Jul

10

Looking From the Historical Perspective

Filed Under National Politics

I sat there talking to a teacher friend about the dangers of the Iraq War. “It is terrible,” she said, “that we have so many of our young people who have lost their arms and legs, not to mention the thousands who have been killed there.” Then she said the popularly rising refrain: “I just wish that Bush would get us out of there and just let them all kill each other off if they want to!”

Ruins at Bull Run - US Civil WarMeditating on what she said, I thought about America’s past. I reflected on the disasters we have suffered in previous wars. What would have happened if we had quit after losing a significant number of GIs. Come with me for a short look at some of our great losses.

Following Abraham Lincoln’s election, several southern states seceded from the union. Lincoln would not allow the union to become severed. In response, he amassed the Army of the Potomac and met the rebels in a place called Bull Run. In that bloody battle, the rebels defeated the Union Army. Like today’s followers of war, the people had cheered as the army went off to war and, after the defeat, blamed Lincoln for starting a war when he had no concept of the disastrous result.
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