The “D” Word
Now it is the “D” word, draft. Not the NFL or the NBA, but the US Army, and maybe the Marines. Lt. General Lute, Deputy National Security Adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan, floated the Bush administration’s balloon. Do you think he did it on his own? Do you think it is coincidence that he did it in August after Congress recessed? Do you think the administration is getting desperate? Do you think they may have broken the Army? Who is going to pay for these mistake?
“Those who do not learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them.”
I do not know who said that, but I know the words are true. Really smart people actually learn from the mistakes of others. The big mistake of the Boomer generation was Vietnam. Unfortunately many of our current government leaders consciously avoided involvement in that mistake. Aganist the advice of those who had been to Vietnam, they made their own mistake and took us into Iraq.
What is more interesting is that the Bush administration made another error that the Johnson administration did. They tried to have it all. By all I mean that they tried to fight a war on the cheap and give their constituents what they wanted. Both made major fiscal mistakes for following administrations to clean up. Johnson spent into deficit and instituted “The War on Poverty.” Bush cut taxes and spent into deficit. Both ignored the amount of resources and pain the nation would have to spend on their commitments to foolish wars. Both said that the deficits were not a problem.
Carl Thomas, a conservative columnist for the Chicago Tribune, wrote a column today about the need for competence to trump ideology. Where was this guy when experienced, compentent people were telling the administration an invasion of Iraq would cost many times their estimates.
Well, it looks like all you folks who supported our invasion of Iraq who have sons of military age are going to get to participate. As a Vietnam veteran I feel bad for you, but maybe you’ll learn something this time.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Boomer Talk
0 opinions for The “D” Word
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: