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How Long Did Americans Support America’s Longest War?

By Jacob G. Hornberger | FFF | February 21, 2023

In an op-ed in today’s Los Angeles Times, Alexander J. Moytyl, a professor of political science at Rutgers, asks, “How long will Russians tolerate Putin’s costly war?” After pointing out the many negative consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Moytyl makes a pointed observation: “And yet, almost a year after the invasion of Ukraine, Russians continue to support strongman Putin and the war.” Moytyl just cannot understand how this can be.

Well, maybe if we look inward, which Moytyl certainly does not do in his op-ed, we can figure out the answer. 

Let’s consider, for example, the U.S. government’s wars against Afghanistan and Iraq. There were lots of negative aspects of those two wars, beginning with the fact the U.S. invasions of both countries were illegal, both under International law and U.S. law.

It is undisputed that neither Afghanistan nor Iraq ever attacked the United States. That means that the U.S. was the aggressor in both wars.

Yes, I know, defenders of the Afghanistan invasion point to the fact that Osama bin Laden, who was accused of orchestrating the 9/11 attacks, was supposedly living in Afghanistan. Nonetheless, under International law, the U.S. had no legitimate legal authority to invade Afghanistan to arrest or kill him. 

It is also undisputed that there was no extradition treaty between Afghanistan and the United States. Therefore, when President Bush demanded that the Afghan government extradite bin Laden to the U.S., under international law Afghanistan had the legitimate authority to say no. Under international law, Bush had no legitimate authority to invade the country simply because Afghanistan rejected his unconditional extradition demand. 

It is also undisputed that neither the Iraqi people nor the Iraqi government had any connection to the 9/11 attacks. The U.S. invasion of that country was a pure war of aggression, one based on the flagrant and fraudulent pretense of uncovering non-existent “weapons of mass destruction.” 

It is also undisputed that there was no declaration of war issued by Congress against either Afghanistan or Iraq, as required by the U.S. Constitution. That made both invasions illegal under our form of constitutional government. 

It is impossible to know exactly how many people in Afghanistan and Iraq were tortured, injured, or killed by U.S. forces in those two wars of aggression. That’s because, early on, the Pentagon announced that it would not keep track of enemy dead. That’s because the lives of Afghans and Iraqis didn’t count. 

However, according to the Watson Institute at Brown University, “Nearly 20 years after the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan, the cost of its global war on terror stands at $8 trillion and 900,000 deaths.”

That is a lot of money. And that is a lot of dead people. I would estimate that 99 percent of those dead people had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. 

Yet, many Americans supported their government throughout all this mayhem, just as the Russian people are standing with their government during its current mayhem. In fact, I remember church ministers all across the United States beseeching their congregations for years to “support the troops, especially those in harm’s way in Afghanistan and Iraq.” I also recall how we were all encouraged to “thank the troops for their service” whenever we saw them in uniform. I also remember all those critical things that were said against those of us who opposed these wars of aggression and resulting occupations. 

Supporting their government in time of war is what most citizens do in every nation, including Russia, the United States, and Germany. Most citizens are forced into the state’s educational system at a very young age, where their minds are molded to blindly come to the support of their regime during wartime. Children are inculcated with mindsets of deference to authority and blind trust in their political, military, and intelligence officials. That mindset continues well into adulthood. In the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, I recall many people, including commentators in the mainstream press, exclaiming, “We need to trust our officials. They have access to information that we don’t have.”

So, what befuddles me is why Alexander J. Moytyl is befuddled by the overwhelming support by Russian citizens of their regime during wartime. If American citizens blindly support their regime during wartime, why would anyone expect that Russian citizens would respond differently?

February 21, 2023 - Posted by | Mainstream Media, Warmongering, Militarism, Progressive Hypocrite | ,

7 Comments »

  1. “However, according to the Watson Institute at Brown University, “Nearly 20 years after the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan, the cost of its global war on terror stands at $8 trillion and 900,000 deaths.”

    Oh well, not to worry. The American people can pay for it, because, they’ve been paying for it so long, they don’t even realise it.
    (Luckily, America’s TAX AVOIDERS don’t have to contribute to the financial situation of the USA).
    How long will it take for the American people to “Wake Up”?

