Free Paper Sample on The United States War Machine

Introduction

Saint Thomas Aquinas' views in Summa Theologicae on the biblical perspective on war evolved into just war theory (Robinson,2017). A justified war wages as a measure of last resort. The common assumption is that aggressive military action cannot be a foreign policy tool. Retaliation against military aggression and preemptive attacks to prevent aggressive war are ethical grounds for waging war.

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The validity of just war theory is shaken by the emergence of asymmetrical and proxy wars. Non-state actors engage in asymmetrical warfare when they use guerrilla tactics to advance their ideology. Proxy wars are also ideological. The proliferation of nuclear weapons has meant that superpowers are reluctant to engage in direct /open warfare with each other. Instead, they use belligerents in a civil war or a regional conflict as conduits to battle with each other. The essay shall propose that the net result is that American's military has been drawn into ideological wars that are unwinnable because it is difficult to formulate clear military objectives.

America's Justified Wars

Entry into the First World War (WWI) was justified. While it had been raging, the US stayed out of it because none of the belligerents had attacked or threatened to attack America(Strachan,2003). All this was despite lobbying from European immigrant populations in the US. American finally entered the war after a German submarine sank a British passenger ship that was carrying over one hundred American passengers in transit. The death of those American citizens was a reasonable justification for declaring war on Germany and her allies. The nature of the fighting in WWI, as well as the parties involved, made it easy for a military commander to identify targets / formulate objectives and use them to measure if the war was being won or lost.

Entry into the Second World War (WWII) was justified. At the time, aggressive war was a tool to advance foreign policy. Hence, the Japanese Empire saw America's naval power as a threat to its plans of using its military to expand its sphere of influence in the Asia-Pacific region(Sullivan, 2016). Japan launched a preemptive military strike on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii to cripple the American navy. The US was justified in declaring war on Japan and by extension, her axis allies. The nature of the fighting in WWII, as well as the parties involved, made it easy for a military commander to identify targets / formulate objectives and use them to measure if the war was being won or lost.

American intervention in the Korean War (1950-1953) was justified. Korea had been invaded and made a Japanese colony before the Second World War(Seta, 1993). When the conflict ended, the part of Korea south of the 38th parallel was occupied by the US while the Red Army occupied the side north of that border. What followed was the creation of two military dictatorships that are ideologically opposed to each other. The North was a Marxist regime under Kim Il Sung that aligned itself with the Soviet Union and China. The South had a government under Syngman Rhee that aligned itself with the US and her Western Allies.

After North Korea invaded, American military action was justified because first, the South was its economic and military ally. Second, after the Nuremberg Trials, it became a violation of international law to use aggressive war as a diplomatic tool. Hence, the United States secured a mandate from the United Nations (UN) to push the communist forces out of South Korea. The war had ideological undertones, but the UN mandate created an objective standard by which to measure whether the war was being won or lost. Consequently, when the North Koreans had been pushed back past the 38th parallel, President Truman could stop military action, avoid war with China, and still declare victory because the overall military objective had been achieved.

The first Gulf War (1990-1991) was also justified. In the years before the conflict, the Saddam Hussein regime had been an American ally against Iran(Seta, 1993). But Iraq made a fatal error when it invaded Kuwait to gain access to its oil reserves and seaports. As alluded to earlier, post-1945 and the Nuremberg Trial, nations were prohibited from using aggressive war as a diplomatic tool. The US was able to secure a UN mandate to launch a counteroffensive against Saddam Hussein's forces that had the goal of ejecting Iraq out of Kuwait. The US was the leader of a coalition of thirty-four nations against Iraq. With a clear mandate of liberating Kuwait, the America's military command developed an effective strategic plan for uprooting Saddam's forces out of Kuwait in just three days. America's Unjustified Wars

The Vietnam War (1961-1973) was unjustified. It had been a French colony(Burns, and Novick,2017). After the 1954 Geneva Conference, Vietnam was divided nation, in the same way that Korea was. The North was under a Communist regime supported by the Soviet Union, and her allies. The South fell under the control of successive administrations that were supported by the United States and her allies. Unlike the North Koreans, the North Vietnamese avoided open warfare with the South. They covertly supported communist rebels in rural Vietnam called the Viet Cong while the army mostly stayed on their side of their border. The covert support of the Viet Cong created problems for the US. Washington could not justify using military action because their adversary was a non-state actor.

