Chris Jepson: I propose a new national anthem

“I've got a never ending war for you

From now on that's all we’ll ever do

From the first time we fought I knew

We'll sing our never-ending song of death ’til blue

I've got a never-ending war for you.”

– Credit to Delaney & Bonnie: hum along, repeat forever.

America was cautioned against what we’ve become. Presidents Washington and Eisenhower (both generals) alerted the nation in their farewell speeches. On Jan. 17, 1961, Eisenhower specifically warned America that, “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” So, Orwellian “Nineteen Eighty-Four.” How prescient.

Yet here we are today, forever at war. Why is that? Do you ever wonder why America is forever at war? And is that – our forever warlike status – good for the nation, good for democracy?

Prior to World War II, this wasn’t the case. After 1945 we fought wars and skirmishes and subverted revolutions and ultimately bested communism but it wasn’t on the battlefield. America hasn’t “won” a war since 1945. Why is that? Why does America forever engage in death and mayhem, jeopardizing our national treasury, sacrificing our servicemen and not come out the victor? Who gains as America loses? Ask yourself that question.

I highly recommend that you read the January/February 2015 cover essay in The Atlantic by James Fallows titled, “Why Do The Best Soldiers in the World Keep Losing? The Tragic Decline of the American Military.” I’ve been reading Fallows since the early 1980s. He knows the subject well and is clear and convincing.

Space does not allow a complete recapitulation of Fallow’s arguments, but suffice it to say one of his major contentions is “we” (most Americans) have absolutely no contact or relationship with America’s military — and all that that implies. We go to war on a whim, without an understanding of the consequences, without paying any price. (It’s other people’s sons dying. We war on borrowed money. No general societal sacrifice.) Our military leadership is held unaccountable. We continually lose wars that, I argue, should never have been undertaken in the first place.

Who profits even as America loses? Please, now recall Eisenhower and Washington’s prophetic warnings.

You just knew with 9-11 that more American tragedy would follow. We’ve lost trillions of dollars and thousands of men to wars that should never have been contemplated let alone waged. Why is that? Seventeen men plow planes into New York City buildings and as a result the United States invades nations, wasting trillions, sacrificing Americans, yet ultimately loses.

The tail wagging the dog we call America is our military-industrial complex. By some estimates (from 2006) there were 1.25 million military contracts in 433 congressional districts. We’re talking jobs and corporate profits and special interest lobbying and fat salaries and boondoggles and corruption. Did I mention lobbying? It’s the rare congressman who ever challenges military appropriations. War and terrorism are good for business.

Every time there is a terrorist incident (anywhere in world), I am reminded of the song “Amphetamine Annie” by Canned Heat with lyrics, “She saw things in the window. She heard things at the door.” America?

We’ve all heard, “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” Those profiting from America’s forever wars counsel Americans to be exactly that . . . but in closed boardrooms “they” hope (and subvert the people on with), “Be stupid. Be very stupid.”