by Chuck Baldwin
May 20, 2008
As we approach Memorial Day, we can anticipate the usual speeches and photo stunts from various and sundry politicos, each of them touting their heartfelt "support" for America's men and women in uniform. I submit that much of this political grandstanding is merely empty rhetoric.
Most of us probably recall that former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is quoted as having said that soldiers are just "dumb, stupid animals to be used" as pawns by the political and commercial elite. Obviously, even the most anti-military Democrat would never be so brazen as to say what Kissinger said. In practice, however, both Democrats and Republicans demonstrate disdain for our brave military people by the way their unconstitutional policies abuse and misuse them.
Whenever the White House sends our troops overseas to serve as United Nations "peacekeepers," they abuse our military. Whenever our troops are put under foreign commanders, our military is abused.
I remind you that back in 2003, Bush announced to the U.N. that the reason he had invaded Iraq was for the purpose of securing "the credibility of the United Nations." Unfortunately, various Presidential administrations--both Republican and Democrat--have also used our armed forces for the benefit of the U.N. Such conduct constitutes an abuse of our military.
When our politicians use our military to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations, our military is abused. When our armed forces are sent off to war without a Declaration of War by Congress, our military is abused. When our politicians use our military for the purposes of nation-building, empire-building, and international politics, our military is abused.
When our federal government can spend billions and even trillions of dollars for building and construction costs in Iraq, but cannot maintain safe and sanitary veteran's hospitals, our military is abused. When our combat-wounded veterans must wait weeks, months, and sometime years to receive the medical care they need, our military is abused. When our veterans have to labor harder to obtain the medical benefits that they were promised than they did the enemy they were sent to fight, our military is abused.
Remember, our President (and every member of Congress) takes an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." This includes not allowing our armed forces to be the pawns for conniving politicians and international conglomerates. It also includes only using our military for the safety and security of the U.S. population or territory. It does not include facilitating the personal political agendas of whoever happens to occupy the White House.
Peace in the world is not the purpose of the U.S. military. Their purpose is not to protect 27 European states. (Yes, I am saying outright: we should withdraw from NATO. Let the European nations pay and bleed for their own defense!) Their purpose is not to fight U.N. wars or enforce U.N. decisions. (Yes, I am saying outright: we should withdraw from the United Nations!) Their purpose is to defend the people and property of the United States of America. Period. Anything other than this is an abuse of our military.
To keep our forces in Iraq as an occupation force, year after year, maybe decade after decade, is an abuse of our military. To cancel their retirements; to demand our troops fight year after year, denying some of them the opportunity to even see their own children grow up; and to reduce the standards of recruits in order to accommodate criminals (even those charged with felonies)--constitutes abuse of our military.
To send our National Guard troops to protect the borders of Iraq, while leaving America's borders wide open to potential terrorists and criminal elements, is an abuse of our military. To not provide adequate health care coverage to retired service members is an abuse of our military. To require disabled vets to give up their military retirement pay in order to receive VA disability benefits is an abuse of our military. To not have a concerted effort by our government to find and bring home America's MIAs is an abuse of our military.
I could go on and on, but you get the point.
If our politicians in Washington, D.C., really wanted to "support our troops," they would follow the Constitution, stop meddling in the internal affairs of other countries, restore the benefits and medical care for our veterans, and never send another American soldier to bleed and die for the United Nations. Anything less than that is only political grandstanding and empty rhetoric.
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© Chuck Baldwin
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