The 60's Pete Seeger tune, 'Where have all the soldiers gone, long-time passing?' often floats around in my head. Then of course his answer, 'Gone to graveyards every one, When will they ever learn?' I dunno. Maybe never?
A new President and the location this time is Afghanistan. Been there, did nothing already. What will Obama do? Will he be sucked into war as did each of this predecessors? Will he send more of our troops whose blood will be spilled on some despots soil or sand or rock? Sent for a 'noble' cause, of course. It is always the 'right' thing to do.
Why do so many naive and/or recently elected American presidents send our military into action, often on questionable missions? Kennedy's Bay of Pigs; Johnson's Gulf of Tonkin incident; W. Bush's Iraq War.
It's always the youngsters who play out the old man's war fantasies. I wonder if my four grandsons will be called to fight a future president's fantasy. I hope not, but, looking at the historical precedent, odds are they will.
