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FROM MY CORNER: War Notes

Howell Hurst Defense Spending, Defense vs Diplomacy, People Politics, Refugees, War and Organized Mayhem

In that a few readers characterized me as a “Dreamer” when I proposed “a vote” of even Dictator countries about all nations mutually outlawing wars, I want to clarify my personal thinking regarding a nation’s right and necessity – when appropriate – of effective Defense, War, and Winning.

Being a trained, experienced Army Intelligence Captain following my five-year tour of duty during “the cold war,” I am unquestionably not an outright pacifist, although I mentally consider War to be the single Stupidest thing human beings do.

Two or more national forces organizing for any political reasons to massively battle between or among themselves to the death does not necessarily solve anything – unless the winning side designs a specific conclusion that prevents the losing enemy the ability to regroup and start the fight again.

This is nearly impossible if all nations do not jointly agree in detail of how to accomplish such a difficult task in a manner collaboratively legal and binding.

World War II partly accomplished that in dispatching Hitler, although General Patton made a most prescient prediction that the U.S. needed to emasculate the Russians before moving on with a hoped-for lengthy peace.

We have since experienced the Russian leadership for over seventy-five years.  We are bluntly confronted with them today in Ukraine. Russia constitutes a dangerously unwieldy cannon in any hoped-for peaceful world order.

We did not successfully finish the Korean War.  The mentally-unbalanced family then in charge remains so today under a mean, unhinged young man as idiotic, if not more so, than Russia’s leader.

The Vietnam war, a major blunder on our part, dribbled out in total chaos, as did Afghanistan. Both ended with little effect other than our massive expenditure of funds and the profits they brought the corporate military/industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us of.

The Iranian Islamic fanatics and their other variously sympathetic Jihadist pals are, as are all religious zealots, wild cards painted the most disastrous possible shade of unenlightened black. China in its euphoria as a powerful ideological and militarily authoritarian force is clearly the smoldering issue of the planet.

Its inevitable alliance with Russia, North Korea, Iran, and all authoritarian national powers is the existential political dilemma the world now faces. This alliance is not going to go away without some extremely careful thinking and planning on the part of the U.S. and its allies as they continue searching for the solution to the elusive puzzle called Democracy.

Added to this perplexing knot is the ever present monumental environmental threat of the Universe itself – its weather, its inherently violent nature, its remarkable surprises – and we humans have our hands full protecting our survival as a species.

Despite the fact that those in charge will hate to lose their immense financial profits, it would be wise, I suggest, if we would all start recognizing the dangerous unpredictability of the Universe.

We quite simply need to stop adding bloody expensive wars to the inherent dangers of the Universe.

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