They were the Bad Guys. The Communists of North Vietnam, Sadam and his merry band of butchers, The Taliban. We went in and kicked ass and won the wars and the gave the victory to the enemy by unilaterally surrendering......after the victory. But what about Russia, sure they are Bad Guys but don't they, even Bad Guys have legitimate national security interests? Libya, Brother Muammar was a Bad Guy but he switched sides after he saw what W did to Sadam and he became our Bad Guy. But then Sidney Blumenthal (Google Clinton hatchet man) came up with a money making scheme that required Brother Muammar's departure. Form Sydney's lips to Madam Secretary Clinton's ear and war was on.
The only lesson we seem to have taught the Bad Guys over the last 60 or so years, if you don't want the 82nd Airborne knocking on your door in the middle of the night, you best develop nuclear weapons, lessons not lost on Pakistan, The People's Republic of Korea, The Islamic Republic or Iran. And Ukraine, if they had only kept the nukes........ So what have we to show for extravagant and bloody uses of force over the last several decades? Not much. A very dangerous and unstable world and not much more than that.
I've been reading John Keegan's *The First World War* over an extended period as I need breaks from the detailed account of almost unimaginable slaughter. Fifty thousand killed here, seventy-five thousand casualties there, on and on and on.
All for naught.
And to think that we are still afflicted with the same breed of warmongering chickenhawk mountebanks propagandizing and inciting the benighted rabble today as we did then and all the way down to the beginning of recorded history, and likely before.
We need a new paradigm. Soon.
"America should have minded her own business and stayed out of the World War. If you hadn’t entered the war the Allies would have made peace with Germany in the Spring of 1917. Had we made peace then there would have been no collapse in Russia followed by Communism, no breakdown in Italy followed by Fascism, and Germany would not have signed the Versailles Treaty, which has enthroned Nazism in Germany. If America had stayed out of the war, all these `isms’ wouldn’t today be sweeping the continent of Europe and breaking down parliamentary government – and if England had made peace early in 1917, it would have saved over one million British, French, American, and other lives."
~ Winston Churchill, August 1936 interview, the New York Enquirer
I concur. I recently asked the same question, rhetorically of course, 'Are we the bad guys?'. I'm reading Robert A. Caro's "The Years Of Lyndon Johnson". Joe Biden, in my mind, is LBJ. And I'm only on book 1 of 4. What did LBJ do? LBJ put "military advisors" in Vietnam and then escalated it into a major war. The pattern of amorality, corruption, idealism, and naked ambition is all there. We in 2023 have historical amnesia.
Thanks for pseudo-history lesson. There is an 'OL SAW' about believing x% of what you hear, x% of what you read, and x% of what you see. I am sorry, but at this age I can't remember the quantities and don't have the time to research them. What I want to know is, what does all this BS have to do with stock market and WHAT IS HAPPENING AT THE RANCH? Just Saying! Florida Jimmy.
USA loves wars approximately one every 4 years. Wars are handy, WW1 ended was the beginning gof the end of the Republic. WW2 would have never happened, Vietnam, Korean war, the our of control Federal government will in fact be the cause of WW3. Alas Russia will be the bad guy, Democracy will finally prevail in the history books. USA will emerge as shining Feudal system on a hill.
Humans as a single race never learn the Persians, Greeks, Rome, the holy Roman empire, Islam, WW1, WW2 are proof positive human life is of little value to the elites. We fight and die on for no purpose. The bad guy is never vanquished because the bad guy is winner 100% of the time. The victor is the author of history not the good guy.
Bill's post gives the impression (at least to me) that Wilson was anxious to enter WW1 and attack the "the bad guys". I think is 𝗙𝗔𝗟𝗦𝗘.
Wilson narrowly won reelection in Nov. 1916 against Charles Evan Hughes based on the slogan "He kept us out of war." The majority of Americans, and Wilson, wanted to stay out of WW1. Shortly thereafter, with the help of the Zimmerman telegram, which the British used to great effect to anger America to get us into the war, and Germany beginning unrestricted submarine warfare against American shipping, I believe that Wilson was forced by circumstances to enter the war.
By the way, Wilson was a terrible President!
However, the rest of Bill's description of Wilson is true -- Wilson had zero foreign policy experience (he was governor of New Jersey) and a fantasy view that he could make world peace. My two cents...
Which version of 'All Quiet on the Western Front'...1930 or 2022?
I remember watching 'Saving Private Ryan' and thinking this movie should be ample reason for avoiding wars much to my naiveté ...there are enough war movies through out history...I'll pass on the newer version of AQotWF.
Two failings in Bill's otherwise powerfully written article.
First, the obvious: there is a difference between attacking and defending.
Current case in point: Ukraine. They did not seek war; their president even had to be persuaded that Russia was days away from invading Ukraine. Since the Russians are killing Ukrainians, the Ukrainians perforce are defending themselves
Second, the most compelling: Our species is inherently vicious. Our history is revealed foremost as a series of events in which our forebears killed each other. Today, at any given point, there are twenty wars underway, often more.
