Opinion: It's time to take care of America

The United States left Vietnam in April 1975. We lost more than 58,000 Americans in that war. Most Viet vets are getting a little long in the tooth now, with the youngest ones in their 70s. That war is another story for another day.

Today marks the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, commonly known as 9/11. These attacks consisted of four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by the militant Islamic extremist network al-Qaeda against the United States, and resulted in 2,996 deaths. 9/11 is the one we remember and commemorate.

Here are some others we should remember over the last 30 odd years.

In August 1990, Iraq invaded the country of Kuwait. Over the course of six weeks in January and February 1991, a United States-led coalition of 34 went against strategic Iraqi locations, culminating with a four-day ground campaign against Iraqi forces known as Operation Desert Storm.

The Battle of Mogadishu, also known as the Black Hawk Down incident, was part of Operation Gothic Serpent. It was fought in October 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia.

The Kosovo War was an armed conflict that started Feb. 28, 1998, and lasted until June 11, 1999. In March 1999, NATO intervened with an aerial bombing campaign, justifying it as a “humanitarian war.” The war ended on 9 June, and NATO forces entered Kosovo on June 12. The NATO bombing campaign has remained controversial.

The war in Afghanistan was an armed conflict in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021. It began when an international military coalition led by the United States launched an invasion of Afghanistan, in retaliation for the terrorist attack of 9/11. The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan remains controversial.

The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2011 that began with the invasion of Iraq by the United States–led coalition that overthrew the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.  Baghdad, Iraq, is currently in a state of widespread unrest.

More than 2,000 U.S. troops are currently deployed in Syria. These troops, are said to be supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and preventing the re-emergence of ISIS.

It would seem that we have been in a constant state of conflict, beginning in 1990 Kuwait and continuing with Syria to the present day. Do we really want to become involved in a shooting war in Europe or Asia?

Maybe it’s time take care of America.

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

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