Why does the U.S. go to war?

By T. Rao Coca

Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014 | 2:03 a.m.

The United States has embarked on yet another war. This war is against the forces of the Islamic State who beheaded two U.S. journalists and are brutalizing countless innocent civilians in Iraq and Syria and attempting to take over these countries and impose strict Islamic law.

We have been continuously at war since 2001 in Afghanistan and Iraq. Any war — particularly a modern war in which sophisticated planes, unmanned drones and cruise missiles carrying smart bombs are used — is extremely destructive to life and property.

Wars drain our treasury. It is estimated that the wars we are in now are costing us upward of $100 million per day. Our military is tired after repeated deployments overseas. The American people are tired of war. Our allies who supported the American campaign in Afghanistan and Iraq are tired and have little to show for it. And yet, we embarked on a new war with a different set of allies supporting us.

Why are we perpetuating war?

We are a peace-loving nation. We would like to think we enter just wars to preserve peace. As President Theodore Roosevelt led us to believe, “a just war is in the long run far better for a man’s soul than the most prosperous peace.”

In addition to preserving peace and prosperity, we go to war to preserve or expand other human values we believe in. These are liberty, freedom of speech, human rights and freedom to exercise one’s religious beliefs without state intervention.

There was a period when we went to war reluctantly and only as a last resort, such as when we were drawn into World War II when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Likewise, when al-Qaida terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we were compelled to pursue Osama bin Laden and other terrorists in Afghanistan, which subsequently mushroomed into the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We go to war because we believe failure to act against aggressors would invite further aggression. It is this belief that led us into the Gulf War in 1991, when we hastened to restore the small desert kingdom of Kuwait after Iraq invaded it.

Some believe the real reason we go to war is greed, whether it is for money, oil or trade. They speculated that the second time we invaded Iraq, in 2003, it was not to dethrone Saddam Hussein, but to control Iraq’s vast oil reserves. However, history shows we did not take advantage of Iraq’s oil. In fact, we never take advantage of any country’s resources, but only liberate them.

Others believe we go to war due to ego and fear. War allows our leaders to be powerful and us to feel safe and strong. It is this belief that made us confront the Russians in a long Cold War after World War II until we succeeded and ultimately established ourselves as the world’s sole superpower.

Underlying all of these noble reasons is the creation of the military-industrial complex composed of military contractors and lobbyists who perpetuate war. Dwight Eisenhower warned us in 1961 that an immense military establishment and a large arms industry had emerged as a hidden force in America.

This war-based economy has us addicted to what seems like a never-ending war. In other words, we do not endure war. We seem to need war for our economy to thrive.

Military and homeland security spending is one of the largest components of the federal budget. Fueled by this vast budget, the U.S. economy creates and sustains many jobs both in the government and civilian sectors that support the war effort. In fact, when we are at war, our economy based on the military and homeland security seems to thrive.

Investment in the shares of our largest defense contractors has perennially yielded handsome returns because such establishments are the best in developing and selling military weapons for huge profits. We are the world’s largest arms dealer. We supply the latest and greatest weapons to many of our key allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan, and reap profits.

Although we do not occupy other countries except during war, our global military footprint is pervasive. It is believed that we have more than 660 military bases with active military operations in nearly 150 countries.

The men and women in our all-volunteer forces are gainfully employed by this vast military footprint and in the war-related activities in our country while being prepared to sacrifice their lives. However, such a war-based economy cannot sustain for too long, as we are beginning to see. The American people are wary of war and want peace and prosperity at home. And our treasury is depleted.

What we need is a complete overhaul of our economy. We should not be dependent on an economy fueled by the military-industrial complex. We should stop feeding this beast.

Instead, we should migrate to a totally civilian economy. What this requires is reversal of the prevailing investment by our businesses from creating jobs overseas to creating them in the U.S.

This requires a correction of our mindset. Specifically, it requires changing our corporate tax structure to repatriate profits that have been sheltered overseas.

Going forward, we must lower our corporate tax rates to encourage businesses to create civilian jobs to rebuild or repair highways and bridges and other infrastructure.

It would take a tough and resolute president and a patriotic Congress to reset our national priorities and resist the siren song for war abroad. The American people crave such a reset.

T. Rao Coca is a consultant and a former vice president of IGT and an executive at IBM. He lives in Henderson.