The lessons of World War II convinced Democrat and Republican leaders to build the most powerful and sophisticated military defense system the world had ever known. What had been the War Department became the Defense Department. And defense industries flourished in peacetime, a mainstay of our economy.
But as the military-industrial complex strengthened and technology produced ever more lethal weapons of war, the line between aggressor and defender nation thinned, and eventually became blurred. Militarism was evident in foreign policy decisions, and in protecting commercial interests throughout the world. American values were applied selectively. Partnerships with despots who could supply oil and others who permitted us to locate military bases in their countries were tolerated in the cause of a secure national defense.
A half-century of military build-up, of tensions with Russia throughout the long and rocky cold war, and the infiltration of military thinking in our state department and CIA, changed fundamental attitudes about our nation’s role in the world. Even the horrific blunder in Vietnam did not bring about the sober reflection one might have expected from elected representatives in House and Senate.
We could not wait for United Nations arms inspectors to complete their work to determine if Saddam Hussein actually had weapons of mass destruction, and invaded Iraqi in 2003 with a display of military shock and awe but no plan for occupation. We are still there, having created a terrorist training ground that continues to take American lives.
We invaded Afghanistan to find Osama bin Laden. We found him in Pakistan nine years later and killed him. But our troops are still in Afghanistan, on an ever-changing mission.
Now we are militarily engaged in Libya where citizens’ demand freedom from decades of dictatorship. But we’re not engaged in Syria where citizens’ protests are also met with gunfire from entrenched authorities. We are selective based on harsh political realities. But it would seem we are in a perpetual state of war.
Can’t be avoided, leaders tell us, because the world is in chaos. Trouble brews everywhere. And the United States must be the world’s policeman.
This past weekend we paid tribute to men and women who gave their lives in the cause of freedom. We are humbled by their courage and sacrifice and grieve especially for lives lost in wars that might have been avoided.
We also grieve for thousands of wounded men and women who have lost limbs, wear colostomy bags, and struggle with brain injuries, the signature wound of the Iraqi and Afghan wars. Post traumatic stress has shattered marriages, devastated children, and increased suicides among returning veterans. We honor their sacrifices as well.
The hope is to end perpetual war, to focus on adequate defense and reduce military expansion, to increase intelligence gathering and eliminate unnecessary military expenditures. Savings would reduce our nation’s debt and help to shore up Social Security and Medicare.
Kudos to defense secretary Gates for insisting that only necessary weapons be funded by congress. But his caution that a smaller military, no matter how superb, would be able to go fewer places and do fewer things, may in fact be the goal that he and our nation should pursue.
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Carlton E. Spitzer
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