How soon we forget.

When I came across this quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower former president and highly decorated general from World War II, it prompted me to write this letter to the editor:

“War is mankind’s most tragic and stupid folly; to seek or advise its deliberate provocation is a black crime against all men.” 

Make no mistake, conservative Republican President George W Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and presidential adviser Karl Rove are responsible for the enormous predicament our nation faces today in the Middle East. 

They were warned by Hans Blix of the UN inspection team, in Iraq, that there were no weapons of mass destruction. In spite of his warning and other evidence, they ordered the unprovoked invasion of Iraq. After thousands of U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis were killed, no weapons of mass destruction were found and none of the perpetrators of 9/11 were from Iraq. All but one were from Saudi Arabia. 

Each time our government meddles in Middle Eastern countries, the situation becomes worse and more terrorism around the world is the result. The politicians in our government, including the president, have learned nothing from our history of war. After WWII the failure of nation building has been continuous from Korea to date. 

Korea was a draw with the 38th parallel being the goal line. More than 33,000 American lives lost. Ask yourself why. Vietnam was the first totally lost war in our history. Nearly 60,000 American lives lost. Again, ask yourself why. For 13 years the wars in the Middle East have taken casualties of thousands of U.S. troops and Iraqi and Afganistan civilians at a cost of more than a trillion dollars. 

Who is the enemy in all of this? Al-Qaida, Sunnis, Shiites, Serbs, Asaib Ahi al Haz, Badr Brigades, Mahdi army, Ketaez Hezbollah, and ISIS? There are other splinter groups, like Khorasan, ready to fight against the U.S. aggression. These factions have been warring and killing each other since biblical times, and the U.S. meddling is simply making the situation worse. 

Who is paying for these unwarranted wars? The answer is the American taxpayer, partly with borrowed money from othe countries. The U.S. has already spent billions of dollars on the new wars bombing Iraq and Syria and it is becoming even more of a quagmire. Some say the national debt is $19 trillion and yet we plunge deeper in debt.

It was reported in the Daily Inter Lake on Feb. 13 that our newly elected Montana U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke calls for more ground troops and war in the Middle East. His mind set, training and desire for more war is obvious in his latest Rambo solution to the never ending violence in the Mideast. It’s easy to be critical of the way the president and Congress handle the multitude of problems without suggestions for change. Here are a few, with ideas on how to spend the trillions of dollars saved by ending foreign wars:

1. Bring the tens of thousands of military personnel home from the thousands of bases throughout the world.

2. Stop borrowing from foreign countries and begin paying down the national debt.

3. Secure our borders, airways, public transportation and ports to prevent illegal entry and terrorism.

4. Begin to rebuild our infrastructure and create jobs.

5. Support our schools to promote an educated electorate and teach skills for employment.

6. Support our communities that have natural disasters and rampant crime.

7. Maintain a powerful military and stop the unnecessary wars. Cut the defense budget, which is larger than the rest of the world’s combined.

8. Become energy independent through alternate sources.

9. Provide a healthy environment and health care for all of our citizens.

From the Pacific to the Atlantic, from Canada to Mexico, the United States is the greatest piece of real estate on the planet. It seems that our politicians and vested interests continue to exploit and defile this great nation. Let’s stop the apathy and demand liberty, justice, equality and prosperity for all. Write to our elected officials and demand that the members of Congress tell us where they stand on our latest war in the Middle East.

Jerry Reckin is a resident of Kalispell.