History will tell

Dear Editor,

"The war is an abject and utter failure. What everyone thought would be a quick, decisive victory has turned into an embarrassing series of reversals. The enemy, -- a ragtag, badly-fed collection of hotheads and fanatics -- has failed to be shocked and awed by the most magnificent military machine ever fielded. Their dogged resistance has shown us the futility of the idea that a nation of millions could ever be subjugated and administered, no matter what obscene price we are willing to pay in blood and money.

"The President of the United States is a buffoon, an idiot, a man barely able to speak the English language. His vice president is a little-seen, widely despised enigma and his chief military advisor a wild-eyed warmonger. Only his Secretary of State offers any hope of redemption, for he at least is a reasonable, well-educated man, a man most thought would have made a far, far better choice for Chief Executive.

"We must face the fact that we had no business forcing this unjust war on a people who simply want to be left alone. It has damaged our international relationships beyond any measure, and has proven to be illegal, immoral and nothing less than a monumental mistake that will take generations to rectify. We can never hope to subdue and remake an entire nation of millions. All we will do is alienate them further. So we must bring this war to an immediate end, and make a solemn promise to history that we will never launch another war of aggression and preemption again, so help us God."

The above was published in the summer of 1864, in the Copperhead Press, regarding the Civil War. Interestingly enough, there are numerous parallels with the current situation. At the beginning of the Civil War, the primary issue was preserving the Union. By the end, it had "changed" to the abolition of slavery. I would imagine that there were those who loudly excoriated President Lincoln as a liar at that time.

History will eventually have its say, as it always does, with even longer and sharper 20/20 hindsight than the current crop of armchair "experts."

Owen J. McPhillips

McCook