And now, with our improved capacity to kill, we are the only species in the history of this planet that has the ability to eradicate all other species at will. Case in point: Hunters don't need to hunt defenseless animals to survive; they just enjoy the kill.
Bill your historical recollections are correct and yes Woodrow was an idiot and US Congress forever lost it's power *balls* so wars could be engaged simply by order of the commander in chief but sadly the world became dependent upon 'power' of them Yanks to keep the bastard's in line and so Europe accepted the 'FREE' offer to maintain the 'peace' and provide an umbrella of sorts to keep the Eurasian tribes from each others throats. All those tribal jealousies and wars of convenience have diminished over these past 78 years but the 'victors' forgot to take control of the spoils and allowed the tribal children (Europeans) to continue to bicker and moan about their petty boarder issues and how one tribe was trying to screw the other. But most importantly the USofA ALLOWED the Stalinist's to enslave eastern Europe after WW2 and then 'gave' them the means to destroy us/world with nuclear bombs and now the puney Putin sits on top of his mafia crime heap and pontificates that he wants to reestablish the USSR boarders and their tyranny which he/putin grew up with and how much better everyone was off under the USSR .. right ..
sure now it would have been nice if St Woodrow had not subverted the US constitution but sadly he did and Americans don't know how to get the military/industrial/media/drug companies/cartels back into the genie's bottle .. so how would you suggest that happens now ? today when we are to old and weak to fight for our freedoms in a country focused on LGBTQ and individual retribution issues against anyone who's ever done any wrong to anyone else .. instead of waiting for the heavenly forces to repay you for your sins, now we do it in REAL TIME baby so look out brother because there are no UN guilty amongst us we are all guilty and therefore deserve retribution right ? never mind waiting for heaven or hell, lets just create that here and now by training our grandkids in how to exterminate each other .. just watch them wonderful video games they are playing from Beijing to Alaska ..
They were the Bad Guys. The Communists of North Vietnam, Sadam and his merry band of butchers, The Taliban. We went in and kicked ass and won the wars and the gave the victory to the enemy by unilaterally surrendering......after the victory. But what about Russia, sure they are Bad Guys but don't they, even Bad Guys have legitimate national security interests? Libya, Brother Muammar was a Bad Guy but he switched sides after he saw what W did to Sadam and he became our Bad Guy. But then Sidney Blumenthal (Google Clinton hatchet man) came up with a money making scheme that required Brother Muammar's departure. Form Sydney's lips to Madam Secretary Clinton's ear and war was on.
The only lesson we seem to have taught the Bad Guys over the last 60 or so years, if you don't want the 82nd Airborne knocking on your door in the middle of the night, you best develop nuclear weapons, lessons not lost on Pakistan, The People's Republic of Korea, The Islamic Republic or Iran. And Ukraine, if they had only kept the nukes........ So what have we to show for extravagant and bloody uses of force over the last several decades? Not much. A very dangerous and unstable world and not much more than that.
I've been reading John Keegan's *The First World War* over an extended period as I need breaks from the detailed account of almost unimaginable slaughter. Fifty thousand killed here, seventy-five thousand casualties there, on and on and on.
All for naught.
And to think that we are still afflicted with the same breed of warmongering chickenhawk mountebanks propagandizing and inciting the benighted rabble today as we did then and all the way down to the beginning of recorded history, and likely before.
We need a new paradigm. Soon.
"America should have minded her own business and stayed out of the World War. If you hadn’t entered the war the Allies would have made peace with Germany in the Spring of 1917. Had we made peace then there would have been no collapse in Russia followed by Communism, no breakdown in Italy followed by Fascism, and Germany would not have signed the Versailles Treaty, which has enthroned Nazism in Germany. If America had stayed out of the war, all these `isms’ wouldn’t today be sweeping the continent of Europe and breaking down parliamentary government – and if England had made peace early in 1917, it would have saved over one million British, French, American, and other lives."
~ Winston Churchill, August 1936 interview, the New York Enquirer
I concur. I recently asked the same question, rhetorically of course, 'Are we the bad guys?'. I'm reading Robert A. Caro's "The Years Of Lyndon Johnson". Joe Biden, in my mind, is LBJ. And I'm only on book 1 of 4. What did LBJ do? LBJ put "military advisors" in Vietnam and then escalated it into a major war. The pattern of amorality, corruption, idealism, and naked ambition is all there. We in 2023 have historical amnesia.
PVG is gonna have a fit. I wish we had an ignore feature on the comments.
Joel, loved the comedy sketch! I hope Substack doesn't ban BPR for "Nazi" content on its forum!
Thanks for pseudo-history lesson. There is an 'OL SAW' about believing x% of what you hear, x% of what you read, and x% of what you see. I am sorry, but at this age I can't remember the quantities and don't have the time to research them. What I want to know is, what does all this BS have to do with stock market and WHAT IS HAPPENING AT THE RANCH? Just Saying! Florida Jimmy.
