George Bush has, indeed and in fact, put our country in grave danger that will last for decades

[Stinky The Clown]

The war in Viet Nam went badly for us, as virtually anyone in this country is now quick to admit, no matter what one thought of it contemporaneously.

What is also irrefutable is that we lost that war. We lost it to a supposedly inferior force. But the measure of inferiority by which some deem that force 'inferior' is flawed. They may have been less well equipped and less well trained and, perhaps, less disciplined. But that is not the total measure of any force. There is also the too often overlooked matter of common will and purpose. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese people had it. We didn't.

And the fact we didn't became increasingly obvious. Johnson's famous "If I've lost Walter Cronkite, I've lost the country" pretty much said it all.

In the intervening years, our country has faced a variety of threats. And each time we stare down an enemy, they chuckle, in a way. They know - and frequently give voice to the notion - that the American people lack the will to wage a war through to conclusion.

I don't believe that's entirely true. I believe the American people had the will to win in Afghanistan, for example.

But George Bush chose a different course. There was no glory for him in Afghanistan. And so we went to Iraq. A place for which our country, once again, has shown it has no stomach.

And our supposed enemies there know it, too. And so they wait. They know we'll leave. We may declare some sham victory, but leave we will. But hook or by crook, in victory .... or not.

So where's the danger that will last for decades?

The next time there's a real, righteous, need to commit our troops in a foreign place, the enemy will see us for our recent history. Cowards. A nation that lacks the will to do more than the easy shock and awe television ready actions at the start. The smart bombs and the humvees and the laser guided missiles and the stealth bombers and all the other materiel that gets celebrated on the War Channel nightly, narrated by some chiseled jawed former Army Ranger or Navy Seal.

The wars we may face (and I pray we never will) will be harder fought with less chance for diplomatic solutions. The world may have allowed us one mistake, our Viet Nam. But now two? The second being a war of true imperialistic testosterone-driven aggression?

How do we recover from this? Our people and our enemies have learned lessons from George Bush. The over arching theme will be War American Style. War fought in the same way as a child plays with a new toy. Enthusiastic at first. And then the child turns from the toy as we have turned, now, from two wars. Wars in which it wasn't simply money ill-spent for a quickly abandoned toy, but war paid for by the hot, red spilled blood of human beings.

Because of this war, by this president, by this acquiescent, rubber stamping Congress, our military and our nation at large is now at greater risk. Wars, if they ever come again, will be more protracted, our enemies more intractable, our people less committed.

I am 60 years old and hope to die before there is another war. This isn't for me or any of my age. We've had it up to here with wars.

But war is, sadly, likely the inevitable consequence of a world with intolerance and and nationalism still so strong.

Sadly, because of George Bush, we are no longer the good guys.

Instead, we are an easy target.

Worst President in History is an understatement.

Impeachment is necessary.

Imprisonment is too short.

Vengeance, however, will be sweet.

And for *that* I pray I live long enough.

[bdamomma]

1. great post, and I agree it will take a very long time

for anyone to trust us again, these criminals have stripped everything that we believed in away, they need to be held accountable, or numbers of generations after us will feel this wrath on them.

[welshTerrier2]

2. nationalism ...

nice one, Stinky ...

i just had to comment on nationalism being at the root of so many wars ... no doubt, nationalism, and culturalism and religion are indeed the causes of many conflicts ... it's not clear to me, though, that this is the case with the US ... at least, grasping at the best possible spin i could muster, nationalism is at least done "for the people" ... it's a sort of "the hell with everyone else i'm looking out for our guys" kind of noble albeit misguided purpose ...

sadly, i'm afraid that has not been what has motivated US empire and the wars and conflicts the US has more recently been involved in ... i think the culprit is nothing quite as noble as nationalism ... it's an ism all right; just not nationalism ... me thinks it's corporatism ... Cheney comes to power; Cheney holds secret energy meetings with big oil; the US invades Iraq; hundreds of billions of all time record profits pour into the piggybanks of big oil ... there's just no getting around it no matter what the advertising campaign would have you believe ...

as for dying before the next war starts, if i get a vote, i'd rather see you hitch your existence to something with better odds ...

