War Without Debate

“War is the health of the State. It automatically sets in motion throughout society these irresistible forces for uniformity, for passionate cooperation with the government in coercing into obedience the minority groups and individuals which lack the larger herd sense.”- Randolf Bourne

“[America] goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.- President John Adams

“I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.” - General Smedley Butler, two time winner of the Medal of Honor

Our country has just entered its third war. We started it. This was done without a Declaration of War from Congress, and was therefore done in violation of the United States Constitution. In fact, it wasn’t even debated in Congress.

We have now passed into a most dangerous position. Our military can be committed to start violence on another nation without Congressional approval or debate. Nor was there a public outcry for America to enter another war. Instead, Obama considered authorization from the United Nations as sufficient grounds to start this war.

I am not arguing that Col. Gaddafi is a good person. I am arguing that he is not a threat to the United States. He was actually less of a threat to us than some of the groups working to take his place. We don’t know that getting rid of him won’t lead to rivers of blood in a civil war much like what happened once Saddam was gone in Iraq. Freedom is best reserved for people who won’t use it to massacre their neighbors.

Our state department lacks the wisdom to decide who should or should not be running every country on earth, but they don’t seem to realize that. What they are doing now with all these foreign interventions is putting our children in crushing debt- we spent over $70 million in tomahawk missiles alone the very first hour of the effort. It’s also making them millions of bitter life-long enemies. What views would your children hold toward a foreign nation which started a war with us and dropped a bomb on you? John Adams was right. Seeking foreign monsters to slay is not a good idea, and even if it was, we can’t afford it.

Our government is currently doing a very sorry job of protecting our own rights. I think they ought to get a lot better at that before they decide to drop bombs on every mud hole on earth in an effort to somehow protect the rights of people in other nations. Even if our leaders intentions are good, over time even the foreigners who at first see us as liberators will come to see us as occupiers. Trying to impose the state department’s version of good government on people who don’t want it will only earn us enemies.