War has always been a topic of debate in the United States. There are those that have an itchy trigger finger that would send America's military muscle into hostile regions for any reason, there are those that begin singing "Give peace a chance" whenever any conflict arises, there are those that believe our military should only get involved in situations where there is a humanitarian crisis going on, and there are those that believe, as the founders did, that we must pick our battles carefully, and not become easily involved in foreign entanglements.
Our wars have varied in their description, design, organization and intent, during our history, some being long, drawn out affairs where we lingered longer than many folks could tolerate, and others where we went in with precision bombing, performed a rapid, decisive victory, and then packed up our things and left. Some conflicts required post-war presence, and some didn't. Some were over hostages, while others were over trade routes. In the last century the march of dictators and communism became the focal point of our military operations and concerns. In my lifetime, our conflicts have been regarding the tail-end of the Vietnam War, the tail-end of the Cold War, and Islamic terror.
The War Department is now called the Department of Defense, and war has become more about pinpointing military targets, than the old strategy of hitting the civilian population centers in order to get the enemy to cry "uncle." We have gone from Formations to trenches, and from trenches to warfare that uses the latest in technology. Someday, some science fiction minds ponder, war will be fought by mechanical human replicas, virtual reality, and drones.
Islam prefers to fight using tactics that are cut from a different cloth. Beheadings, tributes, and barbaric tactics are nothing new. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison waged the Barbary Wars during their presidencies shortly after the founding or the United States to protect U.S. trade routes, and stop the Muslim pirates from taking our sailors hostage, killing them, or sending them to the Turkish slave trade, while also demanding a stop to the Islamic demand that the United States pay tribute for using waters today we would recognize as international waters. The threat against the lives of Americans was considered an act of war, as were the attacks against American vessels.
In the United States Constitution, the details of when the United States should be willing to use its military in instances outside of protecting the States from invasion, are not listed. However, based on the writings of the time period regarding conversations, debates, and various correspondence between the founders, it is understood that the general feeling of the time period was that though the United States should not necessarily practice isolationism, the American military should not get involved in foreign entanglements.
As war began to percolate between Great Britain and France in the late 1790s, Vice President Thomas Jefferson urged President John Adams to take sides, but Adams followed George Washington's lead in the war between Britain and France, believing it was vital for the United States to avoid foreign entanglements. Tensions with France, and a tribute being paid to the Barbary Pirates, was more than Thomas Jefferson could stand, so when he won the presidency in 1800, he was prepared to do what was necessary to protect American interests. Tensions with France, including an attack on American shipping, resulted in a minor quasi-war with France during the final two years of the Adams' Presidency, which is one of the events that led to the Louisiana Purchase for a very low price under the Jefferson presidency. During Jefferson's and Madison's presidencies, however, tensions with Great Britain began to escalate, once again, and France became a minor irritant.
When President Jefferson took office in 1801, he refused to pay the tribute payments to the Barbary Pirates. Tripoli, "the least of the Barbary States," declared war against the United States, and Jefferson sent a contingent of frigates to the Mediterranean to deal the with the problem. Though the first Barbary War was never a war declared by Congress, when Jefferson asked for funding to increase the size of the force in the Mediterranean, Congress passed a resolution to ensure funding for the campaign continued, and that the funding was enough to increase the size of the force being used. Jefferson's military campaign was a success, and for the time being, the Barbary Coast was no longer a problem.
Wars have been fought for various reasons, in our history, but normally the use of military force is associated with either a direct attack on United States soil, an attack against American allies, the eminent threat of an attack against the United States if we don't take action, or the loss of life of Americans in a direct and deliberate attack that may or may not have been directed at American soil. American involvement in World War II was sparked by the attack on Pearl Harbor. Korea and Vietnam were efforts to contain communism, and an effort to contain the Soviet Union and Communist China, two nations that both posed a direct threat to the United States. The War on Terror, and the war in Iraq, was prompted by the loss of American lives on September 11, 2001 when Islamic terrorists used planes to attack the United States, succeeding in destroying the World Trade Center towers, and gravely damaging the Pentagon.
Now, a new threat has risen. ISIS, ISIL, or the Islamic State, three names that describe the same jihadist army of Islam committing brutal jihad currently in Syria and Iraq, is the most dangerous Islamic terror group to emerge in recent history. There seems to be no limit to the brutalities committed by the Islamic State. A holocaust against Christians in Iraq has ensued using brutal methods of terror, and the group has made direct threats regarding the destruction of Israel, Europe, and the United States. On January 21, the leader of ISIS proclaimed that he was looking forward to "direct confrontation with the United States."
