A Heart With A Mind Of Its Own

 Hearts and minds. According to many experts in the art of war, they are necessary to come out on the winning end. John Adams, who was President of the United States right after the first guy, wrote: "The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in the religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution" One hundred forty years later, the subject came up again during the War in Vietnam. Lyndon Johnson, who was President of the United States much later than the first guy, said this as the heat in that particular conflict began to ramp up: "So we must be ready to fight in Viet-Nam, but the ultimate victory will depend upon the hearts and the minds of the people who actually live out there. By helping to bring them hope and electricity you are also striking a very important blow for the cause of freedom throughout the world."

The difference in that century and a half was one of insurgency. Back in the early 1800s. the United States was a babe in the woods, having turned away an occupying army and was basking in their nascent republic. In 1965, we were the occupiers, having stumbled into a conflict that had been left unresolved by France. The French had spent nine years trying to tamp down a bunch of left-wing revolutionaries in their colonies. When that didn't end so well, the United States found themselves in the position of holding back the dominoes of tumbling communism. It was important for the hearts and minds of a nation half a world away to be invested in this struggle. Ultimately, we weren't. What was happening in our own country at the time turned out to be far more important than the rise of communism in East Asia. 

After the attack on September 11, 2001, it seemed as though the hearts and minds were in line with the dogs of war. There was a surge in enlistment in the United States' armed forces, and Congress almost unanimously got behind The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. "War" for short. This was piled on top of the "Enduring Freedom" campaign we were already pursuing in Afghanistan. 

Twenty years passed. We got Saddam Hussein. We got Osama bin Laden. And we kept our troops busy with the task of setting things up in such a way that no more chaos could spring from those zip codes. It was not a success. Hearts and minds fell by the wayside, and only fear of five dollar a gallon gasoline kept us in it. 

What I am suggesting here is that perhaps "hearts and minds" are not the key to managing a conflict we once thought it was. Anybody out there rooting for Vladimir Putin? Now that he's lost Tucker Carlson, the war is over.