WhatFinger


Blood of our young and entangling alliances

Why Didn’t We Listen?



He minced no words in his farewell address to the nation for which he had done more in war and in peace than any of his compatriots. For that he was called “First in war and first in peace.” Beware, he warned his generation and all those to follow, against entangling alliances – of allowing ourselves to become involved in the affairs of foreign nations and allowing foreign nations to become involved in our affairs.

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For a long time the nation heeded the advice of George Washington and America remained free of the never ending chaos that has always engulfed the affairs of old Europe. Thanks to the time-honored policy of minding our own business we prospered as no nation in world history save ancient Rome had prospered. Things began to go wrong when Woodrow Wilson conned America into involvement in the bloody carnage of World War I and ever since we’ve allowed our leaders to drag us unto entangling alliances and wars into which we had no business being involved thus sacrificing the lives of our youth and much of our national treasure. As I write this, I am listening to a press conference during which a ranking officer of the U.S. Navy discusses both policy and operations in our latest foray into the internal affairs in, of all places, Libya where a dictator we have long dealt with is fighting to hang onto his unlimited powers and privileges. Huh? Americans are going to risk life and limb to help unseat the leader of a foreign nation we have been tolerating for a long time, even after he downed an airliner and killed a number of our fellow Americans who had no involvement in any disputes between Libya and the U.S. We’ve been at this business ever since Teddy Roosevelt decided to push the borders of America far to the East by force of arms or diplomacy, managing to set the stage for Japan’s future attack on Pearl Harbor and our involvement in the Pacific phase of World War II. Another Roosevelt, FDR, by hook or by crook led America into that war in Europe and the Pacific. We’ve been shedding the blood of our youth in foreign adventures ever since. I was in my teens when America entered WW II, just 17 when I enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1943, barely 20 when we got dragged into the Korean War, and have since watched Fortress America reach out far beyond our borders to shed the blood of the nation’s youth. Let this be clearly understood. We had no business being involved in any of these conflicts. None. Had we minded our own business and heeded George Washington’s advice a lot of mothers would have been spared the ordeal of burying their sons who have been fighting wars in which we had no real reasons for being involved. The policy of minding our own business long kept us out of the endless conflicts that have always accompanied Europe’s internal affairs. Ignoring Washington’s advice has dragged us into conflicts where we had no dog in any of those fights. Those who advocate staying out of conflicts in which none of our national interests are at are maliciously demonized. Those national leaders who lead us into conflicts in which we have no real interests at stake are praised, even when the blood of countless young Americans is shed in pursuit of their interventionist policies. It is my fervent hope that when those who have dragged us into countless wars and conflicts in which America had no genuine interest approach the Pearly Gates of Heaven will be confronted by George Washington and asked to justify having involved his beloved America and the blood of our young into all those entangling alliances he so feared.


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Philip V. Brennan -- Bio and Archives

Monday, Jan. 6, 2014:
Former columnist, Marine Corps hero, and Washington insider Phil Brennan passed away on Monday. He was 87 years old.

Born in New York City, Brennan served with the Marines during World War II before tackling a series of jobs in the nation’s capital, beginning with a campaign to win statehood for Alaska. —More…</em>


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