by G. L. Hammontree

Created on: April 29, 2008

How do we end the war in Iraq? Simple. We announce a victory as we did in Korea, Vietnam, Granada and Bosnia. There doesn't have to be an actual victory it seems, just our willingness to announce it and move on to the next politically attractive war front, or cause. America has assumed a dangerous protocol.

It seems as though whenever the administration, any administration, draws a certain amount of flack, or when public sentiment slips beyond an acceptable level, we seem to find a place to deploy troops, flex what muscle we have and create a sustainable approval by playing the patriotic card. Anyone who would dare to express dissent is labeled a communist, peacenik, liberal or whatever category the political structure at the time deems a base of opposition or merely the opposite of whatever criticism prevails. Everybody speaking out against the deployment of troops, putting American lives at risk cannot all be a " Hanoi Jane".

Is there really any sound reason for us to be in Iraq, any reason why 4,000 + American young men have died? How many times in the last half century has a president flexed his muscle and brought our country into an involvement that cannot possibly have a positive outcome for the United States? Oh yes, there was that terrible struggle in Granada that stretched our military to its limit. Not even one Granadian beach goer bothered to suit up and seek shelter.

There is no fear of the "spread of communism" anymore, no thundering yellow hordes at the gate. The only reason for the most recent military actions around the world has been to bolster political positions. Be damned who or how many die, we must be the policeman, the big brother of the world. We do not have to become involved in every skirmish that arises around the globe. If a country wants to act aggressively, if two countries create a dispute among themselves, we do not have to be the world's referee. Why? Because our young soldiers have to die for that display of bravado, that's why.

How many other countries in the world do we see blindly becoming involved in a shooting war without the prior involvement of the U.S.? How many of them lead the way into war? When we cease to try to be the policemen of the world and, as in everyday life, let them fight it out? We cannot be the world's savior forever at the expense of young Americans, can we?

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