Americans, Wars, and Justifications

Over the years, Americans have died all over the world fighting for causes that, at the time, seems pointless. It is only in the long view that many of these actions can be judged. The war on terror, which includes the "battle" in Iraq is no exception. Bringing democracy to Iraq will, in the long term, bring peace and prosperity to those people and make us a lot safer. We are a lot safer having Saddam removed than leaving him there for the inevitable day when sanctions were lifted and either he or his psychopathic sons were in charge to do who knows what.

As wars go, this one was unusually justified.

Here's a list of the wars the US has been in:

War of 1812: Declared because a handful of US merchants were impressed into the British Navy. Thousands of Americans died and the most of Washington DC was burned to the ground by the British. Our President, James Madison, wrote most of the constitution.

Mexican/American War: We wanted Mexican territory so we seized it.

War of 1898: A US ship in Havana Harbor blows up likely due to a failure on the ship. The US declares war on Spain and seizes Cuba and the Philippines.

World War I: Germany declares unrestricted submarine warfare around the British Isles. So we declared war on them.

World War II: Japan attacks Pear Harbor, Germany and Japan both declare war on us.

Korean War: North Korea invades South Korea. US troops sent to defend South Korea.

Vietnam War: North Vietnam aims to unite all of Vietnam into a Communist country. US defends South Vietnam. Ultimately ends in a stalemate with the US leaving. North Vietnam ultimately violates the agreement and conquers South Vietnam anyway. US doesn't respond.

Gulf War I: Iraq invades Kuwait. US and UN give Saddam an ultimatum to leave Kuwait or be forced to leave. US and Coalition forces liberate Kuwait but stop short of removing Saddam (since that wasn't part of the UN mandate). A cease fire is called in which Iraq agrees to UN inspections, a no-fly zone over the northern and southern part of the country to protect the Kurd and Shiites respectively, and reparations to Kuwait.

Afghanistan: After 3 hijacked airliners crash into the WTC and Pentagon (a 4th was retaken by the passengers and crashed into the ground), the US determines that a worldwide terrorist network, Al Qaeda, was responsible and is mainly based in Afghanistan. After demanding that the Afghan Taliban government hand them over being refused, US forces work with "the northern alliance" to eliminate the Taliban government and eject most of Al Qaeda from that country.

Gulf War II: Iraq, having thrown out the inspectors, not paid reparations, and regularly firing on US/UK planes patrolling the no-fly zone is given an ultimatum in the unanimously passed resolution 1441: Abide by the previous agreements or suffer "serious consequences". He is given 90 days to do so. By February, it's clear Saddam is playing the same old games. Coalition forces remove Saddam from power.

Now, if you look at this together, it's pretty clear that as wars go, this one had more thought and justification to it than most efforts the US has been involved in (the war of 1898, the war of 1812, and the Mexican-American war are all 3 wars that are pretty hard to justify IMO).

I tend to think that most people just don't know much on these wars. IN the Mexican-American war, the US army actually conquered Mexico. Not just some piece of it. US forces conquered Mexico City. If they had had mass communications back then, there's a pretty good chance that most of Mexico would have been incorporated into the United States.  Similarly, the war of 1812 was incredibly foolish and had virtually no justification that I can find. And as for the Spanish-American war, imagine the reaction today of US troops fighting and dying in the Philippines because some old US ship blew up for unknown reasons 90 miles south of Florida.

50,000 Americans died defending Korea. What was the justification for that? It was a rural nation on the other side of the world with no national interest to us. I certainly grieve for every one of the hundreds of Americans who have died in Iraq, their sacrifice will ultimately help a great many people in the long run.

Most defeated enemies of the United States have benefited in some way. If Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and California had remained part of Mexico, does anyone think the citizens there today would be better off? Does anyone think that Japan and Germany aren't better off today than they would have been otherwise? France, which regularly whines about US "unilateralism" only exists today because the same gang liberated them from the Germans (and was it not French unilateralism that aided the US revolution? The French justification for helping us was basically to piss off the British). 

The point is, what we're doing in Iraq is almost certainly going to benefit everyone on all sides (well, not the terrorists probably.  We won't have to worry that some dictator is using his billions in oil wealth to plot some horrible revenge on the United States or its friends.  Iraqi's won't have to worry about having their children taken from them and tortured, killed and imprisoned simply as a way to "teach the parents a lesson". Iraq's neighbors don't have to worry about becoming a "province" of "Greater Iraq".

In other words, the benefit being gained from the war in Iraq is great and our sacrifice has been relatively low. But not absolute zero. When people worry about the details of justifying the war they ignore the bigger picture. Most wars in history have had little or no justification. The US is no exception to this. But what is exceptional is the long term results - US actions do tend to benefit other peoples. There is no denying this.  People who carp about the UN not agreeing with this or that ignore the obvious - the UN was created by the United States. It wasn't a team effort. It was wholly a US idea with British backing that the US then talked others into being involved with. And the UN was an action that resulted from World War II.

Wars are hell. But they do bring change both good and ill. But based on history and based on a broader look at the situation, the war in Iraq is likely to benefit everyone in the long run.