of war. We know war should be the last option, which seems to have slipped the minds of most Americans. We fought a losing war so we know the military needs a clear, specific military goal, not a vague wishful goal. We know that lifeless bodies shipped home to the heartland will eventually speak louder than all those determined words roaring out of Washington. But this can take years and many thousands of dead bodies.

All knowledge is not equal, nor can all knowledge be easily learned. That which is learned from painful reflection after horrible experience is often the most important knowledge. “No pain, no gain” applies not only to biceps.

For those who experienced that ugly war, Vietnam was a hard experience for learning what is possible and what is not possible -- a massive sobering antidote, actually, to hubristic foreign adventures. Yet, for those who fervently supported the Vietnam War yet refused to fight in that war -- those now running our country -- what they learned on the safe sidelines far from the fighting was something quite different. They learned fantasy can survive bloody reality and lies are more politically effective than truth. They learned America can win any war, anywhere, anytime, as long as they are in charge. They learned nonsense. But they run this country, not us.

The reality is, although America is a so-called superpower it does not have super military power. Like all nations, our nation is restricted and limited by resources and power. Like all nations, we need to be thoughtful and cautious. Like all nations, we need leaders who are informed and wise, and citizens who are skeptical and questioning. But our leaders are dense, hubristic and blind, and too many Americans have followed these dense, hubristic and blind leaders, followed them into another foreign policy nightmare.

The guerrilla forces of the world cannot afford to be dense, hubristic and blind. To survive, they are forced to be cunning and elusive, sharp tigers exploiting the advantages of fighting on their own turf.

Nearly all insurgency groups today understand the workings of asymmetrical warfare: avoid your more powerful military adversary where it is strong; strike the sluggish leviathan where it is weak. Time is the opponent of this expensive technically laden “stronger” power but an asset of the no-frills “weaker” guerrilla force. So guerrillas slowly bleed the powerful, costly fighting machines.

And the U.S. military is being slowly bled. In May 2003 when President Bush arrogantly proclaimed an end to major combat operations, there was an average of 17 U.S. combat deaths a month. Today there is an average of 82 combat deaths per month. (Actually, nothing slow about this: in only 9 months fatalities have increased four-fold.) During this same period, the number of wounded Americans has spiraled from 142 a month to 808 a month -- nearly a six-fold increase!

Back in the 1980s, on an isolated Philippine jungle island, I spent several days with a group of communist guerrillas. We ate rice with our fingers and drank rum late into the night. These illiterate Filipino farmers turned communist fighters understood clearly how the North Vietnamese defeated the superpower America. They couldn’t write, they couldn’t read, but they understood the weak points in the U.S. military machine and how to exploit them. Today their sons probably know how the great Soviet Union fell in Afghanistan.

The same modern communication and transportation used to ferry ideas and people around the globe for international business are also being used by international insurgents. Instead of penetrating remote economic areas for money making, they are spreading information about effective military tactics and stymieing the world’s most powerful military power. Globalism is making foreign occupation increasingly difficult; it has never been so difficult for the rich and powerful to occupy the weak and the poor.

The New York Times says 1,417 Americans soldiers have died and 10,622 Americans soldiers have been wounded in Iraq, more than half of whom have been unable to return to duty. Now I hear a second amputee ward has been opened in San Antonio, Texas because Walter Read Army hospital in Washington cannot accommodate all the incoming amputees. When will there be a third amputee ward for our returning soldiers.

And last week CNN said President Bush in his 21-minute inauguration speech spoke the word “freedom” 27 times and “liberty” 15 times; that was a “freedom” or a “liberty” every 20 seconds. But not once during his entire 21-minute speech did he say the word “Iraq.” And not once during that 21 minute, 1,260 second speech did he say the name of even 1 dead American soldier.

Here is the name of 1 dead American soldier: Casey Sheehan. And here is a poem by Carly Sheehan, little sister to dead American soldier Casey Sheehan:

Have you ever heard the sound of a mother screaming for her son?

The torrential rains of a mother's weeping will never be done

They call him a hero, you should be glad that he's one, but

Have you ever heard the sound of a mother screaming for her son?

Have you ever heard the sound of a father holding back his cries?

He must be brave because his boy died for another man's lies

The only grief he allows himself are long, deep sighs

Have you ever heard the sound of a father holding back his cries?

Have you ever heard the sound of taps played at your brother's grave?

They say that he died so that the flag will continue to wave

But I believe he died because they had oil to save

Have you ever heard the sound of taps played at your brother's grave?

Have you ever heard the sound of a nation being rocked to sleep?

The leaders want to keep you numb so the pain won't be so deep

But if we the people let them continue another mother will weep

Have you ever heard the sound of a nation being rocked to sleep?

Stewart Nusbaumer is editor of Intervention Magazine. He served with the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam on the DMZ. You can email Stewart at Stewart@interventionmag.com

Posted Monday, January 31, 2005

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