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A friend who is well-versed in history provided a wealth of examples in which
the US exercised military power to defend its interests without requesting a
formal declaration of war. The fact is that Congress has declared war on only
five occasions; the War of 1812 against Britain (1812-1815), the Mexican War
(1846-1848), the Spanish-American War (1898), World War I (1914-1918), and
World War II (1939-1945).
There are more than two hundred instances in which presidents have sent armed
forces into hostile situations to protect US lives and property without a
declaration of war. On our own lands, US forces fought many battles with
Native Americans from the 1840's to the 1860's to protect settlers and clear
routes to the West for Americans seeking a new life to farm, mine and log the
vast reaches of the nation beyond the Mississippi. Our first intervention
outside the US was an undeclared war with the Philippines with intense
battles between 1899 and 1902. Prior to that, in 1887, US power established
our claim to Hawaii.
In more recent times, the US fought 95% of the modern wars in Korea
(1950-1953) and in Vietnam (1959-1975) without a formal declaration. Desert
Storm in 1989 and our incursion into Afghanistan were and are full-blown
conflicts. The hard reality is that only the US has the military power to
address threats to peace in the world. No other nation comes close.
There are so many examples of the assertion of US power in our history that
one wonders why there is a fuss about deposing a modern day dictator that
everyone knows is capable of killing his own people and launching weapons of
mass destruction against his enemies. Saddam Hussein has made war on Iran and
on Kuwait. The first ended in a stalemate and the second required US power to
dislodge him. Despite the outcries from Europe and Arab nations, there isn't
one of them who wouldn't welcome the removal of this madman.
The US is very good at this if history is any measure. We occupied Mexico's
California province in 1848 and, between 1848 and 1855, US Marines were sent
to Panama to protect US lives and property. The Marines participated with
Europeans in crushing the Chinese Boxer rebellion in 1900. In 1906, US
Marines restored order in Cuba, which is why we still occupy Guantanamo.
In more modern times, former President Reagan sought to assist Christian
Lebanese in 1982. A year later, a suicide bomber killed nearly 250 Marines
and other service members. That same year, 1983, Reagan invaded Grenada to
remove a Marxist dictator. US troops have been used to restore order in
Haiti, Somalia, and Bosnia. All of this occurred without a formal declaration
of war.
One should bear in mind that many of those Democrats demanding a declaration
of war were reluctant to support Desert Storm. On January 12, 1991, the
resolution to initiate American involvement was subject to "no" votes from
Senators Dodd, Biden, Hollings, Leahy, Byrd, and the current Senate Majority
leader, Daschle. The vote in the Senate was 52-47. It can be argued, too,
that former President Clinton's feckless use of our military power or failure
to use it simply emboldened bin Laden and other crazed Islamists to view the
US as a paper tiger.
In my view, we are better off without the formal support of our European
"allies" or any other nation. Only Great Britain has been vocal in its
support, but quietly, behind the scenes, we are receiving plenty of
cooperation from many nations, including Arab nations, despite all the claims
that we are acting "unilaterally" or the suggestion we will kick off World
War III. Removing Saddam will prevent World War III.
Intervention will also provide Iranians the opportunity to overthrow the
dictatorial ayatollahs against whom they have been marching in the streets
for a long time now. What will happen in Syria and even Saudi Arabia is
anyone's guess, but the likelihood is that they too will be forced to adopt
modern, democratic governments in the fullness of time so long as American
power is there to back up the demand for freedom. And we will be there
because once into Iraq we will own it and we will be obligated to guide it
for several decades toward democracy.
We are going to liberate the Middle East. The "Arab Street" may not like the
idea now, but they will thank us for it later. We have no other real choice
except to wait for the next attack on our nation and the next and the next.
The real lessons of history teach us that failing to take action is far more
dangerous than permitting tragedies like the last two World Wars. Nor should
we forget for a minute that our nation has been attacked by Islamic
Jihadists, supported by Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab nations.
The claim that this is all about oil is a smokescreen, but neither should we
forget that this nation requires oil, as do all other industrial nations. Try
functioning for an hour without electricity. Try thinking about filling your
refrigerator without the trucks necessary to move food throughout this nation
every day. And ask yourself who is blocking our ability to access and extract
16 billion barrels of oil in Alaska? Answer: Democrats and their
environmental supporters.
On September 11, 2002, we must resolve to right the terrible wrong
perpetrated on this nation by our enemies. They killed over 3,000 of us on a
single day. We must remember our history and we must exercise our power to
fight the enemies of freedom and liberty.
Alan Caruba is the author of "The United Nations Vs. The United States", for sale from the Internet site of The National Anxiety
Center, a clearinghouse for information about scare campaigns at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Copyright, Alan Caruba, 2002
Published by permission.
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