Beerbarrel wrote:
sissies!

It is popular fodder for Republicans to portray Democrats (or anyone
else who rubs their fur the wrong way) as a bunch of wimps.

Well, let's take a brief look at history over the last century.......

World War I-Prosecuted by the administration of Woodrow Wilson, a
Democrat. The first truly mechanized war, and the first widespread use
of chemical weapons in war. The USA and its allies were ultimately
victorious, but things soon turned ugly. Wilson's failed attempts to
secure a lasting postwar peace led to a complete destruction of his
health. Widespread postwar unemployment and a health care system
strained to its limits by a pandemic spread by returning troops made
victory bittersweet.

World War II-Prosecuted by the administration of Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, a Democrat. The most complete military victory in American
history led to the emergence of the USA as a superpower, and the pent-up
demand for long-rationed consumer goods led to a booming economy as
well. But victory came at a heavy price....A quater of a million US
lives lost, and a postwar world enormously complicated by the
development and deployment of atomic weapons.

Korean Conflict-Prosecuted by the administration of Harry S. Truman, a
Democrat. Although some of the same brilliant strategists who engineered
the victory in WWII were involved in this conflict (including Douglas
MacArthur for a time), The best the US and its allies were able to
accomplish in two years of fighting was a draw....Not good for a
military action that claimed at least 32,000 American lives.

Vietnam Conflict-Prosecuted by the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson,
a Democrat. This war became so unpopular that Johnson was forced to give
up his bid to serve the longest period of any post WWII president. By
1968, the nation was the most divided it had been since the Civil War.
Richard Nixon, Johnson's White House Descendant, fared little better
with the war effort and finally called it quits in 1973 after 55,000
American lives had been lost. It should be noted that many high-ranking
officials of the current Bush administration came of age during the
Vietnam involvement. Most of them, including the President himself,
received student deferments and/or National Guard appointments and did
not play a combat role in this conflict.

Desert Storm-Prosecuted by the administration of George H.W. Bush, a
Republican. Mission accomplished.....light casualties and total victory
over the enemy in a popular and patriotic war. Sounds like a home run,
right? That's what the Republicans thought, too....Until voters sent
Bush packing in favor of Republican arch-enemy Bill Clinton, making Bush
the first single-term Republican president since Herbert Hoover.


It can be seen that the outcome and aftermath of these conflicts is
definitely a mixed bag, and that most of them were prosecuted by
Democratic administrations. Does the current Democratic skittishness
about the Iraq war mean that they are just sissies and wimps-or could it
be that it is because the Democrats have learned some awful truths about
the social and political costs of waging modern warfare that the
Republicans have yet to learn?


-Scott



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