What was your first memory of war? That is, a combat war with soldier deaths and casualties? I was taught that war is done in self-defense, or when all else fails, to combat something evil to humanity like fascism.
My parents and older relatives had lived through World War II and the Korean War, and they understood just how serious war is. My father was a Red Cross medic stationed in the Pacific. He saw, smelled, and heard terrible human suffering. My cousin was a tank driver who landed at Normandy a week after D-Day. He was in the Battle of the Bulge Part 2 when the German soldiers dressed in the Allied uniforms of captured soldiers from Part 1, confusing and horrifying the Allied soldiers fighting them. They didn’t know if they were shooting Germans or Americans. Neither my father nor cousin talked much about their war experiences. My cousin’s wife talked about my cousin waking up screaming at night. War was hell for them. They fought against fascism, against communism, and for freedom and democracy.
My first personal memory of war was the Vietnam War. I remember my older brother receiving his draft notice. He managed to secure a deferment although now my memory is vague on how—something to do with his plans to go to medical school. But I had friends whose brothers were drafted and fought in Vietnam. One friend lost her brother. We followed the war on the news as closely as we followed coverage of the anti-war protests. The social upheaval fed off the political upheaval and vice versa. It was ostensibly an anti-communism war, the Americans again fighting for freedom and democracy. It wasn’t a successful fight. The war seemed to follow all of us through time, even after the fall of Saigon. Years later, I met an Army vet who’d been in Vietnam. When I asked him about it, he would start talking and then just stop, as if his brain had stopped giving him the words to describe the experience. He managed to tell me that he’d arrived at the base in Vietnam the day the Tet Offensive began. He shook his head then burst out laughing, but his laughter was bitter and dark. He described his arrival that day as “madness.”
War has been glorified, or excoriated, in movies, TV shows, and in video games. I remember how shocked and disturbed I was the first time I saw The Great Escape—the scene in which the Nazis trick a large group of escaped and recaptured Allied prisoners into thinking they were stopping for a rest when they climbed out of the German trucks transporting them supposedly back to a prison camp. Instead, the Germans mowed them down with machine guns. That is what is meant by “no quarter.” No prisoners. A war crime. The Vietnam War movie that probably disturbed me the most was The Deer Hunter. I’ll never forget the Russian roulette. I remember laughing while watching the movie M*A*S*H, especially the crazy football game. And there were many hilarious moments in the TV show of M*A*S*H, although it spent time showing us the heartbreaking and horrifying side of war, too. The best TV show about the Vietnam War: China Beach.
Waging a war needs a plan—at a minimum, specific objectives that will determine success or failure, a beginning and an ending. Timothy Snyder, in a recent post of his Substack “Thinking About” listed the logical planning steps: National interest, policy, strategy, tactics, operations, and capabilities. Operation Desert Storm had a plan with a clear objective that America followed. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered from unclear plans or plans that kept changing. You’d think that America would have learned from its military experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, and perhaps there were military leaders at the Pentagon with that wisdom who were culled by Pete Hegseth because they were not sufficiently loyal to Trump and Trumpism. Nevermind that the American military is not supposed to be a political entity. I find it increasingly embarrassing that the American military has been forced to sacrifice professionalism for Trumpism. No wonder our allies and friends are distancing themselves from us.
In spite of all the obfuscation from Washington about the U.S. war on Iran—it is a war—I understand that no one in the Trump administration had a plan beyond the first 24 hours of bombing. Timothy Snyder calls it a war to please Trump. No specific objectives beyond bombing, no ending. It’s embarrassing when the American regime shifts objectives from one moment to the next, just as it’s unbelievably embarrassing when Trump touts ceasefire negotiations when none are in progress. The Iranian regime must be having a really good laugh, eh? What’s with the nutjob in the Oval Office, eh?, they must be thinking. Especially laughing how the American military was caught flatfooted without the expertise to fight a war of drones. Yeah, that’s embarrassing too. So the American military were not prepared to fight beyond the first 24 hours of bombing. Their lack of preparedness (lack of a through-plan) is embarrassing as well.
Who’s responsible? Who should the American people hold accountable for this embarrassment of a war? The Commander in Chief. The Secretary of Defense. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And Congress—especially the Republicans who are more concerned about boot-licking than standing up for their constituents. The lack of preparedness, the lack of clear real objectives (according to Intelligence assessments, Iran was not an imminent threat to the U.S.), the lack of a plan and an exit all reveal how embarrassingly stupid and incompetent Trump, Hegseth, and the rest in the administration are. The war in Iran is a cringe-worthy tragedy, a tragedy of unnecessary civilian deaths, a perfect example of how not to wage war (although the Iranians are doing very well for themselves with their drones), and a monumental embarrassment for the American people who are paying for it with their tax dollars, and with American lives.
Who’s making money from the war in Iran? Definitely Vladimir Putin after the Americans lifted sanctions that were on Russia selling oil. Definitely Iran who is charging a hefty fee to allow safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and for the sanctions on their oil lifted so that the oil already headed for Asia can be sold to Asian countries. Definitely whoever had insider information on Monday, March 23, in order to take advantage of Trump announcing talks with Iran to profit by $580 million from the oil futures market (the SEC would normally investigate such suspicious trading, but I haven’t heard if an investigation has been launched). So, two of America’s enemies, Russia and Iran, are benefiting from the war. I’m fairly certain Trump knows nothing about irony.
The U. S. Constitution in Article III, Section 3 defines treason as follows: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. Trump has provided aid to two of our enemies. I wonder if the Supreme Court has noticed?
Friendly Reminder: the paperback of my first novel, Perceval’s Secret, is on sale now at Amazon, B&N, Bookshop.org/shop/ccyager, and IngramSpark.
The ebook of Perceval’s Shadow is on sale now at Amazon and B&N; and the paperback is on sale at Amazon, B&N, Bookshop.org, and IngramSpark.