© 2017 Michael
Swickard, Ph.D. “There never was a war more easy to stop (which wasn’t) than
that which has just wrecked what was left of the world from the previous
struggle.” Winston Churchill about World War Two
It is good
that our world has not been in global military conflict since 1945. There have
been some very nasty regional conflicts, but it has been seventy-two years
since the entire world was at war.
Unfortunately,
in that time three generations of American leaders have emerged not steeped in
the horrors of WWII. That puts all Americans in danger now. We are seeing saber
rattling and belligerent talk out of today’s world leaders.
These hot
hasty words may push our world into a global conflict. Worse, there is an
amnesia in our country as to the results of any real military conflict.
I was
speaking to a couple young men. The potential for global conflict came up and
they didn’t seem concerned. I said, “You realize that you young men will fight
the next war.”
“No,” one countered,
“I don’t want to be in the military.” The other one also didn’t fancy serving
in the military. “But you signed up for the military,” I stated.
“Did not,”
they both said. “You signed up for selective service when you turned eighteen.”
They were confused. “But we had to so that we could get student loans.”
“Yes,” I
agreed. “But you signed up with selective service so you can be drafted into
the military if our country needs you to fight a war.” That got their attention.
Neither of them believed me but I could see they were thinking about this and
would get to the truth shortly.
Prior to
the first and second world wars, America had a small professional military.
That was exhausted in a few months and then came the push for civilians. In
WWII about sixteen million Americans served in the military. Most were civilian
volunteers and draftees.
What to do
about this possible war unseen on the horizon: Ronald Reagan said, “Of the four
wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U. S. was too strong.”
For our
country to stay out of war requires three interconnected actions: first, our
country needs a very robust well-trained professional military. Second, we need
political and military leaders who can make tough decisions. Finally, a firm
strategy for winning conflicts.
More so,
we need to know at what point do we wave our flags, our bands play and we come
home. We experienced the lack of this in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is what
our country had in WWII and what it has lacked ever since, with the exception
of the Persian Gulf War. America must have a firm grasp of the end in mind when
it gets into shooting conflicts.
If history
is any guide, a larger rule is to take the politics out of military action.
Hard to do but never use a political solution for a military problem. Never.
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