In the wake of the wave of Islamic State terrorism is a long list of beheadings, slaughtered children, raped women, the heads of the victims on stakes (including the heads of Christian children), hangings, and mass burials. . . sometimes while the victims are still alive. The brutality has caught the attention of the world, and even the pacifist in chief in the American White House has stopped golfing a couple times to order pinprick strikes, and send a little aid, into the area.
Then the nature of the conflict with the beheading of American Journalist James Foley proudly released as an internet video by the terrorists completely changed its complexion. Abducted in 2012, the terrorists demanded a ransom be paid, and even contacted Foley's family shortly before they killed him on, or about, August 20, 2014.
During the video depicting Foley's death, a man in an orange outfit is identified as being the American journalist. Another man, dressed in black, with a black mask, stands beside Foley, holding a knife.
The man believed to be Foley says to the camera, "I call on my friends family and loved ones to rise up against my real killers, the US government, for what will happen to me is only a result of their complacency and criminality," in what appears to be a prepared statement.
The man in the mask says (curiously in a British accent): "This is James Wright Foley, an American citizen of your country. As a government you have been at the forefront of the aggression towards the Islamic State,' begins the executioner.
"You have plotted against us and gone far out of your way to find reasons to interfere in our affairs. Today, your military airforce is attacking us daily in Iraq.
"Your strikes have caused casualties amongst Muslims. You are no longer fighting an insurgency.
"We are an Islamic army and a state that has been accepted by a large number of Muslims worldwide.
"So any attempt by you, Obama, to deny the Muslims their rights of living in safety under the Islamic Caliphate will result in the bloodshed of your people."
The video shows the man, thought to be James Foley, kneeling in front of a black-clad terrorist, after the statement is completed, and then beheaded by the man in black.
The man in the mask says (curiously in a British accent): "This is James Wright Foley, an American citizen of your country. As a government you have been at the forefront of the aggression towards the Islamic State,' begins the executioner.
"You have plotted against us and gone far out of your way to find reasons to interfere in our affairs. Today, your military airforce is attacking us daily in Iraq.
"Your strikes have caused casualties amongst Muslims. You are no longer fighting an insurgency.
"We are an Islamic army and a state that has been accepted by a large number of Muslims worldwide.
"So any attempt by you, Obama, to deny the Muslims their rights of living in safety under the Islamic Caliphate will result in the bloodshed of your people."
The video shows the man, thought to be James Foley, kneeling in front of a black-clad terrorist, after the statement is completed, and then beheaded by the man in black.
The action by the Islamic State was an act of war. The terrorists, and the leadership, of the Islamic State, has identified the organization as a "state," and they have taken action against Americans while threatening more bloodshed against Americans. They ended the life of an American deliberately, in a brutal fashion, and provided video proof of the action. The answer is clear. The Islamic State has declared war on the United States, and as a sovereign country we must use our military in a decisive strike to end the march of this terror organization. We must crush them now while they are smaller and easier to defeat, or we will have to deal with them later when they are a worldwide force.
If we do not take a massive action against the Islamic State now, we will wish we had of when we had the chance down the road. Thomas Jefferson would agree.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
American President: A Reference Resource, George Washington - The Miller Center, University of Virginia
Allison, Andrew M.; Cook, K. DeLynn; Maxfield, Richard M.; Skousen, W. Cleon; 2009. The Real Thomas Jefferson. New York: National Center for Constitutional Studies.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
American President: A Reference Resource, George Washington - The Miller Center, University of Virginia
Allison, Andrew M.; Cook, K. DeLynn; Maxfield, Richard M.; Skousen, W. Cleon; 2009. The Real Thomas Jefferson. New York: National Center for Constitutional Studies.
DiLorenzo, Thomas J. 2008. Hamilton’s Curse. New York: Three Rivers Press.
Parry, Jay A.; Allison, Andrew M.; Skousen, W. Cleon; 2010. The Real George Washington. New York: National Center for Constitutional Studies.
Schweikart, Larry and Allen, Michael. 2007. A Patriot’s History of the United States. New York: Sentinel.
Parry, Jay A.; Allison, Andrew M.; Skousen, W. Cleon; 2010. The Real George Washington. New York: National Center for Constitutional Studies.
Schweikart, Larry and Allen, Michael. 2007. A Patriot’s History of the United States. New York: Sentinel.
War in the Early Republic - Bill of Rights Institute
From Bullets to Ballots: The Election of 1800 and the First Peaceful Transfer of Political Power - Teaching American History
US Enters the Korean Conflict - National Archives
Before Rebranding, the US Dept. of Defense was Called the Department of War - The Forgotten History Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment