Maderistas defeated government troops at La Junta.
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British and French forces retreated over the Greek border, ending the Battle of Kosturino. The Allied defeat allowed the Central Powers to establish rail connections to Constantinople.
The Cheyenne State Leader reported other border crossings.
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Bolivian troops clashed with Peruvians in Guayabal, which was contested between the two states.
A headline in the New York Times:
The headline referred to Juan Sánchez Azcona y Díaz Covarrubias
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Commanding General of the U.S. Army William Tecumseh Sherman wrote to Lt. Gen. Philip Sheridan :
I know that the matter of the Black Hills was settled in all events for this year. In the spring it may result in collision and trouble.. . . I understand that the president and the Interior Department will wink at it.
Texas Ranger Captain Leander McNelly and his men crossed into Mexico to retrieve more than 200 stolen cattle. He was backed by troops of the U.S. Army, but they did not cross. The Rangers advanced on the stronghold of Juan Flores Salinas, local leader of the rural guard at the Rincon de Cucharras outpost of the Las Cuevas ranch and a battle ensued in which about 80 Mexican militiamen were killed, and McNelly ordered a retreat back across the river. The Army covered his retreat across the river with a Gatling Gun.
At that point, Major A. J. Alexander from Fort Ringgold arrived with a message from Colonel Potter at Fort Brown, which read:
Advise Captain McNelly to return at once to this side of the river. Inform him that you are directed not to support him in any way while he remains on Mexican territory. If McNelly is attacked by Mexican forces on Mexican soil, do not render him any assistance. Let me know if McNelly acts on this advice.
McNelly advised the Army that he would not comply.
At sundown, another message arrived:
Major Alexander, commanding: Secretary of War Belknap orders you to demand McNelly return at once to Texas. Do not support him in any manner. Inform the Secretary if McNelly acts on these orders and returns to Texas. Signed, Colonel Potter.
McNelly issued the reply, which was:
In less than a minute, Captain McNelly penned his now famous reply:
Near Las Cuevas, Mexico, Nov. 20 1875. I shall remain in Mexico with my rangers and cross back at my discretion. Give my compliments to the Secretary of War and tell him and his United States soldiers to go to hell. Signed, Lee H. McNelly, commanding.
Over the Rio Grande his force encountered resistance. Up to 80 Mexicans were killed in the battle before he retreated. A smaller force of Rangers would cross the border the following day and recover over 400 stolen cattle.
McNelly's troops crossed again on the 21st and proceeded to a customs house where the cattle had been moved to, and which were now promised to be returned. The Mexican officer in charge refused to treat with him on a Sunday, which it now was and was taken prisoner. The prisoner was threatened with death and around 400 cattle were crossed into Texas.
McNelly died of tuberculosis in 1877 at age 33. A liberty ship was named after him during World War Two.
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The impact of Woodrow Wilsons' administration recognizing Carranza, whose followers had blown off the Convention of Aguascalientes, and who personally hated the United States, was becoming immediately clear.
While Wilson had his hand on the scale of the Mexican Revolution, he was issuing a proclaimation about American Thanksgiving.
President Wilson issued a proclamation regarding Thanksgiving.
Proclamation 1316—Thanksgiving Day, 1915
October 20, 1915
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
It has long been the honoured custom of our people to turn in the fruitful autumn of the year in praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for His many blessings and mercies to us as a nation. The year that is now drawing to a close since we last observed our day of national thanksgiving has been, while a year of discipline because of the mighty forces of war and of change which have disturbed the world, also a year of special blessing for us.
