It's a question I'd surely like to pose. But think about it...
1) World War I was supposed to be the "war to end all wars." It very well could have been, but the victors insisted on punishing Germany with the Treaty of Versailles (U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was opposed to this vengeance, and the Republican-controlled Congress rejected the treaty anyway, so you can't blame the U.S. for this one!). Imperialist Russia falls in the aftermath, leaving it prey to the Russian Revolution and the rise of Communism. As a result, with hyperinflation and humiliation during the ill-fated Weimar Republic, Adolf Hitler was able to rise...
2)...which led to World War II. Undoubtedly, this was a justified war, as all attempts for peace were tried before it turned into a war. However, with the end of this war, it led to a resumption of animosity between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, which refused to give back the territory it "liberated" from Nazi occupation...
3)...which leads to the Cold War, with the first test being the Korean War. With the Truman Doctrine of Containment, it was established that the U.S. would get involved in any case where communism tried to expand, and, boy, did that lead to a lot of wars! This conflict is still not technically over, with a nearly 50 year armistice...
4)...which leads into the Vietnam War, which officially started in 1957. This war probably made the least sense, especially since we were trying to keep a South Vietnamese dictator in power that was likely to lose a national reunification election to Ho Chi Minh. Hence, even the people they were supposed to protect hated the U.S. involvement, and was just a long prolonging of the inevitable, as the U.S. pulls out of Vietnam in 1973 and South Vietnam falls in 1975, reunifying by force, rather than election...
5) ...which leads to then Gov. Ronald Reagan, who, perhaps as a result, calls for militarism against the Soviets. He doesn't go this far as President, but, perhaps more than any other president, he follows Truman's Policy of Containment very closely, getting involved in everything from toppling Grenada to Guatemala to El Salvador to Nicaragua's "leftist" governments, and also funding militants to expel the Soviets from Afghanistan, which did include Osama bin Laden. Reagan also gets involved in arming and funding Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War, while also, arguably, arming Iran at the same time. He also establishes a series of civilian "militias," which are established to protect the U.S. in case the National Guard is exhausted in a prolonged nuclear attack...
6) ...which leads to President Bush, Sr. with the Gulf War. In the process, bin Laden is angered at what he sees as "desecration" of sacred Islamic sites, and vows to spend his energy and money destroying the U.S. In the meantime, Saddam Hussein, dictator of Iraq, is still in power, despite losing the war...
7) ...which leads to President Clinton having to take care of the mess, and being the president forced to take care of bin Laden's emerging terrorism, bombing both Sudan and Afghanistan after bin Laden's syndicate bombs the World Trade Center in 1993 and U.S. embassies in Africa a few years later. All in the meantime, a Gulf War / Waco scarred, Timothy McVeigh, and a militia member, Terry Nichols, blows up a federal building in Oklahoma City to strike against what they see as a "repressive government"...
8) ...which leads to September 11th. Islamic terrorists hijack four commercial jets, destroying the World Trade Center twin towers (finishing off a previous miscalculation by bin Laden, who did try to destroy the towers in 1993) and crashing into the Pentagon, after previously targeting the White House, but realizing that the President is not there. Prime suspects include bin Laden and the Afghani Taliban, with possible connections to Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein...
9) ...which leads to current calls for "revenge" against the terrorists, and my current fears that the cycle of violence will perpetuate itself further, as we are still paying for the wars of the past, and even World War I was the result of previous wars and anger (but for time purposes, I started the trace from WWI). Like every previous war, we, perhaps naively, expected it to be the "war to end all wars," but then learning that it spawns yet another one. It is my sincere hope that the U.S. only takes appropriate steps to secure its defense, without escalating it unnecessarily out of vengeance, which seems very tempting right now, understandably. However, it is our obligation to our future generations that we try and stop the cycle here. Perhaps at no time in history could such a prospect be possible, with recent unity amongst the West and even cooperation amongst moderate Islamic nations. It is my hope that we don't blow it out of revenge. We should strive for "justice," rather than "retribution."
Melon
------------------
How long must we sing this song?!
[This message has been edited by melon (edited 09-16-2001).]
