By now, if people had been paying attention they would no longer believe that U.S. military atrocities are an aberration. Unfortunately, most people aren’t paying attention. From Peter Van Buren at responsiblestatecraft.org:
It’s fine to be outraged but don’t be shocked: our righteous war-making is not clean, nor humane. It never was.
America doesn’t want to know what happens in its wars. It wants to believe each war starts in righteousness. It wants to believe our side is clean, as any force of righteousness must be. And then at some point it wants to forget about it all, absent a few business class upgrades for soldiers flying home next week over Thanksgiving. But what happens when the truth, the overriding truth bigger than a single event, peeks out from under the heavy cover of lies?
You may remember America went to war in Syria in 2015 under Barack Obama. It actually became a major campaign issue in 2016, with the question, “would you put boots on the ground?” pervading the debates. Trump, who did not overtly support that, did it anyway, and now under a third president, some 900 Americans are still on the ground in Syria on a road looking for an exit.
It would be surprising if one out of 100 Americans knew today that we were still at war in Syria. Don’t ask Senator Tim Kaine, Clinton’s running mate in 2016. During a recent hearing he declared about America, “I am relieved that for the first time in 20 years, children being born in this country today are not being born into a nation at war.” It is doubtful Kaine or anyone, when informed of the ongoing fight in Syria, could explain why it is still going on.
