What Can We Learn From People Who Are Different From Us To Avoid Future 'Walls Of Faces'?

Vietnam War Wall of Faces

 

Our active duty military soldiers are the best in the world to defend us if war occurs.  They cannot defend against the financial influence and political weight of the largest military industrial complex in world history.  Managing  that threat is the voters job. 

What I have learned in two combat tours and 36 years in the weapons systems business is that someone different than I may not have the same value system as I possess, but by learning from them I will be able to make distinctions between my values and theirs. 

That permits me to consider accepting the differences between us without prejudice, communicate with them and move forward on common objectives.All wars eventually result in negotiated settlements. Avoiding them by learning and negotiation in the first place is the most effective war weapon and by far the least costly in materials, debt and lives. 

As a participant in warfare and weapons over the last half century I have learned a considerable amount about

TWO MAJOR DRIVING FACTORS IN OUR RECENT WAR HISTORY

FACTOR 1 - GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR  MOTIVES:

The motives of the U.S. Military Industrial Complex (MIC) and The US Agency for International Development (USAID) contractors fostered continuing wars. Continued wars net billions in sales of weapons and massive construction and redevelopment dollars for contracting companies.

It is common knowledge that many of these corporations spend more each year in lobbying costs than they pay in taxes and pass exorbitant overhead and executive pay costs on to the tax payer, thus financing the riches of their operating personnel while remaining marginally profitable to stockholders.

I watched this from the inside of many of these companies for 36 years. You can read my dissertation on the subject at:

Odyssey of Armaments | Ken Larson - Academia.edu

Here is an example of how the lobbying and behind the scenes string-pulling worked during the run up and the conduct of the war incursion into Iraq: 

CorpWatch : US: Lockheed Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

DRIVING FACTOR 2 - LACK OF CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING 

There has been a  complete lack of cultural understanding between U.S. decision makers and the cultures they have been trying to "Assist" by nation building. 

The only real cultural understanding that existed during the period was in the person of General Schwarzkopf who spent much of his youth in the Middle East with his father, an ambassador to Saudi Arabia. He was fascinated by the Arab culture, commanded their respect and, like Eisenhower, led a successful coalition during the first Gulf War to free Kuwait.  

He astutely recommended no occupation of Iraq, went home and stayed out of government. Norman, like General Eisenhower, knew the power of the MIC. 

Eisenhower's Departing Speech

U.S Tax payers funded billions in USAID and construction projects in Iraq. The money was wasted due to a lack of cultural understanding, waste,  fraud and abuse. The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) has documented that aspect of the Iraq war history, as well as similar motives and abuses in Afghanistan. 

POGO on Iraq

We now have history repeating itself - much like Vietnam, the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and now the Gaza conflict, the above two factors are deeply at play as we look back over our shoulder.

We must come to the understanding, like a highly respected war veteran and West Point instructor has, that military victory is dead:

“Victory’s been defeated; it’s time we recognized that and moved on to what we actually can accomplish."

Military Victory is Dead

Frank Spinney is an expert on the MIC. He spent the same time I did on the inside of the Pentagon while I worked Industry. You may find his interviews informative.

Inside the Pentagon: 30-Year Insider Chuck Spinney

THE INESCAPABLE CONCLUSIONS:  

The two major war making factors discussed here have been in play from Vietnam, the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and now to the continued Middle East bedlam. 

Political and military values on both sides of a world conflict collide when governments and weapons makers treasure the economic windfalls in collective military industrial technology and refuse to negotiate. Soldiers and civilians then die. 

Our near term future as a country involves weighty decisions regarding our fiscal and national security.  There will be trade-offs. We are approaching a National Debt of $34 Trillion with a downgraded fiscal credit rating while carrying the financial burden of ongoing support for NATO and the Ukraine war, the Middle East Gaza conflict, as well as domestic program needs. 

 A look over our shoulder at the two driving factors in our recent warfare is useful when viewing our future while making prudent decisions regarding our future financial and defense security. Every U.S. citizen from the individual voter to the politician must consider them. 

Effective negotiation must involve learning the other party's values, not simply the perceived threat they represent to us because we do not know them.

From the neighborhood to the boardroom, from the statehouse to the Congress, we would do well to learn more about those different from us before we fight.