Forever Wars

Andrew Bacevich, a Vietnam veteran and former U.S. Army colonel, says that the real reason the U.S. is always fighting wars in the Middle East is not just because of enemies like Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden. He says that while these men did bad things, they are not the main reason why America keeps getting into wars. Instead, Bacevich believes that the U.S. goes to war to protect the American way of life. Americans use a lot of energy, especially oil, and the Middle East has a lot of it. The U.S. wants to make sure it can always get the resources it needs to keep living the way it does. Leaders tell people they are fighting terrorism, but Bacevich says it’s really more about keeping the economy strong and making sure people at home can keep living comfortably.

Bacevich also talks about how the idea of “freedom” at home is connected to “empire” abroad. He says that Americans think freedom means being able to buy what they want, live how they want, and not have anyone tell them no. But to keep this kind of freedom going, the U.S. has to control things in other countries. This means sending the military overseas, making deals with bad governments, and sometimes starting wars. So even though Americans think they are fighting for freedom, they are really fighting to keep their comfortable lifestyle. Bacevich thinks this is a big problem because it makes other countries angry at the U.S., it costs a lot of money, and it hurts American values like democracy and honesty.

In my opinion, there is a way to stop these forever wars, but it would be very hard. Americans would have to change the way they live and not depend so much on using a lot of energy and buying so much stuff. The U.S. would need to stop trying to control other countries and bring most of the military back home. Leaders would have to work harder on talking and making peace instead of fighting. But I don’t think this will happen soon because most people don’t want to give up the way they live, and big companies make a lot of money from war and oil. Unless something really big changes, I think the U.S. will keep getting into wars for a long time.