    Liked by 2 people

    Comment by brianharryaustralia | February 21, 2023 | Reply

  2. There is something else to consider. Axiomatic assumptions of being virtuous while warring against another nation since WWII have been artificially created by CIA’s corporate news media. The following are wars and their phony causes. Vietnam/Gulf of Tonkin. Iraq I/babies in incubators in Kuwait. Afghanistan/Bin Laden 911. Iraq II/WMD. Without brainwashing Americans first with false pretenses, the MICIMATT would have failed to secure American support for these wars, raising legitimate objections in Congress for increased defense spending.
    As for Putin, he had a tougher sell because Ukrainians and Russians are intertwined in language, culture, and history. Convincing Russians of going to war against their brothers and sisters in Ukraine could have blown up in his face. The US Embassy in Moscow was working secretly behind the scenes to stir up public dissent in Moscow with the intention of regime change.

    Frankly, I don’t think Putin would have gotten away with committing Russia to fight a total war against their fellow Ukrainians. Limited war with three objectives could be achieved in a short period of time, or so he thought. Little did Putin know that NATO would throw the kitchen sink at him via proxy Ukraine. Although this had the effect of tilting the equation in Putin’s favor as the majority of Russians came to the aid of Russia which they believed was now under attack by the United States.

    Liked by 1 person

    Comment by Thomas Lee Simpson | February 21, 2023 | Reply

  3. Regarding the mention of Church Ministers. This is not something new. We were confronted with similar behaviour in 1968. Before our departure for the foriegn shores of Vietnam, our Battalion visited all three major denominations in far North Queensland. Each Church had it’s top Authority of the State, hold the service, blessing us and telling us “we were doing God’s work”. Six weeks later I discovered we had no business of being in Vietnam, and IF we were doing God’s work, I did not wish to be a part of such a God. Have not set foot in a church ever since. Not even to get married. A POX on all religions.

    Liked by 1 person

    Comment by itchyvet | February 21, 2023 | Reply

    • Are you Australian or American? I think some American troops did jungle training in Australia’s tropical North before being sent to Vietnam.
      My brother was conscripted (Press ganged) into the Australian Army as a 19 year old, and was sent to Vietnam. I had to enter the ballot for service, but, thankfully, I was not selected.
      Thankfully he came home in 1 piece.
      The “American War” in Vietnam was a disgrace. America’s youth were pressed into service and 58,600 came home in Body Bags. And, according to Vietnam 6,000,000 peasants were slaughtered by the MIC……..(in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos)…..totally disgusting!

      Like

      Comment by brianharryaustralia | February 21, 2023 | Reply

      • As an American who believed in his country’s leaders at the age of 18, I joined the US Army spending four years of my life in olive drab. I came home from Vietnam in 1968. I was discharged 24 hours later. It was the happiest day of my life. Not because I survived in Vietnam but because I was free of the confines of military service.
        Six years later I became associated with Lyndon LaRouche’s political movement and in 1975 I joined his movement full-time. I immediately came under surveillance by the FBI’s Division V Cointelpro. In 2015 I submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act, (FOIA) from the FBI requesting everything they had on me. The FBI’s surveillance record showed that I had been under surveillance from 1974 to 1992. I thought it odd that they would quit spying on me since I was still active with the LaRouche organization as a supporter. I ran for federal office in 1994 as a LaRouche Democrat. Later that year I rejoined the LaRouche, who was now serving a 15-year sentence in federal prison after being railroaded and convicted of conspiracy by the US “just us” department during George HW Bush’s presidency.

        About five years ago while sitting in my doctor’s office, and using my cell phone, my phone was suddenly, remotely taken out of my control. My phone displayed a webpage of an Alabama newspaper article. I didn’t read it at first and attempted to go back to my email account. But I watched in amazement as the same webpage was autonomously displayed again. This time I read the article. It was an AP wire service article on my confrontation with Henry Kissinger in 1982! Kissinger was later one of the principal architects of the “Get LaRouche” task force that targeted LaRouche and sent him to prison. I got the message. Although Lyndon LaRouche passed away at the age of 96, in 2019, the FBI, America’s modern-day Gestapo, was still keeping tabs on me and my political affiliation with The LaRouche Organization.

        Liked by 1 person

        Comment by Thomas Lee Simpson | February 22, 2023 | Reply

  4. “the FBI, America’s modern-day Gestapo” Well said, and wasn’t it J Edgar Hoover who ran it for so many years, he was more powerful than the Presidents he ‘served’ ?

    Like

    Comment by brianharryaustralia | February 22, 2023 | Reply

    • Hoover ran the FBI like a Gestapo. Blackmail was one of his favorite ways to get what he wanted. He was compromised by the Mafia when they let be known to Hoover they had photos of him in drag. The FBI is part of the MICIMATT.

      Like

      Comment by Thomas Lee Simpson | February 24, 2023 | Reply


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