Sohn: Veterans Day a great time to discuss power to make war

A bugler waits to play taps during a 2015 Veterans Day tribute at the Chattanooga National Cemetery Armed Forces Pavillon.
A bugler waits to play taps during a 2015 Veterans Day tribute at the Chattanooga National Cemetery Armed Forces Pavillon.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had no need for a Veterans Day?

It would mean we had and have no wars to fight, no conflicts to resolve by force, no men and women sacrificed, scarred or hardened.

But we don't live in that world. Instead, today in this 100th year since Congress declared war and the United States entered World War I, we continue a war in Iraq and another one in Afghanistan.

We even teeter toward a new war in North Korea, with a president who is caught up in dangerous and egotistical brinksmanship with the 33-year-old nuclear-armed dictator of a country the size of Southeast Tennessee, throwing around terms like "fire and fury," "Liddle Rocket Man," and North Korea "military cult."

Veterans Day originated as Armistice Day in 1919 when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed it to commemorate the fighting that ceased between the Allied nations and Germany at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to end "the war to end all wars."

Since that war turned out not to be a war-ending war, President Dwight D. Eisenhower renamed the day Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars.

We honor our veterans - all 18.5 million of them, including 4 million with service-connected disabilities.

We also honor U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who, amid our president's continuing saber rattling and prattling, on Wednesday called for a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to investigate the president's authority to use nuclear weapons.

"A number of members both on and off our committee have raised questions about the authorities of the legislative and executive branches with respect to war making, the use of nuclear weapons, and conducting foreign policy overall," said Corker, who previously has said Trump "has not been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate" as president.

Corker, in calling for this hearing, noted that the president's nuclear authority had not been examined since 1976 - more than 40 years ago, during the height of the Cold War.

"This discussion is long overdue, and we look forward to examining this critical issue," said our senator, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Many military and foreign policy professionals agree, fearing the president's ego could lead the country down a path to war.

There is no time better for this discussion than now - in the shadow of Veterans Day.

Veterans by the numbers

18.5 million - military veterans in the U.S. in 20161.6 million - female veterans9.2 million - veterans age 65 or older7.1 million - Gulf War veterans (1990 to present)6.7 million - Vietnam era veterans1.6 million - Korean War veterans768,263 - World War II veterans2.4 million - peacetime veterans11.6 percent - black veterans6.5 percent - HispanicSource: U.S. Census Bureau

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