A Just War

“There has never been a just [war], never an honorable one--on the part of the instigator of the war. I can see a million years ahead, and this rule will never change in so many as half a dozen instances. The loud little handful--as usual--will shout for the war. The pulpit will--warily and cautiously--object--at first; the great, big, dull bulk of the nation will rub its sleepy eyes and try to make out why there should be a war, and will say, earnestly and indignantly, 'It is unjust and dishonorable, and there is no necessity for it.' Then the handful will shout louder. A few fair men on the other side will argue and reason against the war with speech and pen, and at first will have a hearing and be applauded; but it will not last long; those others will outshout them, and presently the anti-war audiences will thin out and lose popularity. Before long you will see this curious thing: the speakers stoned from the platform, and free speech strangled by hordes of furious men who in their secret hearts are still at one with those stoned speakers--as earlier--but do not dare say so. And now the whole nation--pulpit and all--will take up the war-cry, and shout itself hoarse, and mob any honest man who ventures to open his mouth; and presently such mouths will cease to open. Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.”

― Mark Twain, The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories

What a brilliant writer and thoughtful patriot and citizen! I agree with this view and believe it is consistent with our few true incidents of Foreign Policy interests or National Security attacks in more than six decades. I think only one of the current Presidential contenders has the courage to speak out against all but the most necessary defensive wars, I hope he continues. Defending our homeland and its freedom and prosperity are critical; but interfering with, invading, occupying or attacking those who have not and could not threaten our sovereignty,is absurd.

Protect and defend our homeland and its wealth, health and freedom; stop interfering where no national security or international policy interests exist. 

Use the enormous savings from that new policy to defend our borders, pay down our hideously oppressive debts, and benefit our law abiding citizens.

Mind Our Own Business!

Stop Invading and Occupying Sovereign Countries,

It’s Hypocritical!

Isn’t it odd that as a nation we insist upon respect for our sovereignty and the sovereignty of our allies, but violate our allies with little justification, and violate non-allies and enemies with even less forethought.  

We proclaim our sovereign rights loudly and threaten those that would violate our boundaries aggressively, but tolerate foreign invaders and occupiers who come here with less violent intentions, like to steal our prosperity, to corrupt our social services, or molest our innocent and ignorant.

Stop!  Our behaviors show others that we do not respect sovereign rights; our own or those of other nations.

Since at least 1965 we have interfered in foreign countries in many affairs, events, and behaviors that were and are within the rights of sovereign peoples and nations with virtually no rational justification, except some unexplained nation interest or paranoid national security exaggeration.

Stop!  It looks and sounds utterly ridiculous to those we violate, some of our allies, and most of our own citizens.

Leave nations and their people alone to solve their own problems in ways that suit them, even if it’s ignorant, dangerous and destructive; even if millions of them are injured, sickened, or murdered.  

It’s their problem; not ours.  We didn’t chose poorly for them, or we should not have; hopefully, they chose idiocy by themselves.

Our National security interests that would require invasion and occupation of any other sovereign nation are very few; an attack by other sovereign nations upon the lands of the United States, and upon the citizens and their property; or similar destructive attacks upon those we have agreed to assist if that event occurs; or massive destruction and genocide of innocents incapable of self-defense.

Otherwise, mind our own business.  Yes literally, protect international commerce where the businesses and properties of our citizens and their lives and health are under attack, or trade agreements exist with sovereign partners that require us to defend them.

Otherwise, we have no obligation to correct the ignorant mistakes of other nations or their citizens, nor build their economies, or construct schools, hospitals, sanitary system, prisons, or anything else for them.

We need to correct our own national mistakes, build our own infrastructure, educate our own people, care for our own people, protect our own inalienable human rights.

Terrorists and others prone to bad behaviors that endanger our citizens, or their property and rights, or national needs, should be quickly hunted down and brought to swift justice; i,e. captured and punished, or killed where they are found.

Do not move into foreign nations, invited or not, and stay to help them solve what we think their national problems might be.

It’s not our concern!  Find the bad people.  Punish them appropriately.  Load up and move out.  Explain it, but do not apologize.  Don’t fix or pay for any damages.

The damages and misery are their costs for having us fix what they should have fixed, so we didn’t have to use our resources and risk our people to provide a just outcome for them and our protection.

It’s easy people; their losses and misery are not our problem, even if we have a ratified Treaty obligating us to defend them….helping them all by giving them our nation’s wealth is not in my national interest.

It’s Just Not Our Business!