War Path -- Part Two

It's a fool's game
Nothing but a fools game
Standing in the cold rain
Feeling like a clown
--It's a Heartache, Bonnie Tyler

When the music's over
Turn out the lights
--When the Music's Over,
The Doors

Ranger Question of the Day:
How can West Point release classified documents
recording Osama bin Laden's last thoughts,
while Bradley Manning languishes in jail for
doing the same thing?
__________________

The United States fought two World Wars in the 20th century, contravening the Monroe Doctrine and its "Spheres of Influence", the earliest U.S. foreign policy document.

The wars the U.S. entered in 1914 and again in 1939-40 resulted from colonial overreach and the resultant blowback, and entangling alliances and treaties, often secret in nature, which set the die. One man was shot in Sarajevo in 1914 and the Western world entered a suicidal paroxysm of senseless violence.

What is interesting is that even though the U.S. lacked treaty obligations in either war, it still became embroiled in both. The Axis pact between Japan and Germany cause the U.S. entry into the WW II European mess. In fact, the U.S. had no historic or rational reason to fight Germany in either war.

Why were the French, Russian and English any better the German, Italians or Austrians? What right did Chamberlain have to negotiate away the country of Czechoslovakia? Why are these questions never raised in our discussions of WWII? Why did we sink the Monroe Doctrine in the blink of an eye?

98 years on, the U.S. has expanded NATO and taken it upon itselfs to fight future wars for the security of places like Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Lithuania, etc., which makes exactly as much sense as entering a war because an Archduke got killed in Sarajevo.

Now throw into the mix the new U.S. - Afghanistan Security Agreement in which the U.S. obligates itself to the protection and adoption of Afghanistan as a satellite state, without any benefit accruing to the people of America. Why, after 98 years, do we follow a formula of doom and destruction when it is clear that Western civilization began its decline in 1914 from the exact same sets of behaviors?

Simply: We base our security upon entangling alliances even though history has shown that these ultimately lead to wars of unfortunate consequences. If an alliance or a treaty does not offer more than it costs, then it is a fool's venture.