This may seem like a silly question because in a nuclear guided-missile era, nobody in their right mind is pro-war. Which brings us to the insane and evil individuals who think that millions of dead people is some sort of opportunity.
It turns out there are a lot of pro-war people in the Democratic and Republican parties and in the media. The irony is the sheer number of one-time anti-war “peaceniks” within these ranks. How did that change take place?
Another irony is the forced partnership the Western countries are creating between Russia and China. If anyone thinks that a Russian-Chinese partnership for manufacturing, aerospace, space exploration, weaponry, biowarfare, etc., is a good idea, then raise your hand.
It may be too late to stop that from becoming a horrendous reality, but the historic mistrust between Russia and China will screw up that partnership.
So let’s get back to the pro-war rationales. First up: Trump still brags about the fact that he is the only president since Gerald Ford who hasn’t gotten us into some war or military action. This may have been a flaw, not a virtue. Four years of no war is four years too many
A look at the history of the presidency and our skirmishes shows our origins as a country began with a war -- the Revolutionary War. And wars of one sort or another ever since. Periods of relative peace always led to a whopper of a problem. The best example is the American Civil War, better named in the Southern tradition as the War Between the States, where we were killing each other. We were thirsty for a fight, any fight.
Using war as a perpetual backdrop to the American experience, you could argue that Trump would have gotten re-elected if he had gotten us into a war of some sort. He didn’t even declare war against Covid. Is this the real reason why so many people hate Trump?
The country goes through periods of denialism where we pretend to be anti-war. We always talk a big game. In hindsight, the anti-war protests of the 1960s were anti-selective-service protests. The “draft” has never been popular. But it, in itself, was a war against the police, against the "establishment," the “man,” the “pigs.”
Now many of the same baby boomers of that era are shaking their fists at Russia, as they have since the Obama administration. We must do what we can to at least be proxies in the Russo-Ukraine conflict. “We must help the brave Ukrainians – our allies.”
Since when (give me a date) have the Ukrainians been our allies? It definitely wasn’t WWII, when they fought on the side of Nazi Germany. But OK, whatever we have to do to get the bloodlust out of our systems. As long as we can at least take credit for being part of the rubbleization. Woot. We’ve already made rubble of much of the Middle East—Libya, Syria, now this. What a mess. We did it!
We forget that until 1947, the United States had a Department of War, referred to as the “War Office,” with a cabinet member dubbed the Secretary of War. This was in play from 1789-1947. After WWII, it dissolved (expanded, in fact) and the joint National Military Establishment formed. In 1949 it became the Department of Defense, a hilarious irony.
While the myth that we will not fight unless attacked remains in the public domain, it’s utter nonsense and clear thinkers know it. The idea of defense includes and focuses on “protecting American interests.” This is stretching the truth when you look at our activities. What exactly were the American interests in Viet Nam? Libya? Syria? Afghanistan?
People complain that we quit these and other wars, got nothing out of them, and lost a ton of money and American lives (“blood and treasure”). These people (myself included) completely miss the point. It’s bloodlust, pure and simple. We have to do it. We are, as a culture, as a people, addicted to war. We love it but cannot come to grips with it. We were born, as a country, from war, and, it turns out, we are good at it and we like it. It’s a guilty pleasure.
And it is never about winning or losing. It’s about fighting.
Thus otherwise intelligent folks turn into bloodthirsty maniacs about the Ukrainian conflict. An incredible number of otherwise smart people are calling for boots on the ground, a nuclear conflagration notwithstanding. “Who cares!? Russian won’t nuke us!”
In fact, there is hope that they will because, “we will show them!”
The fact that the US remains the only country that ever used any sort of nuclear weapon in an actual conflict tells the tale. Let’s add some possible taunts. “There are over 350,000,000 Americans, you can’t kill us all!” “Let’s see you nuke Paris and Berlin, Putin! We dare you! Flatten them. Do it!”
Somehow, we have to come to grips with our nature, which in hindsight seems impossible. We fool ourselves with virtue-signalling chatter about gun control and things like the Peace Institute.
During extended periods of peace, bad things happen. So let’s see how long we can throw money away and keep the Ukraine war going. If we can get through the 2022 midterm elections, it should bode well for the saber rattlers in Congress supporting our brave Ukrainian "allies" fighting under the leadership of the always-begging-for-money-tight-t-shirt-wearing Zelensky.
Where all the money and guns end up in a year is anyone’s guess, but it will be fun to find out and may require military action! A win-win!
While I predicted earlier that this war would never happen in the first place (what was I thinking?), I must come to grips with the obvious. It was actually overdue. (Thanks, Trump!) Everyone is cheering while nobody is about to fix the local pothole-filled freeways in the US. You can be sure some nice roads will be rebuilt by US taxpayers in Ukraine when the dust settles and we look for another fight. — JCD
Listen to the No Agenda Podcast for more perspective.