1 members
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 80 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing Summarizing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H4'ed 11/13/12

Character flaws and circumstances in America's deadly warriors-in-chief

By       (Page 5 of 8 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   18 comments

Gary Brumback
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Gary Brumback
Become a Fan
  (35 fans)

 

Two more touchstone wars need to be tested. One is America's first, the American Revolution. It was fought for the partial right of independence and self-determination. It was a clash between two privileged classes 3,500 miles apart. It did not save the Indians. It led to their decimation and subjugation. It certainly wasn't against racism. And it certainly was not for a democracy of, for, and by all the people. Had the war not been fought there might have been a negotiated settlement eventually or British control would have eventually dissipated, just as the "Mother Country" eventually lost all of its other colonies, and an America of a less militant nature might have eventually emerged.

 

The second touchstone is the Civil War, the most deadly for Americans of any military interventions launched by a U.S. president. Zinn makes it clear in his book that President Lincoln provoked the attack on Fort Sumter that launched the Civil War not with the primary purpose of freeing the slaves but "to retain the enormous national territory and markets and resources." [11] Lincoln, in other words, was an early practitioner of imperialism by deadly military means.  

 

After reading Zinn I did not remove the image of the Washington statute of our 16th President that is displayed on my website, www.uschamberofdemocracy.com. I like the looks of it. Before reading Zinn I had written an iconoclastic piece about President Lincoln in my book on which the site is partly based. It was in reference to the rash of states around 2002 rushing to pass laws declaring states' rights in defiance of federal regulations. Here are some extracts of what I wrote: "What if they left the Union and formed their own---There might be two Americas and two smaller corpocracies instead of one monstrous one. ---President Lincoln may have made a colossal mistake in entering the Civil War. Slavery probably would have ended peacefully without [it] ---because plantation owners were beginning to realize that share croppers were economically a better option than slave holding and thus emancipation would not have been forced by the Union on slave holders. Concomitantly, racial hatred and prejudice might not persist to this day---With two Americas so divided each would not have been strong enough to do much warring around the globe. And with two Americas so divided, the corpocracy as it exists today might not exist today." [12] President Lincoln, in my opinion, should have adopted the sentiment of President Thomas Jefferson who exclaimed "If any state in the Union will declare that it prefers separation ... to a continuance in the union .... I have no hesitation in saying, Let us separate." Most political leaders up to the Civil War agreed with that view. They thought states had the right to secede. But so much for reverse history; we can all make of it what we will.

 

Two final questions need to be raised about war. First, wouldn't a war of self defense unravel a pacifist's argument that no war is just? The best defense against modern warfare initiated against the U.S. is prevention through the U.S. having the right kind of foreign policies in place over time. Unfortunately, the question is less hypothetical than it may seem. As it stands today, the administrator of our foreign policy, the Department of State is a subsidiary of the Department of Defense. Our foreign policies are in reality militant military policies.   

 

Second, what about military interventions for humanitarian reasons? Are they not just? "As Einstein once said, "War cannot be humanized. War can only be abolished." There should never be inhumane means to a humane end. Witness the case of Amnesty International-USA urging NATO's military intervention in Afghanistan to protect human rights for women and girls. Rationalizing military interventions as humanitarian interventions "is a sign of progress," David Swanson, author of War is a Lie says, adding, "That we fall for it is a sign of embarrassing weakness. The war propagandist is the world's second oldest profession, and the humanitarian lie is not entirely new. But it works in concert with other common war lies." [13] Finding and using a genuinely humane intervention requires ingenuity and a moral conscience, not military might.

 

Can America's endless wars be ended for good?

 

War is not inevitable. There have been peaceful periods throughout history here and there in the world. And war can be ended, possibly forever. Doing so will require changing the personal characteristics and circumstances of our future U.S. presidents.

 

As for the four character flaws, they won't change in a sitting president. They have been crystallized and hardened during his formative years. We must elect an entirely different kind of president, one whose characteristics are the mirror image of the four. We know when the four positive sides exist by looking at the candidate's personal history. We give ourselves a better chance of electing a candidate having no character flaws by changing how we elect the candidates and, in the long run by grooming them early. The way we elect presidents needs to be changed from winner-take all to an approval voting or an alternative, scored voting. Either approach leaves the Constitutional requirement of an Electoral College intact. Besides possessing the four positive character traits, the person ought to be a female. Not just any female though. Rule out Hillary Clinton, she of the "we came, we saw, we killed" morality and wife of a man who some argue is an international war criminal. And rule out Elizabeth Warren, the brand new U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. She apparently believes Iran is a significant threat to the U.S. and is too closely allied with AIPAC, the American/Israeli lobby group reportedly just itching to get the U.S. into a war with Iran. Future candidates need to be groomed through training, mentoring, and being down-ballot candidates and office holders for progressive, non-imperialistic causes.

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 1   Well Said 1   Valuable 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Gary Brumback Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Retired organizational psychologist.

Author of "911!", The Devil's Marriage: Break Up the Corpocracy or Leave Democracy in the Lur ch; America's Oldest Professions: Warring and Spying; and Corporate Reckoning Ahead.

I may be (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter

Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

America's Corpocracy: The Legacy of U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Lewis F. Powell (1907-1998)

America's Corpocracy: Conspiracy Theory or Conspiracy Reality

Corporate America Unmasked

The Childhood of America's Power Elite and its War Addiction

Robed Injustice

America needs a socially responsible capitalism

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend