I believe that this was true; the Iraq war was a lie from the beginning. WMD's were never found, and to me that shows that it was just a cover to seize resources.
When Andrew Bacevich speaks of his son's sacrifice and of others' sacrifice, I believe he is probably right. "Washington rules do not work for the country, alas, they work for Washington." He believes that we as Americans are destined to protect our country, thus, that is why we are involved in so many wars, because of Washington. Most wars seem to be based on the the wrong principles. I believe the truth should be reason behind war rather than what is thought to be truth.
Andrew, a retired senior army officer, talks about the Washington playbook, which is the cause of all American wars. I believe he is correct when he says their plan is to "lead, save, and liberate the world," which is the reason why we are so involved in the number of wars we are in. We believe that the only way to do this is to use military power, which isn't always the best way to go. I believe that if we took different manners before war became an option, then we could solve those problems and forget war all together.
When he says,"the Washington rules work for Washington, not the United States". I think he just has it out for the government because he never has agreed with the war in Iraq and it added insult to injury when he lost his son. I'm not trying to be insensitive to his loss but that is just my opinion.
"The Washington Rules don't work for the country, they work for Washington."
I don't really understand what the "Washington Rules" are exactly, but I do understand that something doesn't seem to be right with the government right now. It seems that the guest understands this and I agree with him.
" There is a game plan in Washington, since the Cold War the U.S. has been trying to establish itself as a power and they are trying to do that by fighting" Interesting that we have to fight wars to have power
I think this author is an interesting person to interview on this topic, because he brings forth an interesting bias. His son died fighting in Iraq, so this most likely gives him strong feelings, mostly negative, towards the war. He reveals his feelings about the war when he says, "The War was misguided and mishandled." However, he defends his son when he mentions something similar to, "We need to respect those who have fallen for our country." I agree completely with the author. I do not think the Iraq War was confronted properly, but all the soldiers who are sacrificing their lives deserve the utmost reverence. When it comes to evaluating the media, the author says, "people need to pay more attention to the "outside the box" or "widened circle" information, for example, Ron Paul's points to be elected. I agree with this as well. Frequently, listeners, like myself, tend to simply listen for what they want to hear instead of listening to all points mentioned. In conclusion, I believe this guest brought up very valid points.
When the guest says "The war was misguided, misbegotten, and mishandled," I have to say that i agree. As long as the war has been going on there have been no weapons of mass distruction found. The war has come off to most American people as pointless and misguided.
The guest said, "war is not profitable they don't do anything to make a profit wars are profitable for washington and no one else". i agree with the guest because some wars are fought for nothing at all. They cause distruction and a whole new mess. It seems as if washington cares only about itself and not the nation.
"We need to widen the circle of what's worth listening to."
I agree because I think that the media focuses on a lot of unnecessary things instead of focusing on more important things. I do not think that the details of the guns or machines used in the war are as important as the people who are fighting and the lives being lost. Even though sometimes the stories are not as exciting as others, we have the right to know what our country is doing since we are in the war.
When the guest says,"The reason the Washington rules work, is not because they're making us safer, they're not bringing in wealth, in fact they're squandering our wealth. The Washington rules work for Washington." Words like this coming from an ex military officer tell me that Washington's agenda is a selfish one, that the Washington rules are far more beneficial to Washington than to the general public. Isn't Washington supposed to make rules to help the public? Isn't the role of government to govern the people and work towards their best interests?
When the guest states "Even as being a father I can not define the sacrifice that my son has made, or any of the other U.S. soldiers serving." Speaking as a U.S soldier myself every soldier has his/her own reason to sacrifice themselves for their country. Sacrifice that a soldier gives can not have only one defintion.
I agree with the guess when he says that war has become a source of entertainment. I think that most Americans don't understand what it really means to be in a war. I also agree with him when he says that Americans have to be in a war, they have to be the ones to save other countries. I think that that's one of the reasons that the United States is always at war because we need to be the big brother and always help others.
I agree with the guest when he says, "The war has been misguided, misbegotten and mishandled." When he says war works for Washington, bringing a few select people profit, but not the nation as a whole...I think this is a perfect example of how the war is being misguided. It is over glorified by the media most of the time and many young men and women who do die trying to serve their nation are honored one day and forgotten the next.
