CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

The NYT Endorses a Stronger Military. Why?

F-35 Lightning on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Derek Kelley.

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, as only one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.” – General Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1946

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, as only one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”

– General Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1946

The unusually peaceful end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union did not bring us peace.  Instead, the world has faced endless regional and ethnic wars, terrorism, and other human disasters.  This situation helped create a unipolar world, enabling the United States to use military force without risk or concern for challenges.  We went to war against Iraq in 1991, ignoring the Kremlin’s efforts to arrange an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait.  We expanded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, ignoring our verbal commitments to Soviet leaders to foreswear such expansion.  We used the 9/11 attacks in 2001 to engage in endless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that failed to bring greater security for the United States.

The New York Times ignores the fact that so many U.S. decisions to go to war have been based on outright lies, often sending the U.S. military into confrontations that it never trained or prepared for.  Disinformation contributed to........

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