The War Party is You and Me
The War Party is You and Me
We've turned a blind eye to endless warmongering for far too long
“O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief…” -Mark Twain, “The War Prayer” ca. 1904-05
The “Authorization for Use of Military Force” (AUMF for short) will have its 22nd anniversary this month. The joint resolution of Congress became law on September 18th, 2001, 4 years before our youngest currently serving soldiers were born. The purpose of the resolution was to “authorize [The President] to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.” It was a response to the attacks of September 11th, and it received almost unanimous consent in both houses of Congress.
Indeed the Senate vote was 98-0 and only 1 Congressperson voted against it. California representative Barbara Lee (D) presciently voted against the bill. Writing about it 20 years later, she wrote:
My father was a retired Army lieutenant colonel who fought in World War II and Korea. He was the first person who called me after that lonely vote. He reminded me that we should never send our troops into harm’s way without a clear plan, objective and exit strategy. Instead, we were asked to approve an authorization that gave the executive branch a blank check to carry out global war in perpetuity.
And that is exactly what happened.
According to the Watson Institute at Brown University, the 2001 AUMF was used in part or in whole as justification to authorize US action in 85 countries between 2018 and 2020 alone. Of those 85 countries, 12 involved US troops in combat on the ground and the US military executed unilateral drone strikes in 7 different countries in that same period.
To be sure, the US Military is the most deployed global military force in the history of the world. It controls over 750 bases around the world in at least 80 countries, operates troops in an additional 80+ countries, and spends more on “defense” than the next largest 10 countries combined. Our armed forces are currently engaged in 7 direct conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia and the Horn of Africa, Yemen and Ukraine. This does not include covert operations nor defense contractors, which are deployed around the globe with little to no oversight.
And to what end? It is estimated that over 200,000 died in the war in Afghanistan, between 405,000 and 654,965 in the First Iraq War (2002-2011), 40,000 in the Libyan crisis, 503,000-613,000 in Syria, another 200,000 in the Second War in Iraq against ISIS/ISIL (2013-2017). The New York Times reports at least 500,000 deaths in the war in Ukraine. These forever wars have also cost the American taxpayers $21 Trillion through 2021.
The Constitution clearly grants Congress the sole power to declare War in Article I Section 8. War powers have nonetheless been a point of contention between the Executive and Legislative branches of the Federal Government ever since, with Presidents often deploying troops with little or no authorization from Congress. After the Vietnam fiasco (in which the Congress authorized a small force in 1964 in response to bogus intelligence of the Gulf of Tonkin incident), Congress attempted to further rein in Presidents with the 1973 War Powers Act. This act reiterated that the power to declare war was Congress’ alone, but also gave the President broader latitude for engagements less than 60 days. Most historians agree the Act lacks teeth and has been ignored often:
President Ronald Reagan invaded Grenada. President George H.W. Bush invaded Panama and Somalia. President Bill Clinton used military force in Iraq, Haiti, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sudan and Kosovo all without congressional approval. (President George W. Bush didn’t declare war on Afghanistan or Iraq, but Congress authorized the use of military force for those engagements). President Barack Obama ordered targeted military strikes in Libya in 2011 and dozens of unmanned drone strikes in Pakistan without congressional approval.
To conclude, the US (since the end of World War II) has become the largest military empire the world has ever seen. Our troops are deployed across the globe and encircle our potential enemies China and Russia. We have engaged in forever regime-change wars in the Middle East and elsewhere for no benefit. The Korean War was never resolved. We lost Vietnam. The Taliban is in control of Afghanistan, and returned to Sharia law. Iraq is unstable and heavily influenced by its neighbor Iran. Yemen remains in threat of constant war and the Somalian civil war continues.
We are now involved in another regime-change proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. Reports are that although we’ve spent $60B already in arming the Ukraine Army, there is no end in sight until at least 2025. Contrary to popular belief, we have already deployed troops inside Ukraine. And despite the White House’s statement that this is a war crime, we’ve also deployed cluster bombs in Ukraine. You read that right: the current administration, by its own definition, has committed war crimes. On your behalf.
And despite these terrible decisions that will have major consequences for decades to come, there is precious little opposition in Congress to these efforts. And why not, as these measures enrich the biggest players in the Washington lobbyist game - military defense contractors and their captured members of Congress and the Defense Department.
We return to Representative Barbara Lee and her wise father and ask:
What is the plan in Ukraine?
What are our objectives and how do we win?
What is the exit strategy?
Until the Biden Administration can answer these 3 questions to the people’s satisfaction, no more funding for Ukraine should be authorized by Congress. And we must return to a war powers regime that requires a declaration of war by Congress.
President Kennedy said it better than anyone in his famous Peace Speech:
"What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children--not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women--not merely peace in our time but peace for all time."