"Washington sticks to a specific playbook, the 'Washington Rules', when it comes to a specific opportunity to lead, liberate, and save the world."-Col. Andrew Bacevich
Referring to what Col. Bacevich said, I feel that sometimes Washington does stick to traditional tactics and never branches out in its ideas of how to handle or how to prevent involvement in possible war confrontations. They (Washington) sooner use what has worked in the past as opposed to a new one that the current situation may work better. Coining the phrase "playbook", I think that in almost every instance of war, Washington has undoubtedly played the same "plays" when we first start the war. This in aspect of where Bacevich is coming from, is frustrating and somewhat terrifying that we do not seek better and more efficient means of handling confrontations.
"individuals that think they are part of a historical undertaking..." I think that it is a dangerous time in the United States when people can hide behind the banner of patriotism and use war as a way to make money off soldiers fighting and losing their lives to protect our nation.
'Has war become too profitable even to those who lose?'
Yes, I believe that war has become too profitable. War boosts economy and creates numerous jobs for people. While this is a good thing during war time, it has made governments too ready to begin a war. People have begun to look at the profits the war gives them more than the problems war create. This is why I think war has become too profitable.
When the guest says "we are called upon to lead, save, and liberate the world ... remake the world in our image using military forces." He proves a great point by accusing our nation of being fueled by war, however what is the purpose? I never actually thought of this question when it pertained to war until he made that statement. Why do we waste so much money on war? What is our philosophy on using armed forces to change the cultural views of another civilization? This kind of publicity should not be looked at as some game or as if its the new trend in life. Men and women waste away their lives in order to give us the false sense of leadership that we have acquired by taking lives of innocent men and women in other worlds. Are we proud of this?
Basically war has become more about profit for companies that would be unable to sustain themselves without constant need for their services to the military. They don't care what the weapons they manufacture are used for, so long as they are being bought by someone.
I completely agree with the guest when he says "This war was miguided, misbegotten, and mislead." My reasoning for this is because the U.S. government led us into war thinking that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and the whole time we have been over there we have never found anything of that sort. I also believe that we really havent accomplished much since we have been at war.
"The war was misguided, misbegotten, mishandled."
ReplyDeleteI believe that this was true; the Iraq war was a lie from the beginning. WMD's were never found, and to me that shows that it was just a cover to seize resources.
When Andrew Bacevich speaks of his son's sacrifice and of others' sacrifice, I believe he is probably right. "Washington rules do not work for the country, alas, they work for Washington." He believes that we as Americans are destined to protect our country, thus, that is why we are involved in so many wars, because of Washington. Most wars seem to be based on the the wrong principles. I believe the truth should be reason behind war rather than what is thought to be truth.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, a retired senior army officer, talks about the Washington playbook, which is the cause of all American wars. I believe he is correct when he says their plan is to "lead, save, and liberate the world," which is the reason why we are so involved in the number of wars we are in. We believe that the only way to do this is to use military power, which isn't always the best way to go. I believe that if we took different manners before war became an option, then we could solve those problems and forget war all together.
ReplyDeleteWhen he says,"the Washington rules work for Washington, not the United States". I think he just has it out for the government because he never has agreed with the war in Iraq and it added insult to injury when he lost his son. I'm not trying to be insensitive to his loss but that is just my opinion.
ReplyDelete"The Washington Rules don't work for the country, they work for Washington."
ReplyDeleteI don't really understand what the "Washington Rules" are exactly, but I do understand that something doesn't seem to be right with the government right now. It seems that the guest understands this and I agree with him.
" There is a game plan in Washington, since the Cold War the U.S. has been trying to establish itself as a power and they are trying to do that by fighting" Interesting that we have to fight wars to have power
ReplyDeleteI think this author is an interesting person to interview on this topic, because he brings forth an interesting bias. His son died fighting in Iraq, so this most likely gives him strong feelings, mostly negative, towards the war. He reveals his feelings about the war when he says, "The War was misguided and mishandled." However, he defends his son when he mentions something similar to, "We need to respect those who have fallen for our country." I agree completely with the author. I do not think the Iraq War was confronted properly, but all the soldiers who are sacrificing their lives deserve the utmost reverence.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to evaluating the media, the author says, "people need to pay more attention to the "outside the box" or "widened circle" information, for example, Ron Paul's points to be elected. I agree with this as well. Frequently, listeners, like myself, tend to simply listen for what they want to hear instead of listening to all points mentioned. In conclusion, I believe this guest brought up very valid points.
