By Thomas McInerney LTG USAF (Ret) and Paul E Vallely MG USA (Ret)
Americans have a long tradition of self-sacrifice to make men free. From the time of the Pilgrims
to the pioneers opening the frontier, work, and self-sacrifice have been the chief endeavors of
the American people. Pioneers cleared the land, built cabins, hunted game, tilled the soil,
harvested crops, and raised families on the frontier. When America’s young men went to war,
they needed no introduction to rigorous physical labor. They were accustomed to hard work and
sacrifice. It was their joy, means of survival, and measure of success.
Americans came into being through revolution. The American Revolution was fought to free King
George III’s subjects from the English Monarchy’s tyranny. American colonials initially sought
nothing more than their rights as Englishmen. When both Parliament and the King unanimously
rejected their right to representation in Parliament, Americans were forced to embrace
independence as the only way to secure their rights as free men.
If England refused to treat Americans as equals, there was no alternative to revolution. Only as
free men could Americans fulfill their dreams of nation-building. Their struggle for freedom
resulted in a just war to build an independent Republic dedicated to individual liberty, the rule
of law, and government by and for the people.
The great Civil War followed the American Revolution. It was the product of conflict between
the freemen of the frontier and southern slaveholders. The conflict was many years in the
making. It was predicted by the Declaration of Independence, penned by Thomas Jefferson in
1776 that all men are created equal. Jefferson’s bold words judged slavery as intolerable in a free
society.
The institution of slavery in America had been the work of the English Crown. Slavery existed on
large English plantations in Ireland before establishing slave plantations in America. Plantation
slavery and the English monopoly of the slave trade to English colonies in America were
protected by law. Both utilized human bondage and were highly profitable, making fortunes for
the English Crown and the English landed gentry.
Human bondage did not sit well with frontiersmen, who cherished their liberty. It rankled
freemen like Abraham Lincoln. Furthermore, it was forbidden by the Declaration of
Independence, which made conflict unavoidable. Abraham Lincoln ran for president on a
platform calling for the abolition of slavery. With Lincoln’s election as president in 1860, war was
inevitable. It was only a matter of time before the commencement of hostilities.
The Civil War was fought by Union soldiers, who sang the words of the Battle Hymn of the
Republic: As He died to make men Holy, let us die to make men free. William Tecumseh Sherman’s
soldiers believed they had a duty to free black slaves from human bondage. They burned Atlanta,
fought battles, burned plantations, built roads across vast swamps, and liberated black slaves
across the Confederacy. Sherman’s soldiers believed they were doing God’s will, which made
them invincible. Their example showed that American soldiers were prepared to accept self sacrifice
in the struggle for freedom. They saw their cause as the epitome of good versus evil.
In World War I, Americans fought to make the world safe for democracy. Determined to remain
neutral during the early years of the War, Americans refused to enter the conflict. When the
British intercepted a German diplomatic cable, the Zimmerman Telegram, American attitudes
changed overnight. Detailing German efforts to ally with Mexico, the German telegram promised
the Mexican Government American territories that had been part of Mexico. The publication of
the Zimmerman Telegram, coupled with the German declaration of unrestricted submarine
warfare, brought the Americans into the war.
Americans saw themselves as the victims of German aggression. They accepted the War as the
price of justice. The War was a just cause. Under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson,
American soldiers went off to fight in France singing – We won’t come back until it is over, over
there.
Similarly, World War II was seen as a just cause. Nazi Germany declared war on the United States
following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Germany had waged war
on its European neighbors, committing massive crimes against humanity killing over six million
Jews. The American war against the Third Reich became a war against fascism to free occupied
allies and liberate Jews incarcerated in Death Camps throughout Greater Germany that had
expanded to include captured lands (Lebensraum) taken by the Nazis during the conflict.
World War II in the Pacific was more of the same – good against evil. It was a conflict to combat
genocidal warfare by Imperial Japan across Asia. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought
the Americans into the War as victims of an undeclared and unprovoked attack upon the US
Naval base of the Pacific Fleet by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Once again, American men and women in uniform fought for a just cause. It was a pattern
repeated in the post-war era as America fought containment wars to halt communist aggression
in Korea, Vietnam, and Latin America. Communist regimes were exporting communism using
military force. The UN, NATO, SEATO, and Americans were called upon to confront and halt
Communist aggression.
It was a repetition of the American tradition of combating evil to restore peace in a dangerous
world. American soldiers were idealistic and God-fearing warriors prepared to sacrifice so that
justice might prevail, and God’s will be done. So long as the cause was just, American soldiers
demonstrated a remarkable ability to wage war for the greater good of mankind.
Regrettably, under Democratic leadership, opportunistic politicians have changed the ancient
formula of Americans fighting just wars for causes. New precedents separated American foreign
policy from the idealistic purposes it traditionally served. The old, traditional American recipe of
serving causes was replaced by anything goes by corrupt politicians, who became millionaires
serving in public office.
Following the Cold War with the Soviet Union, America waged limited wars in the Balkans and
the Middle East. To the extent the conflicts targeted terrorism, the wars appeared to have been
just. When the causation was uncertain, the outcome was mixed. The Clinton Administration
elected to wage war in the Balkans. The war was a religious conflict that dates to the fall of the
Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. That an American administration elected to fight
in a religious war on the side of Islamic state sponsors of terrorism against Christian communities
meant the American-led conflict was something other than a just war. We were waging war
against Western Civilization.
When uncertainty prevails, American blood and treasure should not be invested in uncertain,
unnecessary wars. The same might be said of wars to export democracy to Islamic states in the
Middle East. Since democracy conflicts with Sharia Law, exporting democracy as justification for
intervention in conflicts between Islamic states appears unfortunate at best. Such ill-advised
actions provoked retaliation against defenseless civilians when Sharia Law was restored.
Under contemporary prior Democratic leadership, the US armed forces had been imbued with
Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness. Both policies are rooted in Marxist
Leninist doctrine that is socialist, anti-democratic, anti-American, and secular humanist in nature.
The Biden regime made no secret that it rejected the US Constitution as outdated and
lacking the force of law. WOKE service of politically correct American general officers on active
duty included multiple crimes best described as treason America has lost its way. Socialism does
not work. Communism is fundamentally evil. (See Liberty Vs. Tyranny.) Serving in uniform for
unconstitutional rogue administrations for malicious ends is evil. American soldiers have never
fought for evil. They are unlikely to do so now. Moreover, soldiers who carry out illegal orders
are guilty of crimes under the UCMJ. If unconstitutional campaigns are waged, we should never
expect American soldiers to comply with unlawful orders despite Constitutionally prohibited
training in Marxist Leninist doctrine. To do so would be treason.
