Warnings to be Heeded, or Ignored

IT SEEMS LIKE yesterday when bush43 and cheney were alarming us about some "axis of evil" consisting of north korea, iran, and iraq, three countries which not only are no threat to the united states but have nothing whatsoever to do with one another, in any sort of "axis".

any of these countries might at any time become a great threat to america, so it is perfectly justifiable for  the U.S. to strile first, and ask questions later. For two guys who pulled every string possible to avoid serving in viet nam, bush and cheney sure were gung ho about sending others to war.

The war on terrorism , which has now been ongoing for ten years, has been a mixed bag of results; iraq has been pounded into submission, but at great cost, and north korea and iran are no closer to capitulation, even though their economies are in ruins.

declaring war on an abstraction like "terrorism" is highly questionable. It don't make good sense. Hell, it don't even make good nonsense. If you want something to make war on, you need a country.

maybe george washington was right when he warned future americans to avoid becoming involved in the affairs of other nations, in "foreign entanglements". Is there some healthy balance halfway between isolationism and global meddling?

maybe general and president eisenhower was right when he warned the american people that a military industrial complex was gaining huge influence in government affairs, pushing the united states towards a more aggressive foreign policy.

notice how washington and eisenhower issued these dire warnings only upon leaving office and going into retirement. when people no longer have anything to lose, they are often willing to tell the truth; but not before.

It turned out that iraq was never even close to being a threat to the U.S., had no taliban or el quada; and it looks like we should keep our eye on our good ole american military industrial complex, and stop getting involved in everything, like, for instance, syria. the sad truth is american involvement might not be the solution for every problem.