And we have no idea what that means.
Desert Storm wasn’t a war. Because it didn’t strike home. There were few (American) casualties, and no privations. There was broad natinoal debate as to whether we ought to be doing anything (answer: of course we should have, idiots, though it was a shame that the Kuwaiti royal family is so unsatisfactory a group to “fight for”).
The last war before that — ignoring silly excursions to Grenada and Panama — was Viet Nam. And that was a war — we lost people — but it was also lacking any sort of national determination. It was also lacking any privations. Aside from those who lost friends, family, or loved ones, you’d never know back here in the states that we were fighting a war. It destroyed the Johnson Administration (and the budget) to try to provide both Guns and Butter, but we did it. Sorta.
But this. America’s “New War.” The “War on Terrorism.” It’s in our faces, America. It’s not just lobbing missiles and bombs at targets unable to defend themselves. There’s enough serious talk of ground war that I’m pretty sure it’s coming. But it’s not just troops, but here at home. Security restrictions. A major change in what’s worth debating up on Capitol Hill. Job losses. Industrial dislocation.
People are talking differently. They’re talking about war.
That’s scary, folks.