1) World War I was supposed to be the "war to end all wars." It very well could have been, but the victors insisted on punishing Germany with the Treaty of Versailles (U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was opposed to this vengeance, and the Republican-controlled Congress rejected the treaty anyway, so you can't blame the U.S. for this one!). Imperialist Russia falls in the aftermath, leaving it prey to the Russian Revolution and the rise of Communism. As a result, with hyperinflation and humiliation during the ill-fated Weimar Republic, Adolf Hitler was able to rise...
2)...which led to World War II. Undoubtedly, this was a justified war, as all attempts for peace were tried before it turned into a war. However, with the end of this war, it led to a resumption of animosity between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, which refused to give back the territory it "liberated" from Nazi occupation...
3)...which leads to the Cold War, with the first test being the Korean War. With the Truman Doctrine of Containment, it was established that the U.S. would get involved in any case where communism tried to expand, and, boy, did that lead to a lot of wars! This conflict is still not technically over, with a nearly 50 year armistice...
4)...which leads into the Vietnam War, which officially started in 1957. This war probably made the least sense, especially since we were trying to keep a South Vietnamese dictator in power that was likely to lose a national reunification election to Ho Chi Minh. Hence, even the people they were supposed to protect hated the U.S. involvement, and was just a long prolonging of the inevitable, as the U.S. pulls out of Vietnam in 1973 and South Vietnam falls in 1975, reunifying by force, rather than election...
5) ...which leads to then Gov. Ronald Reagan, who, perhaps as a result, calls for militarism against the Soviets. He doesn't go this far as President, but, perhaps more than any other president, he follows Truman's Policy of Containment very closely, getting involved in everything from toppling Grenada to Guatemala to El Salvador to Nicaragua's "leftist" governments, and also funding militants to expel the Soviets from Afghanistan, which did include Osama bin Laden. Reagan also gets involved in arming and funding Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War, while also, arguably, arming Iran at the same time. He also establishes a series of civilian "militias," which are established to protect the U.S. in case the National Guard is exhausted in a prolonged nuclear attack...
6) ...which leads to President Bush, Sr. with the Gulf War. In the process, bin Laden is angered at what he sees as "desecration" of sacred Islamic sites, and vows to spend his energy and money destroying the U.S. In the meantime, Saddam Hussein, dictator of Iraq, is still in power, despite losing the war...
7) ...which leads to President Clinton having to take care of the mess, and being the president forced to take care of bin Laden's emerging terrorism, bombing both Sudan and Afghanistan after bin Laden's syndicate bombs the World Trade Center in 1993 and U.S. embassies in Africa a few years later. All in the meantime, a Gulf War / Waco scarred, Timothy McVeigh, and a militia member, Terry Nichols, blows up a federal building in Oklahoma City to strike against what they see as a "repressive government"...
8) ...which leads to September 11th. Islamic terrorists hijack four commercial jets, destroying the World Trade Center twin towers (finishing off a previous miscalculation by bin Laden, who did try to destroy the towers in 1993) and crashing into the Pentagon, after previously targeting the White House, but realizing that the President is not there. Prime suspects include bin Laden and the Afghani Taliban, with possible connections to Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein...
9) ...which leads to current calls for "revenge" against the terrorists, and my current fears that the cycle of violence will perpetuate itself further, as we are still paying for the wars of the past, and even World War I was the result of previous wars and anger (but for time purposes, I started the trace from WWI). Like every previous war, we, perhaps naively, expected it to be the "war to end all wars," but then learning that it spawns yet another one. It is my sincere hope that the U.S. only takes appropriate steps to secure its defense, without escalating it unnecessarily out of vengeance, which seems very tempting right now, understandably. However, it is our obligation to our future generations that we try and stop the cycle here. Perhaps at no time in history could such a prospect be possible, with recent unity amongst the West and even cooperation amongst moderate Islamic nations. It is my hope that we don't blow it out of revenge. We should strive for "justice," rather than "retribution."
Melon
------------------
How long must we sing this song?!
[This message has been edited by melon (edited 09-16-2001).]
