I was (and remain) an anti-war activist during the Vietnam war.
Most of my writing here on Medium this year has been against this current war.
I was not only around, I actively refused to register for the death lottery.
Finally —after being there for 20 years —demonstrations did play a large part in ending that invasion. Let's not forget what a minority it was, mostly young people, who took to the streets to say no (in large poart because of the draft).
Much of the country still yelled at them: Love It Or Leave It.
The USofA learned well from that wat —don't broadcast troop deaths on the evening news, and get rid of the draft. Keep enough young people without opportunities and you'll have an army.
In response to this war in Russia, instead of people in the USofA suggesting non-violence and pushing their government to work towards a diplomatic resolution — they were propagandized into the whole blue/yellow support Ukraine with billions of weapons paradigm.
I've read enough of the history of the region (I am Ukranian) and this war was absolutely avoidable — with Nato and the USofA pushing for it.
So it's not a question of "is it always successful" - it's moreso: when is it ever successful?—Especially when our population been propagandized to go along with it.
As long as this fantasy and super-hero loving country can be sold the Saturday morning cartoon version of this war — black-white good-bad — this government does not have to worry about them taking to the streets to protest the billions we are giving to our own weapons manufacturers — heck, the vast majority just slap on something blue/yellow and are fully on board — or at least not too distracted to get them away from their Netflix queue.
Major General Smedly Butler saw through the game in the 1930s:
War is a racket.
