Looking For the Good Fights

The USA does not have a great track record engaging in warfare in any conflict since WWll. World War II was the last war we won completely, decidedly, and without question. Many US soldiers died, many civilians sacrificed; it was the last war that had virtually no controversey swirlling around it. If it is possible to consider any war "good" or "worth the price", it would World War II.

WWll, and the "Great War" (WWl) before it along with the Civil War are the only wars that seemed inevitable that we would participate in. They were the "Good Fights". Any other armed comflicts we moseyed into was by choice. And those efforts didn't always go our way. Most were failures, half failures, or just colossal wastes of money, men and time.

I felt that for most of my life, my country has either been setting up to be in an armed conflict, embroiled in an armed conflict, or just exiting an armed conflict. We can't seem to go for more than a few years of Peace, before we start jonesing for that next bomb cratering, rubble creating military clash with some group we have designated as assholes with hostile intent.

Here is a current reminder of the armed combat we could have chosen to not participate in and been much better off for it:

• Korea - 3 Years, 1950 to 1953 - We could only save half of the country.
• Bay of Pigs Invasion/ Cuba - 1961 - We Lost.
• Vietnam - 1955 - 1975 (19+ years) - Cost 58,000 US lives. We lost.
• Invasiion of Grenada - October, 1983 - 8 Day conflict - 24 US soldiers died.
• Kidnap Daniel Noriega (president of Panama) - 5 weeks in 1989- 24 US lives - An effort to help win President Ronald and co-President Namcy Reagan their poorly concieved and poorly run War on Drugs. As it turns out, that war is still going full tilt boogie with no end in sight. It was a PR War failure for Reagan, but we did manage to bring Noriega back to the US.
• Operation Desert Storm - 2 months in 1991 - Fought by a coalition of countries; The US was by far the largest force at 697,000 fighting strength. 298 US deaths - The goal, remove Iraqi Forces after they invaded Kuwait. We won and got the Hell out of there.
• Operation Gothic Serpent - 15months 1992-1993 - 19 US Soldiers dead. Us Troops in Somalia were tasked with, well, I am still not sure. All I remember is it was ugly and American soldiers died for essentially no good reason. A great Anti-War Movie, "Black Hawk Down" was one result. But nothing good for the people of Somalia ever came of the 19 lives sacrificed.
• Operation Iraqi Freedom - Includes combat in Afghanistan - 20 years - Almost 7800 US lives. Results are mixed. We did replace Saddam Hussien as leader of Iraq, but we caved finally and left Afghanistan after failing like every other country has who was stupid and over confident enough to think they had the answer.
• Trump's War on Iran - Feburary, 2026 to ? - Still limping along after 6 months. Still a mystery why Trump felt compelled to start a war with Iran. And not 2 weeks into this stupidity, Iran figured out they could own the Strait of Hormuz and stop much of the World's oil from reaching their destinations.The war was over at that point, yet Trump still does not get it. Too stupid too run a war in the first place; he is definitely too bullheaded stupid to admit defeat and pull out. Iran is definitely winning the war at this point. Troop morale is in the shitter and our supplies of munitions are dangerously low.  And now we have worse than nothing to show for it.

There have other miscellaneous conflicts the United States found itself in the middle of as a support asset. US Men and materiel were spent in varying degrees of ugliness.

I was born in 1952. I am 74 now. If I add up the total number of years this country has been in conflict around the globe, the total would be north of 47 years or over 60% of the time I have been alive, my country has had soldiers deployed on a war footing somewhere on the planet. And the results have been underwhelming given the outrageous cost in men and materiel.

I know war is good business. Nothing like a good conflict to keep those war factories churning out death and making piles of money on death and destruction. I know casulaties are part of the deal. But why? Why do we spend so much time, effort and money attempting to murder each other on such grand scales?

It is most definitely a good time to keep an even keel. Stay sharp. Stay Tuned. ................

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I know I have used the original rendition of  Black Sabbath's, "War Pigs" with a post or two in the past. Well, that was then, this is now. Maybe this time I'll try to hustle up a good cover of it.

I tasted entirely too many versions of "War Pigs". Lost at least an hour checking out all the different renderings of this early Metal classic. I came back to my favorite Busking alternative band, The Big Push. Ren and his boys rock hard. Enjoy.

And because the song that followed War Pigs was their version of Sting's, "An Englishman in New York", it is now another two-fer post.