Deployment of American Servicemen

The deployment of American servicemen as "advisors" started even before President Kennedy assumed office. There was no evident military objective even after the Gulf of Tonkin incident dragged the North Vietnamese army into direct war with the US. The US and USSR were using the belligerents to wage a proxy war with each other. The US found itself in an unjustified ideological battle that was not only unjustified but also, unwinnable.

America and her allies have been waging a "War on Terror" that led to the military occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq(Hayden.et al.,2017). It was precipitated by the events of 9/11 by Al-Qaeda, an Islamic terror organization that wants the destruction of Israel and the removal of American troops from the Middle East. Even though most of the terrorists and Osama bin Laden were from Saudi Arabia, President George W. Bush sort a UN mandate to attack Iraq. When the UN refused to give the US the order to invade, the Bush administration banded together with a "coalition of the willing" to wage an ideological war. When President Obama took office, his administration expanded this ideological war to Afghanistan because the Taliban regime provided a haven for Al-Qaeda. The ideological nature of the conflict has meant that it has become especially difficult to formulate clear goals/ aims because occupying American forces are confronted with enemies happy to use guerrilla tactics. Successive military commanders have subsequently found themselves in an unwinnable war just like they did in Vietnam.Conclusions

Saint Thomas Aquinas' views in Summa Theologicae evolved into just war theory and a justified war wages as a measure of last resort. The apparent assumption is that aggressive military action cannot be a foreign policy tool. Self-defense against military aggression is the primary basis for a just war. Be that as it may, military historians recognize that preemptive attacks have been characterized as a form of self-defense to justify war.

The usefulness of this theory has been shaken by asymmetrical and proxy wars. Non-state actors engage in asymmetrical warfare when they use guerrilla tactics to try to topple a government or advance an ideology. Proxy wars are also ideological. The proliferation of nuclear weapons has meant that world superpowers are reluctant to engage in direct /open warfare with each other. Instead, they use belligerents in a civil war or a regional conflict as conduits to battle with each other.

The United States (US) war machine has a track record of winning when there are clear objectives that justify military action. The US was justified in entering WWI after Germany sunk a ship its naval command knew was carrying American citizens. That amounted to aggression that could only lead to an aggressive response. The US was justified in entering WWII after Japan made a preemptive attack on Pearl Harbor. Again, a foreign nation launched an aggressive war against the US, and hence, she had just cause to retaliate in kind. The US was justified in intervening in Korea because she got a UN mandate to protect an ally against another nation waging aggressive war against it.

Similarly, the US was justified in leading a 34-nation coalition against Iraq under the banner of Operation Desert Storm. The use of aggressive war as a foreign policy tool became prohibited after 1945. Hence, the US was justified in leading a multinational force to liberate Kuwait. These wars were not primarily driven by ideology; thus, military commanders could formulate strategies around objectives that could be used to measure if America was winning or losing a war.

The US and USSR used the Vietnam conflict to wage a proxy war with each other. The Vietnam War (1961-1973) was unjustified. It had been a French colony. After the 1954 Geneva Conference, Vietnam was divided nation, in the same way that Korea was. The North was under a Communist regime supported by the Soviet Union, and her allies. The South fell under the control of successive administrations that were supported by the United States and her allies. Unlike the North Koreans, the North Vietnamese avoided open warfare with the South. They covertly supported communist rebels in rural Vietnam called the Viet Cong while the army mostly stayed on their side of their border. The covert support of the Viet Cong created problems for the US. Washington could not justify using military action because their adversary was a non-state actor. The deployment of American servicemen as "advisors" started even before President Kennedy assumed office. There was no apparent military objective even after the Gulf of Tonkin incident dragged the North Vietnamese army into direct war with the US.

Conclusion

Even though most of the terrorists and Osama bin Laden were from Saudi Arabia, President George W. Bush sort a UN mandate to attack Iraq. When the UN refused to give the US the order to invade, the Bush administration banded together with a "coalition of the willing" to wage an ideological war. When President Obama took office, his administration expanded this ideological war to Afghanistan because the Taliban regime provided a safe-haven for Al-Qaeda. The ideological nature of the conflict has meant that it has become especially difficult to formulate clear goals/ aims because occupying American forces are confronted with enemies happy to use guerrilla tactics.