I cannot understand why we as a nation seem compelled to engage in undeclared wars halfway round the planet and at the same time do not intervene in the affairs of oppressive regimes in our own neighborhood. Venezuela and Cuba come to mind.
The founders put the requirement for a formal declaration of war by Congress in the Constitution for a very specific reason — to prevent the rise of the imperial presidency we’ve experienced since WWII. Over 100,000 American lives have been lost since WWII, and untold trillions of dollars of US taxpayer money spent, in lengthy undeclared wars which did not advance our strategic interests.
We can no longer afford to be the world’s policeman trying to bring democracy to areas of the planet where the cultural and economic environment is not favorable to representative government. We have enough problems at home. It is long past time for us to pack up, bring our soldiers and weapons home. Let the rest of the world duke it out.
In Asia we might actually find we benefit from India, Pakistan, Iran, and Vietnam growing their military strength to counter the China threat instead of depending on the US military. It is very possible European outlook on the world would be very different had European taxpayers covered the cost of defending themselves from Russia during the post WWII era instead of getting a free ride from the US taxpayer. The situation in the Middle East today would almost certainly be better had Sadaam been left in power in Iraq to counter Iran.
In their writings the founding fathers warned their generation and future generation about the follies and dangers of “foreign adventures”. If our experience over the past 100 years has not taught us a painful lesson, perhaps the impending financial collapse of our currency and economy will end the foolishness.
I am not a flaming leftist or pacifist. I am however a conservative who believes in the rule of law and interpreting the Constitution as written. If Congress declares a war after careful deliberation, I will support it. If the President invades foreign nations without obtaining Congressional approval within 60 days, I oppose it. This has nothing to do with supporting our troops.
After Vietnam we said we would never allow this to happen again.
Yet, we are still in Afghanistan after 10 years.
I agree with you 100%. The only war since WW2 that was justified is the invasion of Afghanistan. Now that Osama Bin Laden is dead, we need to immediately withdraw our troops. Effective by the end of this year.
I will say that you are pretty well-reasoned. When did Qadaffi actually bother invading and occupying our allies? When did Qadaffi bother using nerve gas on massive civilian populations? Since when was Qadaffi not open about his possessing WMDs? Funny thing is, all those questions would have been a yes for Saddam Hussein, and a no for Qadaffi. I do agree very well that Qadaffi hasn’t really been much of an aggressor to other nations. As far as I am concerned, radicalism got a defibrilator applied to it through what is going on in Libya right now. All I can surmise is that our president is either stubborn or a pawn of his Secretary of State, which, in case you didn’t notice, his plays resemble Slick Willie Clinton’s a great deal (rudeness to foreign national leaders, bombing nations without “feet on the ground”, picking various conflicts to take a role in, etc.)