When the guest says "The war was misguided, misbegotten, and mishandled," I have to say that i agree. As long as the war has been going on there have been no weapons of mass distruction found. The war has come off to most American people as pointless and misguided.
ReplyDeleteThe guest said, "war is not profitable they don't do anything to make a profit wars are profitable for washington and no one else". i agree with the guest because some wars are fought for nothing at all. They cause distruction and a whole new mess. It seems as if washington cares only about itself and not the nation.
ReplyDelete"We need to widen the circle of what's worth listening to."
ReplyDeleteI agree because I think that the media focuses on a lot of unnecessary things instead of focusing on more important things. I do not think that the details of the guns or machines used in the war are as important as the people who are fighting and the lives being lost. Even though sometimes the stories are not as exciting as others, we have the right to know what our country is doing since we are in the war.
When the guest says,"The reason the Washington rules work, is not because they're making us safer, they're not bringing in wealth, in fact they're squandering our wealth. The Washington rules work for Washington." Words like this coming from an ex military officer tell me that Washington's agenda is a selfish one, that the Washington rules are far more beneficial to Washington than to the general public. Isn't Washington supposed to make rules to help the public? Isn't the role of government to govern the people and work towards their best interests?
ReplyDeleteWhen the guest states "Even as being a father I can not define the sacrifice that my son has made, or any of the other U.S. soldiers serving." Speaking as a U.S soldier myself every soldier has his/her own reason to sacrifice themselves for their country. Sacrifice that a soldier gives can not have only one defintion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the guess when he says that war has become a source of entertainment. I think that most Americans don't understand what it really means to be in a war. I also agree with him when he says that Americans have to be in a war, they have to be the ones to save other countries. I think that that's one of the reasons that the United States is always at war because we need to be the big brother and always help others.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the guest when he says, "The war has been misguided, misbegotten and mishandled." When he says war works for Washington, bringing a few select people profit, but not the nation as a whole...I think this is a perfect example of how the war is being misguided. It is over glorified by the media most of the time and many young men and women who do die trying to serve their nation are honored one day and forgotten the next.
ReplyDelete"Washington sticks to a specific playbook, the 'Washington Rules', when it comes to a specific opportunity to lead, liberate, and save the world."-Col. Andrew Bacevich
ReplyDeleteReferring to what Col. Bacevich said, I feel that sometimes Washington does stick to traditional tactics and never branches out in its ideas of how to handle or how to prevent involvement in possible war confrontations. They (Washington) sooner use what has worked in the past as opposed to a new one that the current situation may work better. Coining the phrase "playbook", I think that in almost every instance of war, Washington has undoubtedly played the same "plays" when we first start the war. This in aspect of where Bacevich is coming from, is frustrating and somewhat terrifying that we do not seek better and more efficient means of handling confrontations.
"individuals that think they are part of a historical undertaking..." I think that it is a dangerous time in the United States when people can hide behind the banner of patriotism and use war as a way to make money off soldiers fighting and losing their lives to protect our nation.
ReplyDelete'Has war become too profitable even to those who lose?'
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe that war has become too profitable. War boosts economy and creates numerous jobs for people. While this is a good thing during war time, it has made governments too ready to begin a war. People have begun to look at the profits the war gives them more than the problems war create. This is why I think war has become too profitable.
When the guest says "we are called upon to lead, save, and liberate the world ... remake the world in our image using military forces." He proves a great point by accusing our nation of being fueled by war, however what is the purpose? I never actually thought of this question when it pertained to war until he made that statement. Why do we waste so much money on war? What is our philosophy on using armed forces to change the cultural views of another civilization? This kind of publicity should not be looked at as some game or as if its the new trend in life. Men and women waste away their lives in order to give us the false sense of leadership that we have acquired by taking lives of innocent men and women in other worlds. Are we proud of this?
ReplyDeleteBasically war has become more about profit for companies that would be unable to sustain themselves without constant need for their services to the military. They don't care what the weapons they manufacture are used for, so long as they are being bought by someone.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the guest when he says "This war was miguided, misbegotten, and mislead." My reasoning for this is because the U.S. government led us into war thinking that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and the whole time we have been over there we have never found anything of that sort. I also believe that we really havent accomplished much since we have been at war.
ReplyDelete