It should be mind-blowing that, despite the wealth being created (and often destroyed) by the United States and impressive gains in worker productivity, the standard of living for workers hasn’t increased significantly since the early 1970s. One thing is certain: it hasn’t happened by accident.

America’s Disastrous 60-Year War: Three Generations of Conspicuous Destruction by the Military-Industrial Complex

By William Astore  Tom Dispatch  February 15, 2022

In my lifetime of nearly 60 years, America has waged five major wars, winning one decisively, then throwing that victory away, while losing the other four disastrously. Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, as well as the Global War on Terror, were the losses, of course; the Cold War being the solitary win that must now be counted as a loss because its promise was so quickly discarded.

America’s war in Vietnam was waged during the Cold War in the context of what was then known as the domino theory and the idea of “containing” communism. Iraq and Afghanistan were part of the Global War on Terror, a post-Cold War event in which “radical Islamic terrorism” became the substitute for communism. Even so, those wars should be treated as a single strand of history, a 60-year war, if you will, for one reason alone: the explanatory power of such a concept.

Click here to read more of this dispatch.

RECENT POSTS

Belle Chesler, Teaching in a World No Student Deserves

John Feffer, Welcome to the Future (It’s Not Pretty)
…
Rajan Menon, War with Russia?

Nan Levinson, How (Not) to Stop America’s Wars

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
Ann Jones, Afghanistan (Again)…

Noam Chomsky and Stan Cox, Before It’s Too Late

Consider supporting TomDispatch by making a donation here.

Subscribe to RiseUpTimes.org Support independent media. Please donate today and share articles widely. 

The contents of Rise Up Times may or may not reflect the views of the editor.