We no longer call it “sabre-rattling” or the “beating of war drums.” The scary tendencies to go to war have assumed a new rhetoric.
Still the only super power in the world today is the United States, and it is already on the brink of mere conflict or a major war.
Thousands of miles away from the US mainland, North Korea continues to fire missiles to the skies to test their range and destructive power—and, yes, to call attention to the young, impetuous leader who has chosen as toys weapons that can obliterate cities in one strike.
The young North Korean ruler has been taunting the US to direct the latter’s missiles to Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, to the Mainland or to its ships patrolling the Pacific or elsewhere.
The US, suitably irked by the antics of “a kid in North Korea,” is in a state of readiness to show who is the world’s real nuclear power.
But this is not a boyish challenge among kids for a fisticuffs!
This is the unleashing of nuclear bombs, whose capacity for destruction is many times bigger than the twin bombs that the US dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Obviously, the US, whose presence in the Asia-Pacific has been well established, is concerned with the aggressive stance of North Korea.
It is the Asia-Pacific—not only for its geo-political goals, but also and —more important—for its long-time goal to protect its hold on—and access to— Asian markets.
China card
Not too subtly, the US is playing the cards available to it. It is playing the “China card” to keep North Korea in check.
The US may also also be playing the “Manila Card,” expressed recently by the very public invitation made by American President Donald Trump for the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to come visit the United States.
The question of strategists is this: Is the US seeing a role for the Philippines in its problem with the impetuous kid of North Korea? Would we be drawn once again to a needless war?
A book, titled “America’s Needless Wars,” is just off the press—and reminds us about America as ally, and America as a wicked aggressor.
This is true of the Philippines, and the book written by David R. Contosta has documented how America decided to stay in the Philippines right after Admiral Dewey bombarded Manila. Dewey’s original order was only “soften” Spain, since the Spanish-American war was raging in Cuba at that time.
The book actually features three countries—the Philippines, Vietnam and Iraq. It is interesting that even if the wars in these three countries were waged by one nation, America, the wars happened at different periods.
The book is consistent in saying that the wars in these three countries—driven by “ignorance, arrogance, and partisan politics” were a “huge mistake.”
Particularly in the Philippines, the United States was facing a glut from its factories —and needed a new market like the Philippines.
The book quotes US Senator Albert Beveridge of Indiana in early 1897, who said: “American factories are making more than the American people can use; American soil is producing more than they can consume. Fate has written our policy for us; the trade of the world must and shall be ours.” There’s nothing like getting it from the horse’s mouth!
That policy has long since been the geo-political direction of America.
The presence of America in the Philippines—then and now —began on May 1, 1898, when Admiral Dewey attacked the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay.
Contosta the author comments: “Having achieved his immediate objective, Dewey was uncertain what to do next. His only orders was to destroy the Spanish fleet, but he assumed that he should go ahead and take the city of Manila. Realizing that a land force would be needed to occupy Manila, Dewey cabled Washington for troops.”
Needless war
A most telling annotation by the author goes like this: “This request and the subsequent delivery of soldiers led to a wholly needless war of conquest in the Philippines.”
Names of American Presidents and officials are mentioned here—divided between the “imperialists” and the “anti-imperialists.”
Those we consider heroes in our Philippine history books were actually villains, much more than having covetous eyes on the natural wealth of the this country. There are, refreshingly so, a few heroes among American legislators, who took up the cudgels for us and who spoke eloquently of allowing the Philippines to chart its own destiny as an independent nation.
The sad stories of Vietnam and Iraq are a subject of a chapter each in this book. America is lured to Vietnam in the name of America’s ill-conceived policy to stop short the onslaught of communism. The author questions that mindset, since Vietnam was not anyway enamored with communist China, which enjoys hegemonic rule over Asia. And yet the roles of American Presidents in succession were defined by their policies on staying in or staying away from Vietnam.
The consequent cruelty of American soldiers, the massacre in My Lai, and many more horrific re-telling of mayhem and suffering, have also given a strong case proving the needlessness of the Vietnam war. In the end, America, the “defeated giant” bowed down to the the determined resistance of the Vietnamese and to the widespread unpopularity of the war at home, since many American youths died in the jungles of Vietnam—and their parents were increasingly angry.
Unnecessary move
The Iraq war was completely unnecessary, the author says. A wishy-washy American President ordered the invasion of Iraq over unverified reports that the country of Saddam Hussein was hiding “weapons of mass destruction.” These proved to be non-existent, shaming both America’s Bush and England’s Tony Blair—and making the Middle East the theater of endless conflicts and bloodshed.
The author at the onset says that he is not on a campaign against America, and is quick in pointing out that the “lessons in history” must by all means be learned.
“The stains of the past can never be erased, but a change in how the nation handles itself in the world can do much to cause these stains to fade,” adding that he hopes his book may help “prevent thousands of needless deaths.” —CONTRIBUTED