Another year of peace has been vouchsafed us; another year in which not only to take thought of our duty to ourselves and to mankind but also to adjust ourselves to the many responsibilities thrust upon us by a war which has involved almost the whole of Europe. We have been able to assert our rights and the rights of mankind without breach of friendship with the great nations with whom we have had to deal; and while we have asserted rights we have been able also to perform duties and exercise privileges of succour and helpfulness which should serve to demonstrate our desire to make the offices of friendship the means of truly disinterested and unselfish service. Our ability to serve all who could avail themselves of our services in the midst of crisis has been increased, by a gracious Providence, by more and more abundant crops. our ample financial resources have enabled us to steady the markets of the world and facilitate necessary movements of commerce which the war might otherwise have rendered impossible; and our people have come more and more to a sober realization of the part they have been called upon to play in a time when all the world is shaken by unparalleled distresses and disasters. The extraordinary circumstances of such a time have done much to quicken our national consciousness and deepen and confirm our confidence in the principles of peace and freedom by which we have always sought to be guided. Out of darkness and perplexity have come firmer counsels of policy and clearer perceptions of the essential welfare of the nation. We have prospered while other peoples were at war, but our prosperity has been vouchsafed us, we believe, only that we might the better perform the functions which war rendered it impossible for them to perform.
Now, Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Thursday the twenty-fifth of November next as a day of thanksgiving and prayer, and invite the people throughout the land to cease from their wonted occupations and in their several homes and places of worship render thanks to Almighty God.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington this twentieth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifteen and of the independence of the United States the one hundred and fortieth.
Signature of Woodrow Wilson
Louis Botha, once a Boer General, of the South African Party won the 1915 South African general election and retained power.
French forces reached the town of Krivolak on the Vardar river in Vardar Macedonia. The British dug in at a mountain pass near Kosturino and Doiran Like.
The Ottoman Empire brought an end to Armenian resistance at Urfa.
The British Commonwealth recognized women as bus and tram operators for the duration, something that had been going on for some time.
Sweden established the Swedish Infantry Officers College.
Whatever It Is, I’m Against It: Today -100: October 20, 1915: With bleeding heart ...: Headline of the Day -100: Male voters in New Jersey reject women’s suffrage in the referendum by roughly 133,000 to 184,000. It los...
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Jesús Antonio Almeida, part of a revolutionary agricultural family and governor of Chihuahua, married Susanna Nesbitt Becerra, the daughter of a family that had ruled Urique, Chihuahua for a century Her family were pillars of the old regime.
The Victor Orthophonic Victrola, the first phonograph designed to play electrically recorded records, was demonstrated. to the public for the first time.
The Locarno Conference debated France wanting assurance of the right to cross through Germany to help Poland and Czechoslovakia in the event of war. Obviously, the war France was worried about would be one with the Soviet Union.
Coolidge delivered a speech on tolerance.
Location: Omaha, NE
Context: President Coolidge is speaking to the American Legion about the ability of the American fighting forces to put aside racial, religious, or social stature during a time of crisis and unite as one
Mr. Commander and Members of the American Legion:
It is a high privilege to sit as a member of this convention. Those who exercise it have been raised to the rank of a true nobility. It is a mark of personal merit which did not come by right of birth but by right of conquest. No one can ever question your title as patriots. No one can ever doubt the place of affection and honor which you hold forevermore in the heart of the Nation. Your right to be here results from what you dared and what you did and the sacrifices which you made for our common country. It is all a glorious story of American enterprise and American valor.
The magnitude of the service which you rendered to your country and to humanity is beyond estimation. Sharp outlines here and there we know, but the whole account of the World War would be on a scale so stupendous that it could never be recorded. In the victory which was finally gained by you and your foreign comrades, you represented on the battle field the united efforts of our whole people. You were there as the result of a great resurgence of the old American spirit, which manifested itself in a thousand ways, by the pouring out of vast sums of money in credits and charities, by the organization and quickening of every hand in our extended industries, by the expansion of agriculture until it met the demands of famishing continents, by the manufacture of an unending stream of munitions and supplies, by the creation of vast fleets of war and transport ships, and, finally, when the tide of battle was turning against our associates, by bringing into action a great armed force on sea and land of a character that the world had never seen before, which, when it finally took its place in the line, never ceased to advance, carrying the cause of liberty to a triumphant conclusion. You reaffirmed the position of this Nation in the estimation of mankind. You saved civilization from a gigantic reverse. Nobody says now that Americans can not fight.
