The War In Iran
November of 1979?
I’m not a fan of foreign wars. Particularly those wars fought for nebulous reasons, without clear objectives, and lacking widespread support. We must never waste American treasure, or much more importantly, brave young American lives.
Is this new war on Iran another misguided American adventure that will end poorly as in Iraq and Libya? I don’t know. I don’t imagine that anyone can know at this point.
Lots of my Libertarian oriented friends are against it, already declaring it a failure. Lots of my Conservative oriented friends are for it, already declaring it a success. Both sides are clearly arguing more from emotion than objective fact.
Only time, and the concrete actions of our political leaders will tell.
I am however a huge fan of the United States Military.
I firmly believe that the very best way for us to maintain peace is through the maintenance of the most capable and prepared military on the face of the earth. Peace through strength is a philosophy that certainly holds true to my way of thinking.
We need to adequately fund our military, but most importantly we must do all that we can to take care of our service members, their families, and our veterans. I fear that we often fall down on that, so we must always strive to do better.
Once again our military is being called upon to fight. This time in Iran.
Are the reasons that have so far been given to justify this fight valid and honest? I don’t know. Maybe. Our nation has been lied into war by our political leaders before. I certainly don’t believe that any politician has a claim on our blind trust.
But, I support this war against Iran.
We were given ample justification to wage war against Iran in November of 1979.
Instead of doing so, we all watched in horror, as each night on television American diplomats were held hostage and abused, day after day, for 444 days. We watched as a dangerously weak American President allowed our best and brightest, people who worked directly for his administration, do nothing but let them suffer.
Our political leadership at the time was feckless, and completely ineffective. The Iranian threat should have been stopped at that time. Instead it was allowed to fester for decade after decade.
Because of that, I am in support of this war.
It comes decades too late, half of a lifetime too late, but it has finally come against a system that has violated international norms and laws since its very inception.
Now that it has come, we must hope that our political leadership sees it through, and brings it to a good conclusion for the United States, and better lives for the people of Iran. We can’t allow our political class to saddle our military with another quagmire, or the world with another failed State.
My perspective of the Iranian incident is a little different than most people. In my 28-year career in the military I served in 1 war, suited up for a second and was subject to recall for a third. Every time there was an incident around the world which could result in a military response to failed diplomacy, we were keenly aware of the possible implications. We would study the news articles and TV coverage and talk about what we might do differently or not do at all. When the hostages were released, I had the privilege of being invited to attend a classified briefing by Col. Thomas Schaefer, USAF, who recounted his experience while held by the Iranians. Some of what he told us at the time was not yet released to the media and told of the harsh conditions and cruelty of his captors. As you said, our feckless leadership at the time botched an ill-fated rescue attempt and it took a change in leadership to force the Iranians to release our hostages after 444 days of captivity.
I always find the remark about "foreign wars" somewhat bleakly amusing. As if implying, I'd rather the war be a domestic war fought here. The last big one was the Civil War and before that the various wars against the Indians, Mexico, the war of 1812 and so on. Personally, I'd rather any war be fought someplace else. WW II was the closest one we had here (Hawaii, The Philippines, Alaska Guam, and the incendiary balloons floated over from Japan). More than close enough for me. I'd prefer not to be fighting the "Battle to retake Denver" . The question is the why is the war. If it's to keep the hostilities in other places rather than here, it's probably a good idea. If it's to bring Democracy to fillintheplaceofyourchoice and make the world a better place. it's probably not a good idea and won't really succeed. The Scuttlebutts comments on WW I are exactly right. Stopping Hitler and Imperial Japan was a good idea. Korea too. Vietnam? Iffy I think. in the long run. Stopping Husain from controlling a lot of the world's oil supply? Probably a good idea. Trying to turn Iraq into "good country"? Not really workable. Getting rid of the Taliban? Good idea. Making Afghanistan a better place to live? Not really doable. The ultimate message of any war should be: Don't screw with us. Bad things will happen if you do. Unfortunately we live in a world where people have fantasies of becoming great leaders or martyrs for the cause, whatever the cause may be. Don't think that is going to go away.