Is the United States of America Addicted to War?
By Walter C. Uhler
Created May 9 2008 - 10:01am
Mikhail Gorbachev is not a frivolous man. He was the Soviet leader who
introduced the conceptual breakthrough of "mutual security" to
Soviet-American relations, as well as the man who did more than any other
individual to bring the Cold War to a peaceful conclusion [1]. In my
opinion, he ranks as the greatest statesman of the twentieth century
(something I was able to tell him personally, when we talked in St.
Petersburg, Russia in May 2006).
So, when Mr. Gorbachev says, "Every US president has to have a war," and
"I
sometimes have the feeling that the United States is going to wage war
against the entire world," - as was re****ted by the Telegraph.co.uk on May
7, 2008 -- I take him seriously. More to the point, Gorbachev's assertions
probably elicited widespread agreement, not only in Russia, but also
across
Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
For, as historian Michael Sherry has put it: "Measured by its actions
rather
than its self-image, the United States is a warrior nation more than any
other modern power is." Lawrence R. Velvel has been blunter still: "The
United States is a nation which seeks war." As evidence, Velvel adds:
"Since
Hitler invaded Poland, we have fought World War II, the Korean War, the
Viet
Nam war, secret wars in Laos and Cambodia, the first Gulf War, the
Afghanistan War, and the second Gulf War. We have invaded, bombed, or
'quarantined,' among other places, Panama, Grenada, Cuba, Haiti, Somalia,
the Sudan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, and Libya. We have 'declared' a world
wide war on terrorists. We spend more on our military, some say, than all
the rest of the world put together. "["Why We Seek War," The Long Term
View
Spring 2004]
Even worse, many of America's wars were unnecessary. According to
historian
John L. Harper: "History shows that the United States has had a strong
propensity to become involved in conflicts which, though it would be
misleading to call them 'wars of choice,' were unnecessary wars." In
Professor Harper's interpretation, the U.S. has fought only five wars that
strictly were "wars of necessity": the War of Independence, the Civil War,
World War II, the initial phase of the Korean war, and the Afghanistan War
(following the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda terrorist attacks).
After identifying two "borderline" wars - World War I and the first Gulf
War - the U.S. still fought six wars that Professor Harper believes were
unnecessary: the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War,
the
second phase of the Korean War, the Vietnam war and Bush's invasion of
Iraq.
[John L. Harper, "Anatomy of a Habit: America's Unnecessary Wars,"
Survival,
Summer 2005, pp. 58-59]
Moreover, each of "American's unnecessary wars adhere to a basic five-part
pattern: (1) Each has been fought in the name of a broader mission that
Providence has allegedly chosen the United States to carry out, (2)
Self-deception has been at the heart of the decision to go to war, (3)
each
has been the handiwork "of a small, determined 'war party,'" (4)
congressional opposition has been weak and the party in power calculates
"that successful military action.[would] pay dividends at the polls," and
(5) "More often than not, they have failed to advance the interests of the
individuals and political parties who have advanced them." [Harper, pp.
59,
63, 69, 73, 76]
As Professor Harper concludes, "It should be a cause for serious
reflection
when contemplating military action in the future that the premises on
which
the United States decided to go to war in 1812, 1846, 1898, 1917, 1950,
1964-65 and 2002-03, were mainly false." [p. 79] Unfortunately, Harper's
conclusion assumes that America's addiction to war is not the inevitable
product of the very national characteristics that make Americans a
uniquely
warrior nation. More likely, as Geoffrey Perrett demonstrated in his book,
A
Country Made By War, America's wars "molded and mirrored its national
identity."
Yet, consider the statement made in the May 2008 issue of Current History
by
a Russian scholar, Dmitri Trenin. "In recent years, Wa****ngton's attention
has been largely focused on Russia's domestic evolution." Why? Because, "A
country's external behavior is without question informed by its economic
system, political order and system of values."
As "Exhibit One," sup****ting Trenin's observation, consider the assertions
about Russia made by Republican presidential candidate, John McCain: "A
decade and a half ago, the Russian people threw off the tyranny of
communism
and seemed determined to build a democracy and a free market and to join
the
West. Today, we see in Russia dimini****ng political freedoms, a leader****p
dominated by a clique of former intelligence officers, efforts to bully
democratic neighbors, such as Georgia, and attempts to manipulate Europe's
dependence on Russian oil and gas. We need a new Western approach to this
revanchist Russia. We should start by ensuring that the G-8, the group of
eight highly industrialized states, becomes again a club of leading market
democracies: it should include Brazil and India but exclude Russia. Rather
than tolerate Russia's nuclear blackmail or cyberattacks, Western nations
should make clear that the solidarity of NATO, from the Baltic to the
Black
Sea, is indivisible and that the organization's doors remain open to all
democracies committed to the defense of freedom. We must also increase our
programs sup****ting freedom and the rule of law in Russia and emphasize
that
genuine partner****p remains open to Moscow if it desires it but that such
a
partner****p would involve a commitment to being a responsible actor,
internationally and domestically." [John McCain, Foreign Affairs,
November/December 2007]
Imagine that! The very Arizona Senator (the son and grandson of
swashbuckling U.S. Navy Admirals) who irresponsibly voted to authorize the
Bush administration's illegal, immoral, preventive-war invasion of Iraq --
and who still defends his immoral vote today -- also hypocritically
insists
that Russia must become a "responsible actor, internationally and
domestically." Like most warmongering Americans, McCain hypocritically
whitewashes America's many sins, but is quick to spot sins elsewhere.
Curiously, so does Professor Michael Cox, while excoriating "Europe's
Enduring Anti-Americanism," in that very same issue of Current History.
Professor Cox specifically condemns Europeans who attempt to explain
America's invasion of Iraq - or any of its many other sins -- "as merely
the
external manifestation of forces lying at the root of American society."
According to Professor Cox, "Despite its rationality, there can be little
doubt that such thinking is "anti-American," in that it condemns precisely
what it identifies as the defining features of American society."
Yet, the overwhelming evidence presented above suggests there's a
recurring
method to America's military madness - a method suggesting addiction. Not
only in the number of wars fought and the number of unnecessary wars
fought,
but also in the five-part pattern detected in America's wars.
Professor Cox, himself, acknowledges the widespread belief among Europeans
that one of the defining features of American society is the deeply
embedded
and nearly universal (and obnoxious) belief that the United States is the
greatest country in the world. Such a belief not only has given the U.S.
its
often exercised excuse to promote its superior values abroad, but also the
obligation to enforce them at gunpoint, if necessary.
Witness the warmongering implicit in the Bush administration's assertion
that America's national security depends upon its ability to advance
American-style freedom abroad. It differs little from the rationale used
by
President James Polk, when he sent forces to invade and occupy parts of
Mexico. He was simply extending "the area of freedom."
Thus, it's little wonder that wise men, such as Mikhail Gorbachev, see
something more permanent and nefarious at work. Is Iran next?
_______
--
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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an op****tunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are
at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
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