Our people were influenced by many motives to undertake to carry on this gigantic conflict, but we went in and came out singularly free from those questionable causes and results which have often characterized other wars. We were not moved by the age-old antagonisms of racial jealousies and hatreds. We were not seeking to gratify the ambitions of any reigning dynasty. We were not inspired by trade and commercial rivalries. We harbored no imperialistic designs. We feared no other country. We coveted no territory. But the time came when we were compelled to defend our own property and protect the rights and lives of our own citizens. We believed, moreover, that those institutions which we cherish with a supreme affection, and which lie at the foundation of our whole scheme of human relationship, the right of freedom, of equality, of self-government, were all in jeopardy. We thought the question was involved of whether the people of the earth were to rule or whether they were to be ruled. We thought that we were helping to determine whether the principle of despotism or the principle of liberty should be the prevailing standard among the nations. Then, too, our country all came under the influence of a great wave of idealism. The crusading spirit was aroused. The cause of civilization, the cause of humanity, made a compelling appeal. No doubt there were other motives, but these appear to me the chief causes which drew America into the World War.
In a conflict which engaged all the major nations of the earth and lasted for a period exceeding four years, there could be no expectation of material gains. War in its very essence means destruction. Never before were contending peoples so well equipped with every kind of infernal engine calculated to spread desolation on land and over the face of the deep. Our country is only but now righting itself and beginning a moderate but steady recovery from the great economic loss which it sustained. That tremendous debt must be liquidated through the laborious toil of our people. Modern warfare becomes more and more to mean utter loss, destruction, and desolation of the best that there is of any people, its valiant youth and its accumulated treasure. If our country secured any benefit, if it met with any gain, it must have been in moral and spiritual values. It must be not because it made its fortune but because it found its soul. Others may disagree with me, but in spite of some incidental and trifling difficulties it is my firm opinion that America has come out of the war with a stronger determination to live by the rule of righteousness and pursue the course of truth and justice in both our domestic and foreign relations. No one can deny that we have protected the rights of our citizens, laid a firmer foundation for our institutions of liberty, and made our contribution to the cause of civilization and humanity. In doing all this we found that, though of many different nationalities, our people had a spiritual bond. They were all Americans.
When we look over the rest of the world, in spite of all its devastation there is encouragement to believe it is on a firmer moral foundation than it was in 1914. Much of the old despotism has been swept away. While some of it comes creeping back disguised under new names, no one can doubt that the general admission of the right of the people to self-government has made tremendous progress in nearly every quarter of the globe. In spite of the staggering losses and the grievous burden of taxation, there is a new note of hope for the individual to be more secure in his rights, which is unmistakably clearer than ever before. With all the troubles that beset the Old World, the former cloud of fear is evidently not now so appalling. It is impossible to believe that any nation now feels that it could better itself by war, and it is apparent to me that there has been a very distinct advance in the policy of peaceful and honorable adjustment of international differences. War has become less probable; peace has become more secure. The price which has been paid to bring about this new condition is utterly beyond comprehension. We can not see why it should not have come in orderly and peaceful methods without the attendant shock of fire and sword and carnage. We only know that it is here. We believe that on the ruins of the old order a better civilization is being constructed.
We had our domestic problems which resulted from the war. The chief of these was the care and relief of the afflicted veterans and their dependents. This was a tremendous task, on which about $3,000,000,000 has already been expended. No doubt there have been cases where the unworthy have secured aid, while the worthy have gone unrelieved. Some mistakes were inevitable, but our people and our Government have at all times been especially solicitous to discharge most faithfully this prime obligation. What is now being done is related to you in detail by General Hines, of the Veterans’ Bureau, a public official of demonstrated merit, so that I shall not dwell upon it. During the past year, under the distinguished and efficient leadership of Commander Drain, the Legion itself has undertaken to provide an endowment fund of $5,000,000 to minister to the charitable requirements of their comrades. The response to this appeal has been most generous and the results appear most promising. The Government can do much, but it can never supply the personal relationship that comes from the ministrations of a private charity of that kind.
