They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace’,
when there is no peace.
(Jeremiah 6:14)
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
QUESTION OF THE DAY - PEACE OR NO PEACE?
Has the US ever been at peace since the end of World War II? I do not refer only to declared wars, but rather to any fighting in which US military forces were involved, either overtly or through surrogates.
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I have a very vague recollection of a newspaper item way back, perhaps during the Ford/Carter years, about the U.S. being at peace for the first time worldwide in 30 years or something like that. But as to secret/covert ops, who knows? How would anyone be able to know? All that is such a creepy, depressing subject, I avoid even reading about it.
ReplyDeleteRuss, one of my Facebook friends responded with the following when I asked my question over there.
ReplyDeleteAfter I asked that question I did a search on a time line for our military actions. There has not been a single year, not one, since we became a nation, when we have not taken some kind of military action somewhere on this earth. Some were global and some were relatively small but we've been throwing our weight around all over the place ever since we were born. Not one year of complete peace. That is rather sad.
She took my question to a whole new level and did the hard work for me.
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ReplyDeleteBut let us be alert to the slanted language: "throwing our weight around." What does that mean, exactly and precisely? And once that definition has been stated, how does our military behavior compare with, say, that of the Soviet Union and other empires of the last three centuries?
ReplyDeleteBut yes, to give a simple reply, we have sometimes been the big bully on the block, and more often than is defensible, which is a great worry to me. But some of those 200-plus years of military action have indeed been needful and defensible: the right thing to do.
There is no need to exaggerate when the true story is already a compelling one.
Russ, we are better than some and worse than others. I come close to being against all war. What is a just war? At this point in history, with our military might, is there a way the US could wage a just war?
ReplyDeleteThe formula for a just war, which I agree sounds rather oxymoronic, has been spelled out by Aquinas and others. But though I hate the whole nasty business with a passion, I do see that it is sometimes a very necessary evil. As long as there are bad and violent men in the world, good men must be prepared to defend their homes and loved ones from the thugs of this world. It's no good to say we will never go to war, for the very same reason it would insane to dismiss all police and firemen.
ReplyDeleteAs to your last question - well, if Putin went a little crazy one day and decided to re-annex East Germany, would that do it for you? Not that I think he will - but there are yet possible scenarios for just war left, I think.
Man is a sleek and clever, but violent and dangerous animal, and must be dealt with accordingly. Even scripture tells you that.
(The masculine includes the feminine throughout this comment - forgive me.)
Hypotheticals are endless, and I'm not saying getting to the place of no more war is easy, but I lean in that direction. Still, there are the questions, "What should we do if...? What would I do if...?"
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