Wilson also made the mortal sin of selling America’s soul to the banking cartel…a really bad guy…
USA loves wars approximately one every 4 years. Wars are handy, WW1 ended was the beginning gof the end of the Republic. WW2 would have never happened, Vietnam, Korean war, the our of control Federal government will in fact be the cause of WW3. Alas Russia will be the bad guy, Democracy will finally prevail in the history books. USA will emerge as shining Feudal system on a hill.
Humans as a single race never learn the Persians, Greeks, Rome, the holy Roman empire, Islam, WW1, WW2 are proof positive human life is of little value to the elites. We fight and die on for no purpose. The bad guy is never vanquished because the bad guy is winner 100% of the time. The victor is the author of history not the good guy.
Bill's post gives the impression (at least to me) that Wilson was anxious to enter WW1 and attack the "the bad guys". I think is 𝗙𝗔𝗟𝗦𝗘.
Wilson narrowly won reelection in Nov. 1916 against Charles Evan Hughes based on the slogan "He kept us out of war." The majority of Americans, and Wilson, wanted to stay out of WW1. Shortly thereafter, with the help of the Zimmerman telegram, which the British used to great effect to anger America to get us into the war, and Germany beginning unrestricted submarine warfare against American shipping, I believe that Wilson was forced by circumstances to enter the war.
By the way, Wilson was a terrible President!
However, the rest of Bill's description of Wilson is true -- Wilson had zero foreign policy experience (he was governor of New Jersey) and a fantasy view that he could make world peace. My two cents...
Joel, you should know that stuff is all propaganda. Even if it’s true, it shouldn’t be believed.
Which version of 'All Quiet on the Western Front'...1930 or 2022?
I remember watching 'Saving Private Ryan' and thinking this movie should be ample reason for avoiding wars much to my naiveté ...there are enough war movies through out history...I'll pass on the newer version of AQotWF.
Two failings in Bill's otherwise powerfully written article.
First, the obvious: there is a difference between attacking and defending.
Current case in point: Ukraine. They did not seek war; their president even had to be persuaded that Russia was days away from invading Ukraine. Since the Russians are killing Ukrainians, the Ukrainians perforce are defending themselves
Second, the most compelling: Our species is inherently vicious. Our history is revealed foremost as a series of events in which our forebears killed each other. Today, at any given point, there are twenty wars underway, often more.
And now, with our improved capacity to kill, we are the only species in the history of this planet that has the ability to eradicate all other species at will. Case in point: Hunters don't need to hunt defenseless animals to survive; they just enjoy the kill.
I don't foresee peace among men, ever
Thought JP Morgan prodded Wilson into WW1 as great financial losses would have been incurred
if the wrong side lost.
Hey Bill, what about your dead cows? And other ranch (farm?)
goings on?
Bill your historical recollections are correct and yes Woodrow was an idiot and US Congress forever lost it's power *balls* so wars could be engaged simply by order of the commander in chief but sadly the world became dependent upon 'power' of them Yanks to keep the bastard's in line and so Europe accepted the 'FREE' offer to maintain the 'peace' and provide an umbrella of sorts to keep the Eurasian tribes from each others throats. All those tribal jealousies and wars of convenience have diminished over these past 78 years but the 'victors' forgot to take control of the spoils and allowed the tribal children (Europeans) to continue to bicker and moan about their petty boarder issues and how one tribe was trying to screw the other. But most importantly the USofA ALLOWED the Stalinist's to enslave eastern Europe after WW2 and then 'gave' them the means to destroy us/world with nuclear bombs and now the puney Putin sits on top of his mafia crime heap and pontificates that he wants to reestablish the USSR boarders and their tyranny which he/putin grew up with and how much better everyone was off under the USSR .. right ..
sure now it would have been nice if St Woodrow had not subverted the US constitution but sadly he did and Americans don't know how to get the military/industrial/media/drug companies/cartels back into the genie's bottle .. so how would you suggest that happens now ? today when we are to old and weak to fight for our freedoms in a country focused on LGBTQ and individual retribution issues against anyone who's ever done any wrong to anyone else .. instead of waiting for the heavenly forces to repay you for your sins, now we do it in REAL TIME baby so look out brother because there are no UN guilty amongst us we are all guilty and therefore deserve retribution right ? never mind waiting for heaven or hell, lets just create that here and now by training our grandkids in how to exterminate each other .. just watch them wonderful video games they are playing from Beijing to Alaska ..
there are still no viruses (and no man made pathogens ^^). lab bs is another lie. don't fall for this, pls :)
https://projekt-immanuel.de/en/the-rumour-of-the-wuhan-virus-the-origin-of-the-alleged-new-coronavirus/
https://projekt-immanuel.de/en/videos/01-bioweapons-the-myth-of-man-made-pathogens/
https://twitter.com/ViroLIEgy/status/1630953449314570243