The next most pressing problem was the better ordering of the finances of the Nation. Our Government was costing almost more than it was worth. It had more people on the payroll than were necessary, all of which made expenses too much and taxes too high. This inflated condition contributed to the depression which began in 1920. But the Government expenditures have been almost cut in two, taxes have been twice reduced, and the incoming Congress will provide further reductions. Deflation has run its course and an era of business activity and general prosperity, exceeding anything ever before experienced in this country and fairly well distributed among all our people, is already at hand.
Our country has a larger Army and a more powerful Navy, costing annually almost twice as much as it ever before had in time of peace. I am a thorough believer in a policy of adequate military preparation. We are constantly working to perfect our defenses in every branch-land forces, air forces, surface and submarine forces. That work will continue. Our Military Establishment of the Army and Navy, the National Guard, and the Reserve Corps is far superior to anything we have ever maintained before, except in time of war. In the past six years we have expended about $4,000,000,000 for this purpose. That ought to show results, and those who have correct information know that it does show results. The country can rest assured that if security lies in military force, it was never so secure before in all its history.
We have been attempting to relieve ourselves and the other nations from the old theory of competitive armaments. In spite of all the arguments in favor of great military forces, no nation ever had an army large enough to guarantee it against attack in time of peace or to insure its victory in time of war. No nation ever will. Peace and security are more likely to result from fair and honorable dealings, and mutual agreements for a limitation of armaments among nations, than by any attempt at competition in squadrons and battalions. No doubt this country could, if it wished to spend more money, make a better military force, but that is only part of the problem which confronts our Government. The real question is whether spending more money to make a better military force would really make a better country. I would be the last to disparage the military art. It is an honorable and patriotic calling of the highest rank. But I can see no merit in any unnecessary expenditure of money to hire men to build fleets and carry muskets when international relations and agreements permit the turning of such resources into the making of good roads, the building of better homes, the promotion of education, and all the other arts of peace which minister to the advancement of human welfare. Happily, the position of our country is such among the other nations of the world that we have been and shall be warranted in proceeding in this direction.
While it is true that we are paying out far more money and maintaining a much stronger Military Establishment than ever before, because of the conditions stated, we have been able to pursue a moderate course. Our people have had all the war, all the taxation, and all the military service that they want. They have therefore wished to emphasize their attachment to our ancient policy of peace. They have insisted upon economy. They have supported the principle of limitation of armaments. They have been able to do this because of their position and their strength in numbers and in resources. We have a tremendous natural power which supplements our arms. We are conscious that no other nation harbors any design to put us in jeopardy. It is our purpose in our intercourse with foreign powers to rely not on the strength of our fleets and our armies but on the justice of our cause. For these reasons our country has not wished to maintain huge military forces. It has been convinced that it could better serve itself and better serve humanity by using its resources for other purposes.
In dealing with our military problems there is one principle that is exceedingly important. Our institutions are founded not on military power but on civil authority. We are irrevocably committed to the theory of a government by the people. We have our constitutions and our laws, our executives, our legislatures, and our courts, but ultimately we are governed by public opinion. Our forefathers had seen so much of militarism, and suffered so much from it, that they desired to banish it forever. They believed and declared in at least one of their State constitutions that the military power should be subordinate to and governed by the civil authority. It is for this reason that any organization of men in the military service bent on inflaming the public mind for the purpose of forcing Government action through the pressure of public opinion is an exceedingly dangerous undertaking and precedent. This is so whatever form it might take, whether it be for the purpose of influencing the Executive, the legislature, or the heads of departments. It is for the civil authority to determine what appropriations shall be granted, what appointments shall be made, and what rules shall be adopted for the conduct of its armed forces. Whenever the military power starts dictating to the civil authority, by whatsoever means adopted, the liberties of the country are beginning to end. National defense should at all times be supported, but any form of militarism should be resisted.
