Devil Dogs of Peace

It has been reported that one of the measures of President Obama's legacy will be that the United States was at war with one or more nations every day of his presidency - all eight years - and he stands alone among all presidents with this ignoble distinction. Whether overt or covert, these multiple wars may seem to have been a mark of insanity to some; government's reliance on military solutions has always seemed to border on pathological. It would seem that recent leadership of our country does not know how to imagine solutions outside the paradigm of war. There is nothing good about war. "The fact that we, as a species, are investing our creative genius to conjure up an endless war which is unceasingly draining us of our most precious resources is complete and utter madness." (Paul Levy)

But there is more to it than human or organizational madness. Behind all the military initiatives of the past thirty years has been the Military-Industrial Complex's influence to continue conflict, disruption, and chaos merely for the sake of corporate profit. While these powers held sway over the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations, they will no longer have a controlling influence with the new administration. With Mr. Trump's selection of highly regarded Marine Generals Mattis and Kelly and Army General Flynn for critical leadership posts in national security and defense it would appear on the surface that the new administration may take military intervention abroad to a higher level. But, contrary to what some might imagine, all expectations for the new administration are that the war drums will not continue for very much longer.

Having honorably served my country as a Marine during the war in Vietnam I recognize that the highest service each of these fine general officers aspires to is as peacekeepers. A soldier that has held the killing power of a weapon in his hands has a better gauge of and experience for knowing when not to exercise its lethal use than a civilian bureaucratic politician that knows only what he reads about combat. I am confident that the United States will no longer be at war with any nation or terror organization by the mid-term of the new administration. All current conflicts will be concluded by victory, negotiation, or withdrawal under the new leadership. The military will be expanded to once again be large enough and strong enough with the latest and very best technologies to again be viewed respectfully as the greatest deterrent in the world to further aggressive conflict.