When Will They Ever Learn?
By David Truskoff
14 September, 2007
Countercurrents.org"Where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn? "Recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary, Words by Pete Seeger
The answer to Pete Seegar’s question is still blowing in the wind.The only good thing about getting older is that you have the ability to see the past being repeated, but you always wonder why others can not. I hear the bla bla bla of crazy military men and the just as crazy politicians and I get depressed thinking that if I hang around any longer I will still not see or hear anything new.
"We have taught the enemy a lesson. He has found out that aggression is not cheap or easy. Moreover, men all over the world who want to remain free have been given new courage and New Hope. They know now that the champions of freedom can stand up and fight.
Our resolute stand in Korea is helping the forces of freedom now fighting in Indochina and other countries in that part of the world. It has already slowed down the timetable of conquest....
The new commander, Lt. Gen. Matthew Ridgway, has already demonstrated that he has the great qualities of military leadership needed for this task."
Harry Truman 1950
The war in Korea was lost. Tens of thousand died.
General Westmoreland flashed his stars and medals after being called back to the US to generate new support for the war in Vietnam and the Johnson Administration. He testified before Congress and spoke before the National Press Club in Washington "With 1968," he said, "a new phase is starting. We have reached an important point where the end begins to come into view." That was during the time he used the often quoted phrase "There is light at the end of the tunnel" With that phrase he tried to convince the American people that victory was near.
President Johnson had said that he would not be sending American boys to do the fighting that Vietnamese boys should be doing, but later he changed that to," our boys are fighting in the name of freedom"It has always been my belief that president Roosevelt knew that the Japanese were going to attack, but as often is the case he had a military vision of the previous war and no idea of the damage that modern war fare could inflict in one blow. Johnson had the same arrogance and naivete when it came to military matters and thought that he could use World War Two tactics and bomb the Communists into submission. General Curtis LeMay said, "the U.S. should bomb Vietnam back to the Stone Age"
. In his book "How We Lost the War in Vietnam", Nguyen Kao Ky, described the U.S. role in Vietnam as "misguided" and naïve."
The war in Vietnam was lost. Tens of thousands died.
On Tuesday January 23, 2007; Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the new top commander in Iraq, ( also flashing his stars and medals) told Congress that sectarian violence has reduced Baghdad's population to a daily struggle for survival, undermined the U.S. strategy of handing responsibility to Iraqi forces and created the prospect of a "failed state."Petraeus went on to say a new approach that would include pushing tens of thousands of additional U.S. and Iraqi troops deep into Baghdad neighborhoods, would allow the Iraqi Government to "come to grips with an "exceedingly difficult situation."
In his report to congress Monday, September 10, 2007 Gen. David H. Petraeus’ said
"The progress our forces have achieved with our Iraqi counterparts has, as I noted at the outset, been substantial. While there have been setbacks as well as successes and tough losses along the way, overall, our tactical commanders and I see improvements (light at the end of the tunnel) in the security environment
In closing, it remains an enormous privilege to soldier again in Iraq with America’s new "Greatest Generation." Our country’s men and women in uniform have done a magnificent job in the most complex and challenging environment imaginable. All Americans should be very proud of their sons and daughters serving in Iraq today."
. Previously in terse, short answers to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Casey did what no one dared to do since Gen. Douglas MacArthur. He doubted the president’s ability to conduct the war. It was risky and shocking, but at that stage I don’t think Casey had anything to lose.
Finally on September 13.2007 President George Bush said, "The success of a free Iraq is critical to the security of the United States."…"Now because of the measure of success we are seeing in Iraq, ( more light at the end of the tunnel) we can begin seeing troops come home."
Bla Bla Bla
Representative Jan Schakowsky, Democrat of Illinois. Said that, Gen. David Petraeus told her that the U.S. "will be in Iraq in some way for 9 or 10 years."
Even republican congressmen know that the war in Iraq is lost and thousands of American troops have already died and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have died.
The question that Pete Seeger asked (when will they ever learn) is still not answered, but the question, when posed back in the sixties, implied that it was the soldiers and the raving generals and politicians that will never learn, but the question should be asked another way; when will the American people ever learn.
www.erols.com/suttonbear
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