Undoubtedly one of the most important provisions in the preparation for national defense is a proper and sound selective service act. Such a law ought to give authority for a very broad mobilization of all the resources of the country, both persons and materials. I can see some difficulties in the application of the principle, for it is the payment of a higher price that stimulates an increased production, but whenever it can be done without economic dislocation such limits ought to be established in time of war as would prevent so far as possible all kinds of profiteering. There is little defense which can be made of a system which puts some men in the ranks on very small pay and leaves others undisturbed to reap very large profits. Even the income tax, which recaptured for the benefit of the National Treasury alone about 75 per cent of such profits, while local governments took part of the remainder, is not a complete answer. The laying of taxes is, of course, in itself a conscription of whatever is necessary of the wealth of the country for national defense, but taxation does not meet the full requirements of the situation. In the advent of war, power should be lodged somewhere for the stabilization of prices as far as that might be possible in justice to the country and its defenders.
But it will always be impossible to harmonize justice and war. It is always possible to purchase materials with money, but patriotism can not be purchased. Unless the people are willing to defend their country because of their belief in it, because of their affection for it, and because it is representative of their home, their country can not be defended. If we are looking for a more complete reign of justice, a more complete supremacy of law, a more complete social harmony, we must seek it in the paths of peace. Progress in these directions under the present order of the world is not likely to be made except during a state of domestic and international tranquillity. One of the great questions before the nations to-day is how to promote such tranquillity.
The economic problems of society are important. On the whole, we are meeting them fairly well. They are so personal and so pressing that they never fail to receive constant attention. But they are only a part. We need to put a proper emphasis on the other problems of society. We need to consider what attitude of the public mind it is necessary to cultivate in order that a mixed population like our own may dwell together more harmoniously and the family of nations reach a better state of understanding. You who have been in the service know how absolutely necessary it is in a military organization that the individual subordinate some part of his personality for the general good. That is the one great lesson which results from the training of a soldier. Whoever has been taught that lesson in camp and field is thereafter the better equipped to appreciate that it is equally applicable in other departments of life. It is necessary in the home, in industry and commerce, in scientific and intellectual development. At the foundation of every strong and mature character we find this trait which is best described as being subject to discipline. The essence of it is toleration. It is toleration in the broadest and most inclusive sense, a liberality of mind, which gives to the opinions and judgments of others the same generous consideration that it asks for its own, and which is moved by the spirit of the philosopher who declared that “To know all is to forgive all.” It may not be given to infinite beings to attain that ideal, but it is none the less one toward which we should strive.
One of the most natural of reactions during the war was intolerance. But the inevitable disregard for the opinions and feelings of minorities is none the less a disturbing product of war psychology. The slow and difficult advances which tolerance and liberalism have made through long periods of development are dissipated almost in a night when the necessary war-time habits of thought hold the minds of the people. The necessity for a common purpose and a united intellectual front becomes paramount to every thing else. But when the need for such a solidarity is past there should be a quick and generous readiness to revert to the old and normal habits of thought. There should be an intellectual demobilization as well as a military demobilization. Progress depends very largely on the encouragement of variety. Whatever tends to standardize the community, to establish fixed and rigid modes of thought, tends to fossilize society. If we all believed the same thing and thought the same thoughts and applied the same valuations to all the occurrences about us, we should reach a state of equilibrium closely akin to an intellectual and spiritual paralysis. It is the ferment of ideas, the clash of disagreeing judgments, the privilege of the individual to develop his own thoughts and shape his own character, that makes progress possible. It is not possible to learn much from those who uniformly agree with us. But many useful things are learned from those who disagree with us; and even when we can gain nothing our differences are likely to do us no harm.
In this period of after-war rigidity, suspicion, and intolerance our own country has not been exempt from unfortunate experiences. Thanks to our comparative isolation, we have known less of the international frictions and rivalries than some other countries less fortunately situated. But among some of the varying racial, religious, and social groups of our people there have been manifestations of an intolerance of opinion, a narrowness to outlook, a fixity of judgment, against which we may well be warned. It is not easy to conceive of anything that would be more unfortunate in a community based upon the ideals of which Americans boast than any considerable development of intolerance as regards religion. To a great extent this country owes its beginnings to the determination of our hardy ancestors to maintain complete freedom in religion. Instead of a state church we have decreed that every citizen shall be free to follow the dictates of his own conscience as to his religious beliefs and affiliations. Under that guaranty we have erected a system which certainly is justified by its fruits. Under no other could we have dared to invite the peoples of all countries and creeds to come here and unite with us in creating the State of which we are all citizens.
