We did not start the war

I heard on the radio last night a woman who claimed she was an independent voter. She had voted for President Obama the last time but liked Romney EXCEPT she thought that he was willing to ‘start another war’ more easily than President Obama. She has a son 14 years old and is understandably worried. The major problem here is that she fundamentally misunderstands the situation. Let’s start by saying that my two sons are 14 and 13. Think I want them to have to go into battle and risk life and limb? The problem goes far beyond her and my families. Our public news agencies are not doing their jobs properly. I have read news reports from wars dating back to the American Revolution. The analysis is sometimes OK, but generally poor. In other words, the ‘press’ has never really understood the basics of warfare. Political analysis is first rate, but analysis of armed conflict is at about a 5th grade level. The United States did NOT start the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. OH, we ‘invaded’ those countries all right. We ‘invaded’ France in 1944. Many people believe the ‘invasions’ to be very different and they are. But the invasions are not different in the context of ‘starting the war’. Afghanistan was where 9/11 was launched from. Iraq had no direct involvement in 9/11 but is connected in that the war is far larger than both Iraq AND Afghanistan. When the U.S. sent troops into Afghanistan and Iraq, we became ‘occupiers’ of Muslim land. This is an ‘invasion’ of Islamic sovereignty. Go back further. In 1990, the United States was invited to send troops into Saudi Arabia to repel Iraqi troops from Kuwait. As soon as the first U.S. soldier set foot on Saudi soil, we became ‘occupiers’ of Muslim land. This was one of the reasons why Osama Bin Laden ‘declared war’ on the United States. A religion that fields combat units and declares war is the cause of the war. Islamic sovereignty does not recognize the modern national government. The United States is not starting the war anymore than we did back in 1804 when Muslims demanded ‘Tribute’ for our ships passing through ‘Muslim waters’. Tribute is payment of a ‘poll tax’ by non-Muslims living in Islamic land. The payer is exempted from military service. Taxation and conscription are two functions of the modern national government. The Barbary pirates were stretching Islamic law to extend Islamic sovereignty but this is not new either. I saw a video of a young girl being stoned to death. The final act was a cinder block dropped on her head. This is a violation of Islamic law. The rocks are not to be as small as to qualify as a pebble, yet can’t be so large as to kill with one blow. The United States did not start any of this B.S. either. If my sons have to risk their lives to end this crap, then I will be very proud of them and our country. The world cannot have religion acting like a national government anymore. I had thought that this ended with the last crusade, but this is not the case concerning Islamic sovereignty.