What Did We Learn From the War of 1812?

The War of 1812 found America woefully weak militarily. Our shipping on the high seas was being raided by both the British and the French; our sailors were being impressed into the British navy. Thomas Jefferson had thought that our country could deal and negotiate with these foreign powers as gentlemen at a table of diplomacy. The result was a disaster—his policy resulted in British soldiers marching into Washington, D.C. and burning the White House.

After the war, America seemed to have waked up. The military was built up and for decades afterward, any nation that treated with the United States knew that we had a strong military to back up our words.

I guess we need to learn that lesson over, again. Today, we have an administration that tries to reason with our enemies and to deal with them by means of sanctions instead of arms. Our military is being withdrawn from Afghanistan before the primary goal of war is accomplished, i.e., VICTORY.

There is certainly a place to save money in our present-day situation; but I doubt that it is by cutting off money from the Pentagon. Let’s not back out of Afghanistan before the job is done. We have lost a lot of American lives there; and if we leave too soon, we will have wasted the whole investment—money and soldiers.