Guest Post: Remember Vietnam and All the Other U.S. Military Debacles!

Lying Generals don't stop lying when they retire. As Yogi Berra once said it is déjà vu all over again.  by Tom McFadden

I'm old enough to remember when the generals told Congress and the American people we were defeating the Viet Cong, the North Vietnamese communists army. How could it be otherwise? They were slightly-built little guys who slipped around in what looked like black pajamas and sandals while we had helicopters, jets that dropped napalm and agent orange on them and we had lots of artillery. General Westmoreland gave the daily body counts that showed we were training the South Vietnamese Army and winning the Vietnam War. Just give the generals more time and money. And then I remember the terrified Vietnamese on the roof of the U.S. embassy in Saigon as the last U.S. helicopters flew off in ignominious defeat. The Communists inherited billions of dollars of infrastructure (airfields, ports) that we taxpayers had built and the S. Vietnamese, the lucky ones known as "the boat people" managed to board anything that floated and thousands perished at sea. A generation of American men were decimated. To thank the 58,000 killed, mostly conscripts, their government put their name on a wall. The remainder were neglected by their countrymen for serving in a losing war and so many ended up homeless, mentally-ill, or drug addicted. "Thank you for your service" was not in the lexicon.

After Colin Powell lied to the UN about Iraq's WMDs and George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, etc caused most Americans to believe that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11, the world's sole superpower invaded that third-world country. I remember the Air Force general who bragged that we had delivered "shock and awe" on Bagdad full of civilians by bombing it to ruins. CNN televised it. As the years went on I remember the generals telling Congress and the American people that we were winning over the people in Iraq. We were also training the Iraqi Army and building a stable democracy. They were always on the verge of success; they just needed more money and another "troop surge." We poured in billion$. The Muslims inherited billions of dollars of infrastructure and then it all fell apart as the Sunni and Shia went at each other. We had ISIS and an orgy of butchery. Because of Government lies, thousands of American service people were killed, maimed, and many are suffering from PTSD and Gulf War Syndrome. The killing and suffering of the ordinary people of Iraq can never be catalogued nor forgiven. (Not that we would ever ask for forgiveness; that's not what proud superpowers do.)

I remember the years when the generals told Congress and the American people that we were winning in Afghanistan, routing the Taliban, nation building, and training the Afghan civilian government and Army. Meanwhile, the ostensible reason for the military going to Afghanistan was to get Osama Bin Laden who was living quietly for many years in neighboring Pakistan, an "ally" on the receiving end of billion$ from U.S. taxpayers. I remember NFL star Pat Tillman forsaking his career to hunt down Osama Bin Laden as an Army Ranger and the lies the Army generals told about his death to cover up that he was killed by friendly fire under suspicious circumstances. Among other things, we were in Afghanistan "to promote the equality of Afghan women." Billions of dollars just poured into a hole of bribes, kickbacks, and waste while people like Paul Ryan sought to cut social security payments. Careers were made, stars and eagles were pinned on collars, and peaceful retirement came with generous checks. Not many got killed, certainly not among those with stars and eagles. I remember the Afghan Army folding like tissue paper, the Taliban taking over billions of dollars of infrastructure such as the giant air base for use by China and the $85 billion worth of arms Biden and General Mark Milley left for them. (He may have been too busy fretting about white racism to plan.) I remember the U.S. service people blown apart while the U.S. sought the permission of the Taliban to madly and with no obvious planning seek to evacuate anyone who could cram themselves into our cargo planes. Those who couldn't but cling to the plane as it ran down the runway fell to their death. It was Saigon April 1975 again. It was quickly swept into a memory hole by the Deep State and Biden's media elites.

I don't know what the generals are telling Congress now about our proxy war against Russia for which the U.S. has been training and equipping the Ukraine Army for 8 years. The Generals are more cautious now, so they will let the Ukrainians do the dying. Flag-draped caskets arriving at Dover AFB are not good for the guy who gave them the stars on their collars. If one can judge anything from the lies being spun by the retired generals lapping up money for gigs on Fox, CNN, and other MSM as "expert analysts," the active duty generals are telling the same lies. From day one the retired generals have been telling us what the Government wanted us to hear, how incompetent the Russian Army is and that pushing it back to Russia is a certainty.

Why do the generals, active and retired, do this? Ignorance for one thing. None of them has ever fought in a war against a well-equipped maneuvering army with air cover. Secondly, it is American hubris combined with talking to their peers and repeating what they hear. Third, they become TV showmen. The Generals on Fox asserted that they knew exactly what was in Putin's head and the airheads like Neil Cauto, John Roberts, and Brian Kilmeade just nodded their heads in awe. Fourth, "war is a racket" and they are in on it.
One of the bits of news that appears in the U.S. media via the Ukraine government is that a lot of Russian generals and colonels have been killed in Ukraine. I don't know how true that is but if it is, there is a good reason. Russian senior officers like generals serve with their men while U.S. general officers serve in the rear. In part, that is why there are plenty around, like 4-star General David Patraeus, to explain Russia's battlefield failures to gullible MSM consumers. By doing that, the military-industrial complex to which he belongs is greased so the American people will think all of that money taxpayers are sending to Ukraine ("for as long as it takes," said Biden) is not fueling another debacle that the U.S. will walk away from when it indeed becomes one. War is a good-paying racket as long as one stays away from the front.

Anyone with access to the internet can follow the progress of the Ukraine War. Ukraine is the 2nd largest county in Europe and with 200,000 troops Russia captured 20% of it in 3 months from a heavily-dug in, U.S.-trained army of 600,000. Ukraine is not winning, it will not win, it will not achieve a stalemate; the U.S. "powers that be" certainly know this. The best part of its Army is facing the Russians in the Eastern part of the country and is being annihilated. Troops that can escape are abandoning their equipment as was seen when they escaped from the recent battle for Lysychansk. The war will end when Russia ends it. Around March 1st there were promising negotiations in Istanbul. At that point in time, so much of Ukraine and its blood could have been spared. Immediately, the now-deposed Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, flew to Kiev to carry to Zelensky his and Biden's ban on negotiation. Ukraine must fight "for as long as it takes." Ukraine is not allowed by the U.S. and the EU to sue for peace because if it did they would pull the plug on the money we send to not only fund the war but to pay the government, the civil servants, and all of the government pension obligations with enough left over for a politician's wife to try smuggling $20M and 1.2M euros in cash out of the country as one was recently caught doing by Hungarian customs officials. Zelensky is a multi-millionaire from his successful TV career and has a place in Florida but if he tried to flee he'd be killed by the cohort of ultra-nationalist who prop him up and surround him.

In the meantime, the U.S. and its few allies like the EU are in an economic whirlpool that is gathering speed. They have brought it on us by cutting off trade from one of the world's most important suppliers of essential commodities. Europeans, Australians, Canadians and Americans, well-conditioned to stupid anti-science government edicts by the covid-19 tyranny, are expected to "suck it up" and it seems Americans will. Where was the American pushback against Biden when he simply blamed everything on Putin and said we will have energy and food shortages "for as long as it takes." For as long as it takes to do what? The neocon branch of the "Stupid Party" a.k.a. the GOP doesn't even ask.
Germany, the export powerhouse of the EU, has developed a negative trade balance and is certainly facing economic collapse of its industry because of energy rationing that has begun and which has no solution in sight. The Green Government is reopening "dirty, planet-killing" coal-fired power plants and stocking up on windmills to replace banned Russian energy. Energy costs in Europe dwarf what we are currently paying. If you want a good idea of what lies ahead for you, take time to watch this 12 minute video. But it only concerns you if you are in the middle class and work for a living.