On the current (and past) Kerfuffles: Our Soldiers return from the GWOT

Shortly after witnessing the greatest bloodbath of his time at the Battle of Borodino, outside the gates of Moscow, Clausewitz reflected on the nature of war: was it the extension of politics by other means or a large wrestling match? Along this dialectic, he would find the answer. Its nature is chaotic--the large divergence from small initial gaps. Our understanding of the outcome of the Global War on Terror is such a mindset divergence. We went into the wars thinking one thing with a common national mythology and learned along the way coming out at the end with divergent viewpoints that have not yet been reconciled.

So, it was in the case during the Souix Wars of the Great Planes, Vietnam, and for that matter, all wars we have been involved. It is important to learn these lessons--they always seem to be freshly learned by each generation unfortunately--and it is important also to have a memory of the truth of the original casus belli, as it existed although with a small initial gap as we entered upon the war. The sooner we reconcile ourselves in this dialect the sooner we will achieve domestic tranquility. The truer the lesson that we learn, the greater the chance for us to avoid squandering our national treasure and posterity while maintaining our national integrity and security. We should take this opportunity seriously.

On the one hand of the dialectic, we have the current GOP vice Presidential candidate and on the other, the current Democrat vice Presidential candidate. If not yet by their current speech, we have by their actions the dialectic response to the question, "Can the US achieve greater security by the overthrow of totalitarian regimes and replacement by forceful democracy-building?"

Rather than name-call and questioning the service of those we sent in danger's way--one as a seasoned citizen-soldier and the other as an extremely talented aspirant--let's have this debate with a memory of our (almost) unity and mutual respect when we set off on this journey and let us strive to retain that respect as we discuss these issues. The potential price of continuing a divergent path could not be higher. The importance in learning the truth of the lesson could not be more valuable.