A smarter way to dominate enemies
Haven’t we seen this before? The only differences in Afghanistan and Vietnam are bigger airplanes, and that the South Vietnamese put up a fight. The Afghan army just walked away.
After we routed the Taliban 20 years ago, we were going to lead Afghanistan down the path of Western democracies. We trained a national Afghan army complete with elite units, an army that on paper looked as if it could easily handle the ragtag Taliban. My son, as a Green Beret (U.S. Army Special Forces), spent a year in a warlord’s compound doing part of the training. (His interpreter has managed to flee.)
Flash back to March 6, 1836, when 180 Texans are holed up in Mission San Antonio de Valero, aka the Alamo. (Yes, fuel producer Valero is headquartered in San Antonio.) They are being attacked by 1,500 Mexican troops and face certain death when the Mexican general raises the no-quarter flag. They choose to fight and die rather than surrender.
Now to the present. The Taliban’s quick takeover certainly wasn’t because the Afghan forces were hit with a blitz of armor and thousands of crack troops. It was a bunch of bearded guys riding in the backs of Ford pickups. They took most of the villages by simply showing up, and after the regional towns fell, all that was left was Kabul.
That caused our panicked pullout, which is turning out to be horrible. Have we learned anything? It was a total loss, but the screwup started by simply going in. Russia and the United States should learn they can’t impose their lifestyles and systems of government on people whose deep religious convictions are at odds with the new government.
Since recorded history, countries have used a mass military to impose their will on others. Our country should draw back from engaging in military missions, which require large numbers of on-the-ground soldiers.
The U.S. is the only true superpower in the world militarily, economically, technologically, and socially. It is obvious that if we want to impose our will on another nation, we have the clout to do so. In the past we have rushed to use our military might without giving our non-military strength enough time to bring about the desired position our country wants to achieve.
We have passed the time when evil madmen rule with the desire to dominate vast amounts of land. If a Hitler or Mussolini turns up, they must be met with overwhelming force and eliminated. However, a Saddam Hussein, Moammar Gadhafi or other low-rent dictator can be handled without committing American ground forces. It is time to declare an end to large numbers of American troops being used to eliminate the threat of these people.
We have the clout to bring about the desired results without sacrificing the lives of our citizens. As a parent, when my son was in Afghanistan, I did not think it was in our national interest to have him killed. We could have accomplished much more by an economic blockade, severe aerial bombardment, and clandestine Special Forces and Navy SEAL attacks.
I do not think the wars that killed thousands of Americans in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait were worth the sacrifice. And if we survey the recent military intervention, I believe better results could have been achieved by not using our on-theground military.
In the past, one million American heroes have died as the result of on-the-ground conflicts around the world. An overview of these wars would place only World War II as needed to defend North American democracy.
Our nation has reached an unheard-of plateau. We have the obligation to every American to protect freedom, but in doing so we have another obligation: to protect the lives of every American. We can do both.
This is not a call of isolationism, but a call to save American lives. Why subject thousands of young Americans to the dangers of modern warfare when we don’t have to?
If we really believe we are economically connected to the rest of the world, as New York Times columnist Tom Friedman said we are in “The World is Flat,” then simply being an economic powerhouse enables us to impose our will on other nations. We must have the patience and courage to tighten the economic strangulation of a rogue nation until submission is achieved.
We could prevent Iran from exporting a drop of oil; some of our allies who are illicitly profiting from skirting the embargo might object, but we could isolate Iran into submission. As the screws tighten economically, it would be only a matter of time.
The same is true with North Korea. If we subject it to total economic strangulation, its leaders might threaten to use their nuclear weapons, but they wouldn’t; it would be a total annihilation of their country. They may be crazy, but not that crazy.
Our latest major on-the-ground military action was Afghanistan because it was harboring Osama bin Laden, who attacked us on 9/11. We did finally get him, but it was with a SEAL team, and not a single American was killed.
SEALs and Green Berets are the future of military action in this country, along with all the other non-military ways to impose our will on countries or individuals who would attack America. It is time to call an end to war.