As a Vietnam-era veteran, I have always been fascinated by professedly "conservative" pundits such as William Kristol. Mr. Kristol, who has never served in the military, has rarely hesitated to support the use of military force no matter how ill-advised or disproportionate. Kristol's op ed column which appeared in the New York Times, "The Next War President" is a case in point. Despite what Mr. Kristol may believe, the factual evidence is quite to the contrary: President Bush did not win the war Iraq. Instead, he destroyed the economy and infra-structure of a secular regime, albeit despotic, which had never threatened any vital U.S. interests. In the process of unleashing the "shock and awe," more than 4,000 U.S. servicemen had been killed, more that 20,000 U.S. serviceman have been injured, and many thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians have been killed or maimed while the fires of religious fanaticism have been fueled.
Bush's actions were not only indefensible but ironic, given the the fact that Cheney and Rumsfeld had helped to shore up Saddam Hussein's regime after the Shah of Iran- the CIA's puppet - was overthrown. It is equally important to remember that Saddam's invasion of Kuwait occurred only after he believed that he dad received a green light from G.H.W. Bush's ambassador to Iraq who declined, when asked by Saddam, to take a position on whether or not the U.S. government rejected Iraq's historic claim to the territory of Kuwait and was reported to have informed him that it was a matter of supreme indifference to U.S. policy-makers.
Kristol's claim that the president is "our commander-in-chief"and that this designation is the "heart of the job" is also not supported by history or by the text of the Constitution. The president is "the commander in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into actual service of the United States..." Article II, section 2, par. 1. He is not yet - and hopefully will never become -the "commander-in-chief" of the civilian population of the United States.
Kristol's inability to grasps the essential distinction between the exercise of civilian and military power is perhaps at the heart of his unwavering support for the Israeli war machine. Sadly, Israel has become a garrison state, far removed from the original, secular Zionist dreams of Theodor Herzel. It is increasingly populated by ultra-orthodox immigrants from other countries who believe that God has anointed them to exercise dominion over the entire country as well as all the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria, despite the contrary aspirations and claims of the Arab-Israeli population, most of whom have resided in the area for a millennium or more, and the Palestinian population.
In his farewell address, Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about the dangers which a growing military-industrial complex posed to the United States. The Israeli example of a perpetual "welfare through-warfare"state should give every American pause and remind us of Eisenhower's wisdom.
Bush's actions were not only indefensible but ironic, given the the fact that Cheney and Rumsfeld had helped to shore up Saddam Hussein's regime after the Shah of Iran- the CIA's puppet - was overthrown. It is equally important to remember that Saddam's invasion of Kuwait occurred only after he believed that he dad received a green light from G.H.W. Bush's ambassador to Iraq who declined, when asked by Saddam, to take a position on whether or not the U.S. government rejected Iraq's historic claim to the territory of Kuwait and was reported to have informed him that it was a matter of supreme indifference to U.S. policy-makers.
Kristol's claim that the president is "our commander-in-chief"and that this designation is the "heart of the job" is also not supported by history or by the text of the Constitution. The president is "the commander in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into actual service of the United States..." Article II, section 2, par. 1. He is not yet - and hopefully will never become -the "commander-in-chief" of the civilian population of the United States.
Kristol's inability to grasps the essential distinction between the exercise of civilian and military power is perhaps at the heart of his unwavering support for the Israeli war machine. Sadly, Israel has become a garrison state, far removed from the original, secular Zionist dreams of Theodor Herzel. It is increasingly populated by ultra-orthodox immigrants from other countries who believe that God has anointed them to exercise dominion over the entire country as well as all the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria, despite the contrary aspirations and claims of the Arab-Israeli population, most of whom have resided in the area for a millennium or more, and the Palestinian population.
In his farewell address, Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about the dangers which a growing military-industrial complex posed to the United States. The Israeli example of a perpetual "welfare through-warfare"state should give every American pause and remind us of Eisenhower's wisdom.