons of mass destruction. The invasion by the U.S. military was a war crime. It was based on lies and resulted in thousands of American lives lost, and tens of thousands of Iraqi men, women, and children were sacrificed for no reason.

No one wants to see this happen again in Ukraine, which could result in a nuclear confrontation. Unfortunately, if the world is known ends, it will be the responsibility of the United States’ dysfunctional government.

Only 246 years old, the United States is statistically the most warlike nation in history. And the other fact is that it is not very good at it, although the yearly defense budget is five times more than all other nations combined. This is because America does not prepare for peace; it prepares for war.

The nation has many problems. Instead of addressing them over the last 40+ years, it has prepared for military conflict. The needs and wishes of the majority have been ignored.

The right-wing of American politics has placed the nation in a situation where war is the ultimate goal. “War is good business.” The fortunes made for those invested in the military-industrial complex are criminal. President Dwight Eisenhower warned the United States about this danger in 1961.

America is not under attack from Russia. Vladimir Putin is a criminal and an enemy of U.S. citizens, but he is not waging war against American interests. This is an issue for the United Nations, not for the government of the United States of America.

Read this statement by one of the most ineffectual senators in our nation’s history, who is a member of the TEA Party, one of the most extremist groups in American history: “This is the most significant threat in Europe since 1945. It’s just that simple,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said, adding it is a “near certainty” Russia will invade.

“If we now live in an era where someone can move into a country and just take it over and claim it as their own, I don’t think it’s going to stop at Ukraine,” he said. “I think you’ll see this in Asia. I think you’ll see that potentially in other countries in Europe, many of whom complained that some treaty 100 years ago screwed them — and we’re going to be living in a very different era.”

Why do politicians believe that they have a right to interfere in situations involving foreign nations with no relationship with this country? Is this an effort to deflect the fact that the government is more interested in everything other than the welfare of 330 million people?

Caring for the American people has never been the focus of the U.S. government, other than the period between 1933 and 1945 when the greatest president in history was in office. Only Franklin Delano Roosevelt will be remembered as the “people’s president.”

Except for the presidency of Barack Obama between 2009 and 2017, old, white men have led the nation into wars that were responsible for thousands of lives and trillions of dollars wasted. The annual budget for the Pentagon is nearing $1 trillion, but at least 50% of those funds are wasted, and the military can no longer be celebrated as the best in the world. The United States loses wars. It no longer wins them. The government is eager to send thousands of young men and women to their deaths without a single success.

The future of the American people must take precedence over the desire to engage in war.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Sources:

The Hill: Sunday shows preview: US deploys troops, briefs lawmakers amid Russia-Ukraine tensions; by Lexi Lonas
NPR: Newly deployed U.S. troops arrive in Europe as Russia bolsters its own forces; by Becky Sullivan

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Tomás Del Coro’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
First Inset Image by STAFF SGT. Paul Caron Courtesy of The U.S. National Archives – Creative Commons License
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Third Inset Image Courtesy of Fort Bragg’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License