But having invited them here, having accepted their great and varied contributions to the building of the Nation, it is for us to maintain in all good faith those liberal institutions and traditions which have been so productive of good. The bringing together of all these different national, racial, religious, and cultural elements has made our country a kind of composite of the rest of the world, and we can render no greater service than by demonstrating the possibility of harmonious cooperation among so many various groups. Every one of them has something characteristic and significant of great value to cast into the common fund of our material, intellectual, and spiritual resources.
The war brought a great test of our experiment in amalgamating these varied factors into a real Nation, with the ideals and aspirations of a united people. None was excepted from the obligation to serve when the hour of danger struck. The event proved that our theory had been sound. On a solid foundation of a national unity there had been erected a superstructure which in its varied parts had offered full opportunity to develop all the range of talents and genius that had gone into its making. Well-nigh all the races, religions, and nationalities of the world were represented in the armed forces of this Nation, as they were in the body of our population. No man’s patriotism was impugned or service questioned because of his racial origin, his political opinion, or his religious convictions. Immigrants and sons of immigrants from the central European countries fought side by side with those who descended from the countries which were our allies; with the sons of equatorial Africa; and with the Red men of our own aboriginal population, all of them equally proud of the name Americans.
We must not, in times of peace, permit ourselves to lose any part from this structure of patriotic unity. I make no plea for leniency toward those who are criminal or vicious, are open enemies of society and are not prepared to accept the true standards of our citizenship. By tolerance I do not mean indifference to evil. I mean respect for different kinds of good. Whether one traces his Americanism back three centuries to the Mayflower, or three years to the steerage, is not half so important as whether his Americanism of to-day is real and genuine. No matter by what various crafts we came here, we are all now in the same boat. You men constituted the crew of our “Ship of State” during her passage through the roughest waters. You made up the watch and held the danger posts when the storm was fiercest. You brought her safely and triumphantly into port. Out of that experience you have learned the lessons of discipline, tolerance, respect for authority, and regard for the basic manhood of your neighbor. You bore aloft a standard of patriotic conduct and civic integrity, to which all could repair. Such a standard, with a like common appeal, must be upheld just as firmly and unitedly now in time of peace. Among citizens honestly devoted to the maintenance of that standard, there need be small concern about differences of individual opinion in other regards. Granting first the essentials of loyalty to our country and to our fundamental institutions, we may not only overlook, but we may encourage differences of opinion as to other things. For differences of this kind will certainly be elements of strength rather than of weakness. They will give variety to our tastes and interests. They will broaden our vision, strengthen our understanding, encourage the true humanities, and enrich our whole mode and conception of life. I recognize the full and complete necessity of 100 per cent Americanism, but 100 per cent Americanism may be made up of many various elements.
If we are to have that harmony and tranquillity, that union of spirit which is the foundation of real national genius and national progress, we must all realize that there are true Americans who did not happen to be born in our section of the country, who do not attend our place of religious worship, who are not of our racial stock, or who are not proficient in our language. If we are to create on this continent a free Republic and an enlightened civilization that will be capable of reflecting the true greatness and glory of mankind, it will be necessary to regard these differences as accidental and unessential. We shall have to look beyond the outward manifestations of race and creed. Divine Providence has not bestowed upon any race a monopoly of patriotism and character.
