Thoughts on World War 2
As Americans, we're still proud of this war. A man stood up in my Quaker meeting last Sunday and talked about his WWII experience as an anecdote, not of an anti-war stance, but of creating something good out of the destruction of something evil. Growing up in the 80's and 90's, I was taught culturally to respect vets, but to ultimately and completely respect the vets of WWII.
And then something occurred to me to ponder: We have not actually gone to war since WWII. The Congress has not declared it, the populace has not been fully mobilized for only war, etc. And none of the "wars" we have fought have been a complete success. They have ranged from perpetual (Korea, Second Gulf-Afghanistan-Terror) to failure (Vietnam). We have proven that a country acting as if it is at peace cannot win a war. So, as corollary, could we win in Afghanistan and elsewhere against the Taliban if we were to actually mobilize as for war?
And then something occurred to me to ponder: We have not actually gone to war since WWII. The Congress has not declared it, the populace has not been fully mobilized for only war, etc. And none of the "wars" we have fought have been a complete success. They have ranged from perpetual (Korea, Second Gulf-Afghanistan-Terror) to failure (Vietnam). We have proven that a country acting as if it is at peace cannot win a war. So, as corollary, could we win in Afghanistan and elsewhere against the Taliban if we were to actually mobilize as for war?