I’m tired of hearing the president and some politicians talk about how Americans are war weary. The same goes for the pundits who repeat that belief over and over.
The president’s political promises to get us out of Iraq and Afghanistan may satisfy him and the left, but to our enemies it is a sign of weakness.
This graphic courtesy of spenttheyearasaghost.wordpress.com
I wonder what “The Greatest Generation” must think. Growing up during the Great Depression, many went off to fight in World War II, and others made their contribution at home. These men and women fought not for fame and recognition, but because it was the “right thing to do,” wrote Tom Brokaw in his book.
In his transformation of our country, President Obama has turned this once strong country into a nation willing to let the Hitler’s, Mussolini’s and Hirohito’s of today slaughter their way across the Middle East, annex neighboring countries and expand their reach. We have forgotten what it means to go to war to win.
Today we see history being repeated and clearly laid out in a recent op-ed by Victor Davis Hanson, a historian and columnist of note. He reminded readers how we stood by and allowed Hitler and the Third Reich to terrorize Europe, Mussolini take over much of the Mediterranean and the Japanese war machine occupy much of the Pacific. Had they just been satisfied with their winnings, writes Davis Hanson, “there was no evidence that the tired Western democracies would ever have stopped them.”
Davis Hanson goes on to show the similarities with the Islamic State and Iran ravaging Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, Putin’s annexation of Crimea and his occupation of areas of Ukraine, and China increasing its air and sea power while turning coral reefs into islands of sand to control sea lanes.
How does all this end? “America and its allies reawaken” and restore order, “or the United States will not be bothered … until this new generation of dictators bothers us at home,” writes Davis Hanson. Remember how it took Pearl Harbor to awaken us in 1941?
Meanwhile, we have a president who admits he has no plan, no strategy to deal with ISIL, as he sends 450 additional trainers to Iraq. Trainers who, by the way, are not permitted to go on search and destroy missions with their trainees.
I simply cannot believe this great country is war-weary. I do believe we are weary of a feckless commander-in-chief who has no conception of winning.
Part 2 of my view on war-weariness follows
