Back in May 1966, when I was in high school, I was watching the annual Armed Forces Day parade along 5th Avenue in New York City. Midway through, I decided to walk down a side street to another avenue to grab some lunch. Stationed on that side street was a battalion of United States Marines in full combat gear, waiting for their signal to march into the parade. Seeing me, they immediately began to scream insults at me and shake their fists in my face. I don’t know what triggered them, my seemingly long hair (far shorter than what the Beatles were sporting) or the fact that I was a civilian not much younger than them. With no escape route and scared out of my wits, I had no choice but to brave the gauntlet for the longest five minutes of my life up to then.
Years later, I thought about these cocky young men, all fired up for guts and glory. I’m sure they were eventually shipped to the Vietnam War. How many were killed there? How many returned home with shattered minds and bodies? What percentage of that battalion committed suicide, suffered the mental anguish of PTSD or the physical torment of cancer caused by Agent Orange. How did they feel when they learned that their government had lied to them by sending them to fight a war that was both unwinnable and unnecessary?
Fast forward to 2003 and the buildup to the Iraq War. Another war that we now know was based on deliberate lies and misinformation. Dick Cheney and the neo-cons of the Bush Administration asserted that Saddam Hussein caused the terrorist attacks of 9/11, which he did not, and harbored weapons of mass destruction, which he did not. The lies were so blatant that millions of Americans marched in the streets in protest, held weekly vigils and did everything short of immolating themselves in front of the White House. All to no avail. The war went splendidly and President Bush boldly declared “Mission Accomplished.” But it wasn’t. The war got ugly and a whole new generation of young Americans returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with shattered minds and bodies. The media called them “heroes” and I agree that anyone who believes in sacrificing for their country deserves that accolade. But these same heroes never deserved to be sent into a war that again was unnecessary and unwinnable.
So here we go again, standing on the verge of yet another Middle Eastern war that will be unnecessary and unwinnable. Once again, we will send young American men and women into the cauldron of war to return with shattered minds and bodies. And they will be sent because of deliberate lies and misinformation formulated by a corrupt president who is only doing so to distract from his impending and well-deserved impeachment.
From the beginning of his presidency, Donald Trump’s Iran policy was based on only one motive. Undo what former president Barack Obama achieved, the Iran Nuclear Agreement. Like a petulant toddler angry than his sibling got more Christmas presents, Trump could not stand Barack Obama being a better leader than he could ever be. Hence his need to tear down ever good thing his predecessor accomplished.
Only a fool would believe a word Donald Trump says. His contention that the assassinated Qasem Soleimani was planning attacks against Americans has been refuted by American intelligence networks. Vice President Pence’s claim that Soleimani was involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks was savaged on Twitter and fact-checked as utterly and undeniably false.
By now, every analyst and expert on the Middle East agrees that Trump’s reckless action will make both the United States and the world less safe. Trump has not only created a martyr but united the Muslim world against us. Even Iraq wants our troops out. Trump has upped the ante by threatening to destroy Iran’s cultural sites, a threat of vindictive savagery that qualifies as a war crime. Even the Nazis refrained from destroying Paris during World War II.
To me, there is nothing more repulsive than a bloodthirsty civilian, especially one who has spent his entire lifetime serving himself instead of his country. Unfortunately, Americans seem addicted to war. This will be the sixth in my lifetime, five of which accomplished nothing but unnecessary waste and suffering.
As that iconic folk song, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” laments, when will they ever learn?
Daniel A. Brown lived in Franklin County for 44 years and was a frequent contributor to the Recorder. He currently lives in Taos, NM.