The U.S. government beats the drums of war, the mainstream media picks up the sound and amplifies it across America; the war-weary American people hear the drums and think, "Oh, no, not again"; while people around the world shudder at the thought of what might happen next.
In many cases when an egregious miscalculation is made, the individual or entity that made it learns a painful lesson and vows never to make that same mistake again. Not so with the U.S. government that, quite apparently, does not have the capacity to learn from its mistakes and is prone to make them again and again and again.
Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, all military debacles, should have taught this government two very important lessons: the first, that you should never use military power to invade and occupy a nation that poses no direct threat to America; and secondly, that massive military power cannot overwhelm and conquer nations and people who simply refuse to be dominated and controlled by outside forces. This was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt in those three countries. After those humiliating experiences, you would think that this government would find ways other than war to deal with volatile situations.
Here's the real problem; the people of America may be war-weary but those who wield the power in Washington most certainly are not. Unfortunately, they haven't learned anything from the mistakes of the past because they are entirely incapable of shaking off their addiction to and obsession with war; they simply wait for their next opportunity to unleash the U.S. military.
So, once again, we watch as the U.S. government and its very reluctant European allies seem to be gearing up for a direct confrontation with Russia over the issue of Ukraine. What our "leaders" should clearly understand is that Russia is not just another Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan, relatively small countries. This is a very extensive country with a huge military, massive firepower and the world's largest nuclear arsenal, totaling some 8,000 weapons.
It might be a good idea for Mr. Obama and those that are thirsting for yet another war to give this situation some very deep thought. Why in the world are they even thinking about going to war over this issue of Ukraine? Why should this be considered such a massive problem? It is not. If Russia and Ukraine have serious differences that's their business and they have to work it out.
Some key questions: is Russia encroaching upon any of the European NATO countries; has it threatened any of them in any way? Has it taken the initiative in setting up missile systems aimed at key European countries and military facilities or is it NATO and the U.S. that have done exactly that against Russia? Is Russia the country that has a military empire with bases all over the world and Special Forces in some 150 countries? No, that's the U.S.
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