JORGE AGUSTÍN NICOLÁS RUIZ DE SANTAYANA Y BORRÁS was correct when he allegedly wrote Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.1
The Santayana quote, on of this scrivener’s favorites, came to mind as I read an article titled The Kishinev Pogrom as a Catalyst to the Russo-Japanese War2
According to the article’s author, Col (Res.) Dr. Raphael G. Bouchnik-Chen,
- The Japanese surprise assault was launched just before midnight on April 8, 1904, when Japanese destroyers fired torpedoes without warning at a line of Russian battleships lying at anchor in the Port Arthur road stead on the China coast. Ten Japanese destroyers caught the Russians unprepared, badly damaging three of their largest battleships. A declaration of war was issued a few hours later.
December 7, 1941
What immediately came to mind was December 7, 1941, a/k/a Pearl Harbor Day, when the Japanese attacked U.S. military installations in the Pacific and then —after the fact — declared war on the U.S.
There has been, since that day that was to “live in infamy,” suspicion that Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then president, knew of the impending attack well before the attack and failed to alert U.S. personnel. In other words, FDR must share in the responsibility for the deaths and injuries of U.S. men and women.
The fact that the Japanese had a well-documented history of “sneak attacks” apparently was ignored by FDR and his lackeys or else they were ignorant of 20th Century politics and warfare.
Pearl Harbor was a repeat of the attack on Russia vessels moored at Port Arthur, China.
- The Japanese followed up with the Port Arthur massacre took place during the First Sino-Japanese War from 21 November 1894 for two or three days, when advance elements of the First Division of the Japanese Second Army under the command of General Yamaji Motoharu (1841–1897) killed somewhere between 1,000 and 20,000 Chinese servicemen and civilians in the Chinese coastal city of Port Arthur (now Lüshunkou). The battle is notable for its divergent coverage by foreign journalists and soldiers, with contemporaneous reports both supporting and denying narratives of a massacre by the Japanese military.3
No, that’s not racist on the part of this scrivener; it’s history.
Vietnam
The Vietnamese kicked out the French invaders who were less than brilliant rulers.4
It took the Vietnamese decades to send the French packing, but the Vietnamese knew their land better than the invaders.
The Vietnamese promptly divided the country into a Communist-leaning north and a non-Communist south.
The U.S., under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, sent in a few thousand troops in Military Advisor Groups (MAGs) to help train and equipment the south’s military.
The purported reason was to counter a threatened Communist takeover (that eventually occurred).
Democrats John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson added thousands of U.S. troops, replacing Americans killed or wounded with new soldiers, mostly conscripts.
Republican President Richard M. Nixon extracted the U.S. from the morass.
- President Nixon also opened trade with China; THAT did not go so well.
Afghanistan: Vietnam deux
Not learning its lesson in Vietnam, the U.S. tried to help the Afghans find peace.
Like Vietnam, the environment is different, the language is different, and the mentality is different than in the U.S.
At one point — and the alleged reason the U.S. got involved in Afghanistan — the then Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the U.S. CIA stepped in to support Afghan resistance with training and materiel. The Afghans prevailed and the Soviets were ousted.
Enter the Taliban.
Armed with U.S. provided weapons and captured Soviet weapons — notably Mikhail Kalashnikov’s highly reliable AK-47 rifle — the Afghans bit the hand that fed them and turned on the U.S.
UNlike the Soviets, American administrations would not admit Afghanistan is another Vietnam and withdraw before more Americans were killed.
U.S. troops still are being murdered in Afghanistan in a war the U.S. cannot win.
Iraq
The U.S. twice invaded Iraq to protect its allies in the Gulf region.
- The Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait. The war consisted of two phases the first was code named Operation Desert Shield (2 August 1990 – 17 January 1991) for operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia. And the second was Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) was the combat phase. 5
Although Desert Storm wound down in 1991, on May 1, 2003, standing directly under a "Mission Accomplished" banner, George W. Bush declared, "In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." Bush's claim of victory in what became known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech drew criticism as the war in Iraq continued for several years thereafter.6
Bush managed to avoid the Vietnam conflict by joining his state’s Air National Guard.
U.S. troops still are in Iraq and falling victim to Iranian-backed Iraqi snipers and bombers.
If, like the Afghans, the Iraqis cannot resolve their own issues years after the U.S. removed Saddam Hussein, the U.S. should consider abandoning these countries to their own devices. Like Vietnam — with which the U.S. now has trade relations — Afghanistan and Iraq will survive sans U.S. military presence, and (fewer) American soldiers will return home in caskets.
Wars of attrition
Wars of attrition generally are not welcomed by Americans, particularly when, as in Afghanistan and Iraq, there is no end in sight.
If President Trump wins re-election, and riding high on the “normalization” agreements between Israel and several Muslim-dominated countries, perhaps he will join President Nixon in extracting the U.S. from no-win wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
War mongers will object mightily if Trump pulls the troops out, and complain that the U.S. cannot be trusted. Allies who feel that way are invited to send their troops to replace U.S. forces.
In U.S. politics, it would be interesting to see and hear who complains the loudest about “abandoning our allies.”
On the other hand, President Trump has shown that he can achieve what no president before him — neither Democrat nor Republican — has achieved, viz “normalization” between Israel and several Muslim-dominated states.
President Trump’s predecessor (and his vice president, now candidate for president) only managed to bring on the “Arab Spring” and, despite warnings, the murder of four Americans at the U.S. consulate in what the then-secretary of state claimed was a “spontaneous” attack, albeit it was later proven that the “spontaneous” attack was well organized.
Neither President Trump’s predecessor nor the current Democrat candidate managed to accomplish anything toward peace in the Middle East while they encouraged the terrorists of the PLO/PFLP and Hamas/Islamic Jihad by funding and encouraging the terrorists’ intransigence.
CAVEAT
This scrivener is not anti-war; there are wars that are justified.
Unlike Bush (ibid.) this writer spent time in the real Air Force (as a medic) and took his chances on being sent to either Korea or Vietnam.
Sources
1. Santayana: https://tinyurl.com/y4zxsbml
2. Kishinev Pogrom: https://tinyurl.com/y4nfq3na
3. Port Arthur massacre: https://tinyurl.com/ycvd6qrs
4. France & Vietnam: https://tinyurl.com/yyku47mk
5. Gulf War: https://tinyurl.com/yyqc25h9
6. Bush’s faux pas: https://tinyurl.com/yxv2mvku
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.
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