[irislake]

3. I agree it's corporatism

I actually don't think most Americans have any real enthusiasm for war. CNN and FOX can get the American public marching to the corporate agenda with flags patriotic music and all that crap but when reality sets in --- real bodies, bodies of women and children it's game over. When it's presented as a sport it's fun. But the reality turns Americans off. Remember how many Americans demonstrated against going into Iraq? And that was after 9/11. They weren't for it until the propaganda machine gave them "shock and awe" and the soldiers had arrived in Iraq. Don't forget the PNAC folk said "absent a new Pearl Harbor" the Americans wouldn't go for a war. Prior to 9/11 Americans didn't even want to kill carriboo in the north for oil --- let alone 665,000 Iraqis in the middle East.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. I think in this context, 'corporatism' and 'nationalism' are so close as to be ......

almost a meaningless difference. Yes, they're truly not the same. But even if the war was purely for oil (I think it was), it was played out as being for the benefit of the country and that's why it got the support it did at its outset.

If the corporations were to simply say, 'Hey, riff raff ... go fight our war. Tough shit if you die.' the war would likely not have been as well supported.

So, to draw the distinction, while the two are different, they have to both be played as 'nationalism' to make the scam work.

Kinda like not being able to play the shell game using clear plastic shells.

[hootinholler]

4. Seems to me that it's not that we're not willing to see a war through

As much as we won't support an unjust war.

-Hoot

[OneBlueSky]

5. I have no use for vengeance . . .

I do, however, have a passion for justice . . . and the only justice suitable for Bush and his cohorts is total public humiliation and long prison terms . . .

while I do think he deserves impeachment, I don't think it will happen . . . and even if it did, and if he was convicted in the Senate, the whole process wouldn't conclude until close to the time that he'd be leaving office anyhow . . .

I'd rather assemble the evidence, build the case, and take them all before the appropriate US and international courts -- probably after he's out of office . . . that's where justice we'll get real justice . . .

[dmosh42]

6. This will happen again in ten years unless..

I can remember as a boy, reading in the newspapers about our troop progress in Korea. It was shown on maps with arrows representing the divisions of troops. And I also remember thinking my turn was coming. We still had a post WW2 mindset, and probably 40% of the group I grew up with, joined one of the services after high school. The draft was still active, and you just figured it might be better to go into the service you wanted. When Eisenhower was president he warned of the military industrialist desires to get the country into conflict, and he did a decent job of avoiding it. He was getting plenty of heat about Vietnam, but kept it limited to some advisors. Once McNamara came in with the Kennedy administration, the floodgates opened to invade Vietnam. The point is the money people know the population can be manipulated, and there's billions to be made! Unless the people get more involved, it will happen again. I believe Israel has some type of 'government service' program, where most people have to do some time actively helping the country. We do need something to make people appreciate that this democracy thing doesn't just happen. It needs to be worked at constantly.

[file83]

7. If you think about it, maybe that was the plan all along...

It seems George W. Bush has done a fine job of making sure that terrorsim will continue to be a threat to America.

This increases the risk of terrorist attacks on American soil, which then will give DC lawmakers the "mandate" to pass more laws like the Patriot Act, and conduct even more spying activities on Americans like the NSA has been doing.

To take away American's rights, the power elite must have a reason to justify it. You can only do that if there is a high risk of terrorism in America. You only get a high risk of terrorism in America if the world hates America. You get the world to hate America by attacking sovereign nations and committing crimes against of humanity, AND GET AWAY WITH IT.

How does he get away with it? Because the people that want to take away American's rights (Global Elite - World Bankers) have to make sure he does so that the WORLD gets pissed off.

Problem. Reaction. Solution.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. "Problem. Reaction. Solution." .......

..... and a very reasonable postulation.