The disastrous decisions of war
November 24th, 2009 by Rhiannon Bowman in News
One, two, three, four … what are we fighting for?
Bill Moyers, who was at the side of President Lyndon Johnson at the time when disastrous decisions were being made to escalate the U.S. presence in the quagmire that was Vietnam, used his experience to speak Friday night to President Barack Obama about what could be an equally disastrous decision to escalate the U.S. presence in the quagmire that is Afghanistan.
“Our country wonders this weekend what is on President Obama’s mind,” Moyers began, at the opening of a remarkable hour of television. “He is apparently, about to bring months of deliberation to a close and answer General Stanley McChrystal’s request for more troops in Afghanistan. When he finally announces how many, why, and at what cost, he will most likely have defined his presidency, for the consequences will be far-reaching and unpredictable. As I read and listen and wait with all of you for answers, I have been thinking about the mind of another president, Lyndon B. Johnson.”
Watch this episode of PBS’ Bill Moyers Journal here.
Here’s Moyers talking about the accountability of war a few weeks ago:
November 25th, 2009 at 4:05 am
The comparison to Vietnam is just lame. The death toll in that war was 20-30 times higher I think. We were fighting another nation not a band of terrorists. Anyways using Vietnam as your comparison just makes people trust you less and less.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Obama has just cemented his next term. War-time presidents never lose.
Plus, the comparisons to vietnam are spot on.
undeclared war
immoral war
misguided attempts at nation building
just plain stupid war in general
Differences today include:
US has massive debt
US has to BORROW to fight
US economy and dollar is on the brink of collapse.
Good news is the escalation of the Afghan could be the straw that breaks the back of the dollar and begins the inevitable unraveling of the Federal Leviathan.
It’s obvious that the US military no longer fights for OUR freedom but for UN resolutions.
Bad news is that it COULD turn violent here in America. Maybe thats why everyone is buying guns now, it could get very ugly.
Another good thing that more liberals are now turning against Obama on this war, that shows alot of courage.
November 25th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
“immoral war” & “just plain stupid war in general”
Tell that to the 3000 that died on 9/11. This is a very moral war.
“misguided attempts at nation building”
Now this part has some merit but I still believe if you break it you have to make an attempt to fix it. This is what we did for Germany and Japan after that war and they turned out pretty good so I think it is a worth while cause. I will admit that it might fail since some people are not ready for freedom.