Wither WAMM?

The following is an article I wrote in the early 2000's. I must say, this article rings as true today as when I wrote it. This group called WAMM continues to be very selective in their outrage. For the past 3 1/2 years - nothing. In the 8 years prior to that - much. To be taken seriously, stands must be principled. The more things change, the more they stay the same seems to be very true on this issue.


 

After picking up the Minneapolis Star Tribune last weekend and reading the article on WAMM (Women Against Military Madness), I was relieved. I thought the organization had either gone on hiatus or had been eviscerated. To hear that they are back and growing was a relief not only to me, but also to many who live in the great state of Minnesota.

Much has happened since the Reagan era, when the WAMM crowd was so active. However, since Bush (41) left the presidency, nary a word was heard from WAMM.  With all the evil that has transpired in the world that relates to “military madness”, I began to wonder if the true name of this organization should have been LWAUSMD (Liberal Women Against United States Military Deterrence) instead of WAMM.

Lets’ looks at the last two decades in the world and see the opportunities that WAMM had missed:

• Iran/Iraq war where not only were hundreds of thousands killed in normal warfare, but the Iraq Army also used chemical weapons on Iranian military and civilian targets.
• The use of chemical weapons in against the Kurdish people in Northern Iraq by Saddam Hussein.
• The numerous civil wars in Africa (remember Mohamed Siad Barre of Somalia?) have led to the starvation and suffering of millions of innocent people despite generous aid coming from the Western World.
• The near genocide in Haiti under the leadership of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A brutal dictator in the image of Stalin.
• The mass murders in the Balkans under Sloboden Milosevic. His final solution was tantamount to what Pol Pot did in Cambodia or Adolph Hitler did in the final stages of World War II.
• The “death squads” that inundate the country of Columbia in the name of cheap drugs for America.
• How about the Soviet Union and now Russia in its treatment of Georgia and Chechnya?
• Finally, what about Al-Qaida in the terrorist acts that have been perpetrated all over the world and topped off by September 11^th?

I have always admired people that take a principled stand, even though at times I might not agree with them. However, if a stand is truly taken on strong principles, then it must be consistent. For example, if one is to protest the United States School of the Americas, then one must also protest the Chinese embassy for the numerous human rights violations that have taken place in Mainland China.

My principled stand is that I believe our military to be an expensive, imperfect organization that quite often has not shown itself to be the best steward of our tax resources. On the other hand, this imperfect organization won the most dangerous war of the 20^th century – the cold war. What many people don’t realize is the cold war took an ominous turn in the mid 80’s. The Soviet Union, which was already bristling with ICBMs aimed at every major city in the United States, had now deployed SS-20 intermediate range missiles that could reach every major city in Europe in a matter on minutes. The Soviets were not in the mood to negotiate as they believed they finally had the leverage to back NATO down and gain strategic advantage. Under the leadership of Ronald Reagan, the United States developed the Pershing II missile, which was a far superior weapon to the Soviet SS-20. Although never deployed, we advertised it as a missile which was so accurate, we could target and hit Leonid Brezhnev’s bathroom window ten minutes after launch. That was enough for the Soviets – they agreed to pull the SS-20s out of Eastern Europe if the United States did not deploy the Pershing II.

However the final blow to the Soviets came from another weapon that was never deployed – SDI, or “star wars”. Ronald Reagan, despite unrelenting criticism from the Left and some of our allies in Europe, informed the world that the United States was going to develop and deploy the Strategic Defense Initiative.  The Soviets, who were having severe internal financial and political issues, knew that economically and technically, they could not counter SDI. It was the beginning of the end for the Soviet Union. Two weapon systems, Pershing II and SDI, never deployed, helped bring a peaceful end to the Cold War. Military Madness? No, military genius.

By the way, lets not forget the Gulf War. The Left still contends it was a war for oil. Ask the people in Kuwait what they think this war was all about. We went up against the 4^th largest army in the world and defeated them with minimal US causalities in a ground war that lasted 100 hours. Kuwait was freed and the Gulf was open for the commerce that Japan, Europe and the United States need to run their economic engines. Military Madness? No, suburb military strategy. 

I am glad that WAMM has found its voice after going mute for most of the 90’s. I believe in the diversity of opinions that exist in this country – it is what has made us the great nation that we are. However, we must remember two things:

1)    We must rely on historical facts and not fall victim to hyperbole or conjecture.

2)    Our military has been far from perfect, but it has allowed us to live free and freely express our opinions – even the ones that are expressed in hypocrisy.