War or not

Should this country enter into war or not? I ask this question because it seems to me that there is a fundamental problem in arriving at the correct answer. It is not that we are unable to decide, it is rather an issue of making the CORRECT decision and also understanding and agreeing on the meaning of the word WAR.

The U.S.A. has engaged in many Wars. In fact, I am an old man, and I can't remember a time when we were not in a war. Some were hot and some were cold but it has been constant war. We are not afraid to get into war unfortunately, our problem is that we are afraid to win the war.

The painful truth is that we have not won a military conflict since World War II. It's not that we can't win it's just that we don't want to win. We don't have the will to win. The most powerful military in the world and we are afraid to use it. Or more precisely we will only use it sparingly, within limits, in a socially responsible manner, making sure not to damage the environment and for sure we will never hurt any little cuddly animals.

The American people generally are a good and kind people. We feel compassion and empathy. We tend to look at those who hate us in other parts of the world as our equals and we would rather help them then hurt them. These people only hate us because of their evil leaders and the people can't really be blamed. This is a bad mind set if you are going to engage in war. At root we want others to like us. Again this is a weakness. When engaged in war it is much more to your advantage to be feared. We believe that God is on our side and thus we will win our wars by being good as God would want us to be.

Some of our wars come about because we look for the unfairness in the world and intervene to correct the problems. We want to protect and defend the downtrodden. We want to defend those who cannot defend themselves. We have become the policeman of the world. Again, it is one of those things that we innately feel is the "right" thing to do. God would want us to help.

So, let me tell you of my solution to this problem. We need to redefine what war is and have a simple rule that defines our behavior when we enter a military conflict. The rule is simply that if we go to war we are committed to win the war. WIN!!! No worrying about collateral damage. No worrying about innocent civilians. No nation building or reconstruction of damaged infrastructure that results from our victory. WIN!!! No political correctness. No compassion. No fair fight. No winning of hearts and minds. No Geneva convention. No United Nations. No peace treaty. WIN!!!

Bomb 'em into the stone age, wipe 'em off the face of the earth, kill every one of 'em. No mercy! Sound a little harsh? Well you're right it is harsh. In fact it is terrible. War is HELL!!! That is why we should never, never enter into war without the will to do all the horrible things that are needed in order to win.

So I recommend that we stay out of war. Only go to war for our own selfish needs. But let the word go forth, that if we do go to war, when the smoke clears our enemy will be gone and so will their grandmother and their little dog too.