The new World War II Monument has been dedicated in Washington, D.C. It is fitting that it happens on Memorial Day Weekend, the traditional day when we honor our war dead. The ceremonies in Washington have been marked with appropriate pomp and circumstances with ‘Taps’ blown solemnly and often. It is made especially poignant at this sixtieth anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Underscoring it all, is the A&E movie, ‘Ike: Countdown To D-Day’ to be broadcast Monday, Memorial Day evening, with Tom Selleck as Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald McRaney as George S. Patton and Timothy Bottoms as Walter Bedell Smith.
The movie will be interesting, if for no other reason than to compare McRaney’s portrayal of Patton to George C. Scott’s definitive Oscar winning one.
The various politicians have been on display at the ceremonies as they always are and especially so in election years. They all expound on the virtues of ‘The Greatest Generation’, the term given to these grandfathers and great grandfathers by Tom Brokaw. Terms like ‘dying for our freedom’, ‘the ultimate sacrifice’ and ‘protecting our way of life’ will be bandied about. The problem is that their deaths were unnecessary and those phrases are lies. Yes, they fought and died valiantly and honorably but, unnecessarily and they were not ‘dying for our freedom’. This is the one thing the politicians will never say. In point of fact, no American soldier has fought or died for our freedom since our War for Independence or perhaps The War of 1812. The United States has not been in danger from invasion since 1814.
The Mexican War was imperialistic as was The Spanish-American which was fanned primarily by the Heart newspapers. It was the bold yellow printing that those papers used that led to the term ‘yellow journalism’. The sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor was not due to sabotage by Spanish agents.
In not one twentieth century war, were The United States in danger. The Central Powers in World War I had no designs on us nor did the Axis during World War II. ‘ To make the world safe for democracy’ was ludicrous as a justification for our entry into WWI. That set the stage for the series of events that led us to become the dominant imperialist power of the world. We pushed Japan to the brink of death from oil starvation and that’s why they attacked at Pearl Harbor. We would have become the dominant power of the world anyway due to our freedom but it didn’t have through imperialism.
Fr. Charles Coughlin, the controversial Depression and WWII era Catholic priest and radio talk show host, thundered that the United States would emerge from the war as the most hated nation in the world. We are.
It is important to realize that every war from The War for Southern Independence through Viet-Nam was fought, primarily, with conscripted forces. Soldiers and sailors had to be forced to fight. There were exceptions. They had to be forced to go overseas or to the South to fight when they saw no reason. There would have been no reason for conscription if they had wanted to fight and they would have if they saw a danger to their native soil. The politicians won’t say this, of course.
The tragedy is that hundreds of thousands of America’s best and brightest have been sacrificed in the prime of their lives to a God of war profits. How many great contributions have been lost? Did a cure for cancer die with a mortar attack near Baghdad? Or a Homer Winslow? Or an Edward Hopper? Or a William Faulkner? Or a Robert Frost? Or a cure for AIDS? Did an American counterpart to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony end at the point of a bayonet at Gettysburg? Did the ability to travel at or near the speed of light have its brains spilled at Khe Sanh? We’ll never know, of course. How many other contributions will be deleted from history’s future memory bank?
The elimination of the draft and switch to a ‘volunteer’ military was controversial when proposed during the Viet-Nam era. Many feared the emergence of a professional military cadre which, conceivably could stage a coup or other actions contrary to the American spirit. Does anyone think for one minute that America’s leaders will hesitate to order the military to fire upon American citizens just as they did at Kent State or Waco or Ruby Ridge?
It’s highly significant that today there is a strong movement afoot in Congress to reinstate the draft. Today, every male of age eighteen is required to register with the Selective Service System for the eventuality of a draft. Re-enlistment rates, overall, are way down and morale is generally low among our troops in Iraq. This is not surprising. They are mercenaries; not much different from the Hessians that King George II hired to suppress our insurrection.
It’s been almost two centuries since any American soldier fought and died for ‘our way of life’. They have been fighting for some demented leaders’ desire to impose their wills on others. In every case, there have been strong behind the scenes forces who have been trying to line their own pockets and this one is no different. It’s sad to have to say but it is a dishonor to their memories to deny the truth.
Conscription, imperialism, welfarism have been recipes for the end of every great western power. The government knows this and knows that it must have forces in place for any coming upheaval. Imperialism and totalitarianism are impossible without a standing military. The chickens are coming home to roost but when you look closer, they’re not chickens. They’re vultures to pick the corpse of our Constitutional government clean.
“Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.”