27 September 2006

The American Way of War

Major General John Batiste was interviewed by the Rochester City-News. In the interview, he says: "we need to mobilize this country for a protracted war. This country has never been mobilized. We are fat, dumb, and happy."

What I find myself wondering is, in how many American wars was the country actually mobilized? The Revolutionary War, maybe. I don't think the War of 1812 saw the mobilization of America. Mexican War? Don't think so. Spanish-American War? Definitely not. Korea and Vietnam? Nope. The American Civil War, and the World Wars were the only conflicts where I'm confident in asserting that the United States mobilized its war-making powers. The rest were certainly paid for by Congressional appropriations, but that's not the same thing as General Batiste is talking about.

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