Who Is Willing To Go To War In Europe?

The United States has twice interceded to assist Europe in World Wars on that continent to fight on behalf of freedom for Europeans.

Both times it took several years of war before the United States became involved. In both instances, the American people were very reluctant to sacrifice its blood and treasure in Europe.

In World War I, it took almost three years from the time hostilities began in 1914 before the United States sent troops to the theater of war in Europe.

In World War II, it was over two years after Hitler invaded Poland before the United States formally declared war on Germany after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

A Rasmussen poll question recently found that 49% of Americans agreed that the U.S. military should be involved if a wider war breaks out in Europe.

Compare that to 18% of Americans who stated we should send the Army and Navy to fight Germany in 1939.

Source: https://news.gallup.com/vault/265865/gallup-vault-opinion-start-world-war.aspx

Or the Presidential campaign of 1916 in which Woodrow Wilson won reelection on the slogan "He kept us out of the war".

Of course, it was a barely a month after Wilson was inaugurated for his second term that he asked Congress to declare war on Germany and send troops to Europe.

The higher percentage supporting military action today may be due to those understanding we treaty obligations under NATO or the fact that we all live in a world today that is far more interconnected and much more difficult to isolate one's self from problems of the world.

That being said, I found it interesting to see the opinions about U.S. military involvement in Europe by income class in the Rasmussen poll.

Is this due to the fact that those in the higher income classes better understand the geopolitical realities I mentioned above...or the fact that the blood that will be spilled in a war is always disproportionately from those at the lower end of the income spectrum?

When considering further implications to Europe of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, this chart shows the humanitarian issues that are being caused due to refugees fleeing the war zone.

This is not a real good testimonial for Putin's argument that he is protecting the Ukrainian people. The refugees are not exactly streaming into Russia for a safe haven.

More refugees are sure to follow as the photo of the train station at Kharkiv, Ukraine on Sunday shows.

Source: https://twitter.com/Den_2042/status/1500624098254327808/photo/1

War really is hell,

No matter the place, the time or your status.

'I am sick and tired of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.'

                                   ---Genreal William Tecumseh Sherman