Selective Memories
Ted Folkert
November 22, 2015
JFK died this day more than fifty years ago, yet his death is still in our mind’s eye like it happened yesterday. I still want to know what Jack Ruby had to do with it all. He came out of nowhere, like he was sent there to shut Oswald’s mouth, which he did very effectively. And then his mouth was closed a little later very effectively, must have been a coincidence. Mission accomplished!
What would have been JFK’s stance today? He knew warfare. He almost died there in WWII, like his older brother did. Perhaps today he would have considered all of the possible consequences of military action, including innocent lives lost in such actions.
The selective memories of this discussion relate to more recent occurrences, the Paris terrorist attacks. What action should the world take in retaliation and to prevent further such occurrences? How many more innocent people must die in order to settle this score and eliminate these cowardly terrorists?
Listening the other day, while biting my tongue, to some sabre-rattlers at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, was disappointing. The outspoken were insisting that we go over there to Syria and “take those bastards out.” I won’t question the fact that most of those who seek such action have never seen warfare and never been in the military. My question is why don’t they all read and listen to something other than Fox Noise? They fault Obama, among everything else he does, with being aloof, disinterested, pacifistic, cowardly, Muslim, African, black, and irresponsible.
Should we put boots on the ground in Syria? Should we put boots on the ground against ISIS, wherever and whoever they are? Boots on the ground sounds very militaristic and proper in today’s dialect. Unfortunately, what most of those who use the term fail to acknowledge is that every boot on the ground has a foot in it and every foot belongs to one of our young people. They fail to answer, no, they fail to even ask or acknowledge the question, of what can be accomplished and at what cost of putting these feet on the ground. Not one of those who offered up the lives of our young soldiers offered to put their foot on the ground. No, they just talk tough so everyone will think they are tough, even though, if they had to face the enemy in battle, they would probably need a change of pants very quickly.
The thing Obama realizes and they fail to recognize is that this conflict is so complicated and has so many different interests affected by the outcome that it is impossible to know who to shoot and what could possibly be accomplished by it. We seem to have allies on both side of this situation. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Remember Afghanistan? How did that turn out? Who runs that country now that they murdered there leaders? Is it safe? Is it at war still after 14 years, several trillion dollars, and thousands of lost lives, and complete destruction of the infrastructure and political stability of the country?
Remember Iraq? How did that turn out? Who runs that country now? Is it safe? Is it still at war after 14 years, several trillion dollars, thousands of lost lives, and complete destruction of the infrastructure and political stability of the country? How did it work out after we arranged for them to murder their murderous leader, Saddam Hussein.
Remember Libya? How did that turn out? Who runs that country now? Is it safe? Is it still in political turmoil and impoverishment after all these years and the murder of their leader, Muammar Qaddifi?
Remember Iran? How did that turn out? Who runs that country now? Is it safe? Is it still struggling to arrive at a viable government ever since we removed their elected leader, Mohammad Mossaddeq, and installed the despotic Shah Reza Pahlavi back in power back in 1953? He was ousted by religious leaders in 1979 and went into exile again, never to return and with nowhere to turn. How did that work out?
So, what happens if this war is settled and the enemy, whoever that is, is eliminated? Where does Russia stand? Where does Israel stand? Where does Saudi Arabia stand? Where does Turkey stand? Who runs Syria? Will they be America friendly? Will they be Russia friendly? Will the Syrian people return to Syria? Will they have a democratic government?
I have lots more question, such as, is the world a safer place?, but the answers to those above would be a good start. Unfortunately, there are no obvious answers to those questions. Until there are, maybe we should sit tight and continue to send errant drones into the area to bomb them and eliminate some more innocent people, those who have not already left their beloved country with their families, seeking a peaceful life, leaving every worldly possession behind, migrants with nowhere to go, hoping for peace so they can resume their life in peaceful coexistence.
But don’t send them here. No, we don’t want immigrants. They are murderers and marauders. We saw what they can do. They might take the country and murder all of the previous owners. Sound familiar?
Think about it!