No

by Ted Sherman

Created on: May 12, 2008   Last Updated: September 09, 2008

Not just no, but hell no! This is finally an awakening of an old guy, a veteran of two wars, who always considered himself a patriot and humanitarian. Let's go back a century or so ago to look at the roots of when Uncle Sam became Uncle Sucker, an endless source of money and young lives to be wasted on foreign wars.

When the battleship USS Maine blew up in Havana harbor in 1898, politicians loudly proclaimed the Spanish government had planted a bomb. True or not, that brought on the Spanish-American war, fortunately a short one with few casualties. Egged on by lurid newspaper stories and political opportunists, there was a rush of patriotism that eventually sent war hero Teddy Roosevelt to the White House.

Although battle deaths were few, the war and subsequent occupation of Cuba and the Philippines cost American taxpayers billions. U.S. forces colonized the Philippines, sewing the seeds of the anger in Japan that exploded in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Before that, in 1917, President Wilson bowed to political and war industry pressure and brought the U.S. into World War I. The intent was primarily to save England and France from losing the war with Germany. After billions were spent, a million GIs killed or maimed, and more than ten million European WWI deaths, Germany surrendered, "the war to end all wars" ended and peace was restored.

Did the U.S. then take its troops home, close its checkbook and let the rest of the world settle its differences? Of course not. More taxpayer billions were spent to help Europe, including Germany, recover from the devastation of WWI. Then, after most nations suffered devastating poverty and the Great Depression, Germany emerged as a military threat again by the late 1930s. By 1939, the massive killings of World War II were underway. Teddy's cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, promised this time America would stay out of it. The President declared, "No American boy will die in a foreign war!" And he meant it, at least until U.S. industry and Army recruiting could gear up to get America into the war. He didn't have long to wait. The angry Japanese launched its sneak attack, and we were once more in the middle of a world war.

This one was the most devastating in history, costing some 30 million lives, including a million U.S. military, and untold billions in resources and taxpayer dollars. However, this war was finally won in 1945. Did America then bring its troops home and let the rest of the world settle its own affairs and murders? Hell, no! Immediately, the most extensive and expensive help project began, called the Marshall Plan. In addition to giving billions in aid to European allies England and France, more billions were given to Soviet Russia and China, as well as former enemies Germany, Japan and Italy.

Although most of the aid was appreciated, it didn't take long for the help was turned on the U.S. by the Soviets and China. By five years, the helpful U.S. was considered an enemy. When Communist North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950, most of its supplies and armaments were supplied by former U.S. allies, China and Russia. When it looked as if North Korea was going to collapse, a million Chinese "volunteers" joined the war. When an unsteady peace was declared, the U.S. had suffered more than 50,000 GI deaths.

Of course, the U.S. never learns from its failed generosity, and the waste of resources, taxpayer dollars and young lives continued in the next decade in Vietnam. It started all over again in the 1990s when Iraq invaded Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and once more Americans were paying and dying for other nations. It was rudely emphasized and increased by the murderous attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. Still, America today, although hated and reviled around the world, still represents Uncle Sucker to furnish its resources and young lives every time a tinhorn dictator decides to start another war.

Maybe it is time, actually long past time, for America to consider the theories of the isolationists of the 1930s, or even the early promises of President F.D. Roosevelt. Religious and political fanatics have been murdering people for at least the past 2,000 years, will always find reasons to kill their neighbors or anyone who doesn't bow down to their gods. This will continue whether there are American GIs serving as targets in the middle of their wars or not. It should no longer be the responsibility of American taxpayers and parents of those GIs to save the rest of the world from destroying itself.

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