Term of the Day: PERPETUAL WAR

Just days ago, President Obama and The Pentagon announced more troops would be sent to Iraq and Syria to help battle ISIS (the "Islamic State").  It has been stated that it will be just to northern Syria, but it has also been reported that some troops will be going to Iraq as well.  It was said to be around fifty troops, and supposedly the initial number will be about two dozen.  White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that the troops will reserve the right to defend themselves if attacked -- I think that's a no-brainer -- but they will not be there to intentionally engage in combat actions.  Additionally, the troops will be made up mainly of advisers.  What if those advisers go into any areas that are "hot" (active fighting areas)?  Wouldn't defending themselves have to involve fighting?  (Another no-brainer.)  Well, where will these advisers go while there?

They will be Special Ops forces, which will include troops capable of engaging military forces on the ground.  Additional Special Ops forces will be available for backup.

American bombing of ISIS targets in Syria has been going on for over a year with no success in ending or containing ISIS ... which President Obama said they had done just prior to the terrorist attacks in Paris weeks ago.  The U.S. strategy regarding ISIS has failed.  Now, an increase in boots on the ground and, of course, combat is the "solution". 

How did the problem come about?

The following videos will supply you with the answers.  The first is from the web series Truth in Media, featuring Ben Swann reporting on the origin of ISIS.


The second video is the CNN special report Blindsided: How ISIS Shook the World, hosted by Fareed Zakaria.

If the video doesn't play, click here.

We have become quite adept at perpetual war, rather than bringing about real, lasting peace.  We have become not the peacekeepers of the world, but the warkeepers of this nation.  Perhaps it's no surprise to you, or perhaps it is, but there is money to be made in war, plenty of money.  We were warned about that happening.  Almost fifty-five years ago, just days before the swearing in of John F. Kennedy as his predecessor, outgoing President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave the following televised farewell address to the nation:


Sadly, we have not heeded that warning.  With U.S. military advisers in what was then French Indochina for more than a decade prior to Eisenhower's farewell address, U.S. military forces in the region tripled in 1961 and tripled again in 1962.  With the far-too-late revealed non-existent Gulf of Tonkin incident, and its resulting resolution, in 1964, which allowed the President to increase troops even further, our involvement in the Vietnam War began.

Our unnecessary involvement in Vietnam was a result of what is called mission creep, the increase of military presence on the way to military conflict, whether that conflict is a "skirmish" or an all-out war.  We continue to not heed that warning. 

While keeping his campaign promise to get troops out of Iraq, President Obama brought the last troops home about four years ago -- December 18, 2011.  Just two-and-a-half years later, June of last year, the President announced the sending of 300 military advisers back to Iraq, adding more troops ("advisers") every few months or so.  The number of troops in Iraq now stands at over 3,500. 

In addition, do not forget the following fact: The U.S. has spent billions of dollars in the "training" of troops in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.  As noted in the first two videos, that money was not well-spent ... but it was spent, nonetheless!  Now, we are adding fifty or so new "advisers" to Syria (and perhaps Iraq as well).

This is mission creep, twenty-first century style.  Nothing more, nothing less.  As the past more-than-half-century has ticked by, Eisenhower's warning has been ignored by administration after administration, by one Congress after another.  When will this stop?  When our members of Congress ceases the arming of our supposed "enemies of our enemies" all over the world and forego profiting from conflict and death.

The sad state of this country is that the majority of its citizens want perpetual peace, while its leaders remain invested in perpetual war.

Terry