Gates warns cadets against large land wars
"We have fought five wars in Asia since World War II, and you would think we would have learned a few things.
Like, don't.
With the U.S. still engaged in its longest war in history, and with no apparent end in sight, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates used an address to cadets at West Point to make the point again.
"Any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should have his head examined," he told America's future warriors.
Gates was actually paraphrasing Gen. Douglas MacArthur who is credited with telling President John F. Kennedy the same in 1961."
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As a Vietnam Vet, I already had this figured out. Still, we had to do something after 911. And whatever we did was going to be costly and difficult and hard to end. Sounds like something like Vietnam.
Craig Hullinger
1 comment:
I think there are lot of parallels to Vietnam. On the other hand we cannot retreat into isolationism either. 50 million people died the last time we pursued that policy. We have enemies and rogue states that are dedicated to destroying our way of life and they must be stopped and frankly destroyed. This means that we must oppose them with any means possible up to and including military action.
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