In modern times, practically every
U.S. president has sent our troops to die in wars of lies.
Ready or
not, here we go again. The Pentagon is barreling back into the chaos of Iraq.
Apparently, “Mission Accomplished” is “Mission Never-ending.”
The
government says that, for now, America will only provide jet fighters, drones,
weaponry, humanitarian airdrops, military advice, training — and, of course,
our money — to the cause of making this unworkable country work.
At least
President Barack Obama has sensibly pledged that there will be no American “boots on the
ground.” However, don’t count on “sensible” surviving the chaos.
The
Shia-Sunni-Kurdish divide still rages there, now exacerbated by the theocratic
Islamic State’s sudden sadistic invasion. Plus, Iraq’s prime minister (a
corrupt autocrat who our foreign policy geniuses installed during the
disastrous Bush-Cheney reign of errors) is so detested by practically everyone
that the parliament dumped him.
But the
least sensible factor affecting Iraq is our own warmongering members of
Congress, demanding that we must go to war. Take Senator Lindsey Graham. The
South Carolina Republican is filled with bloodlust over the ferocious rise of
the Islamic State in Iraq, so he says we have no choice but to return there to
destroy the fanatics.
Of course,
by “we,” red-faced congressional warriors like Graham don’t mean them, their
loved ones, or anyone else they actually know.
In modern
times, practically every U.S. president has sent our troops to die in wars of
lies and political flim-flam. From Vietnam to Grenada to Iraq, our soldiers
have fought in senseless wars nearly non-stop for 70 years.
It’s time
to tell the perennial political sword-rattlers that they should head for the
front themselves.
OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is
a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. He’s also editor of the
populist newsletter, The Hightower
Lowdown. OtherWords.org