The same principle that it is necessary to apply to the attitude of mind among our own people it is also necessary to apply to the attitude of mind among the different nations. During the war we were required not only to put a strong emphasis on everything that appealed to our own national pride but an equally strong emphasis on that which tended to disparage other peoples. There was an intensive cultivation of animosities and hatreds and enmities, together with a blind appeal to force, that took possession of substantially all the peoples of the earth. Of course, these ministered to the war spirit. They supplied the incentive for destruction, the motive for conquest. But in time of peace these sentiments are not helps but hindrances; they are not constructive. The generally expressed desire of “America first” can not be criticized. It is a perfectly correct aspiration for our people to cherish. But the problem which we have to solve is how to make America first. It can not be done by the cultivation of national bigotry, arrogance, or selfishness. Hatreds, jealousies, and suspicions will not be productive of any benefits in this direction. Here again we must apply the rule of toleration. Because there are other peoples whose ways are not our ways, and whose thoughts are not our thoughts, we are not warranted in drawing the conclusion that they are adding nothing to the sum of civilization. We can make little contribution to the welfare of humanity on the theory that we are a superior people and all others are an inferior people. We do not need to be too loud in the assertion of our own righteousness. It is true that we live under most favorable circumstances. But before we come to the final and irrevocable decision that we are better than everybody else we need to consider what we might do if we had their provocations and their difficulties. We are not likely to improve our own condition or help humanity very much until we come to the sympathetic understanding that human nature is about the same everywhere, that it is rather evenly distributed over the surface of the earth, and that we are all united in a common brotherhood. We can only make America first in the true sense which that means by cultivating a spirit of friendship and good will, by the exercise of the virtues of, patience and forbearance, by being “plenteous in mercy”, and through progress at home and helpfulness abroad standing as an example of real service to humanity.
It is for these reasons that it seems clear that the results of the war will be lost and we shall only be entering a period of preparation for another conflict unless we can demobilize the racial antagonisms, fears, hatreds, and suspicions, and create an attitude of toleration in the public mind of the peoples of the earth. If our country is to have any position of leadership, I trust it may be in that direction, and I believe that the place where it should begin is at home. Let us cast off our hatreds. Let us candidly accept our treaties and our natural obligations of peace. We know and everyone knows that these old systems, antagonisms, and reliance on force have failed. If the world has made any progress, it has been the result of the development of other ideals. If we are to maintain and perfect our own civilization, if we are to be of any benefit to the rest of mankind, we must turn aside from the thoughts of destruction and cultivate the thoughts of construction. We can not place our main reliance upon material forces. We must reaffirm and reinforce our ancient faith in truth and justice, in charitableness and tolerance. We must make our supreme commitment to the everlasting spiritual forces of life. We must mobilize the conscience of mankind.
Your gatherings are a living testimony of a determination to support these principles. It would be impossible to come into this presence, which is a symbol of more than three hundred years of our advancing civilization, which represents to such a degree the hope of our consecrated living and the prayers of our hallowed dead, without a firmer conviction of the deep and abiding purpose of our country to live in accordance with this vision. There have been and will be lapses and discouragement, surface storms and disturbances. The shallows will murmur, but the deep is still. We shall be made aware of the boisterous and turbulent forces of evil about us seeking the things which are temporal. But we shall also be made aware of the still small voice arising from the fireside of every devoted home in the land seeking the things which are eternal. To such a country, to such a cause, the American Legion has dedicated itself. Upon this rock you stand for the service of humanity. Against it no power can prevail.
It made headlines:
The Interparliamentary Union was in D.C..
The besigned Billy Mitchell took a trip to Bowling Field.
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America and British troops landed in the Tokyo region. The US 11th Airborne Division flew into Atsugi airfield. The 4th and 6th Marine Regiments landed in the naval base at Yokosuka. General MacArthur flew from Manila to organize the US occupation and set up his temporary headquarters at Yokohama.
The USS San Juan started to evacuate Allied prisoners of war detained in the Japanese home islands.
The Royal Navy reoccupied Hong Kong.
Japanese surrenders in Burma continued..
The Allied Control Council took formal control of Germany.
A B-29 Superfortress on a supply flight crashed in bad weather in the neighbourhood of Mount Oyaji (親父岳, Oyaji-take) on Mount Sobo (祖母山). All twelve crewmen were killed.
Hồ Chí Minh invited several people to contribute their ideas toward his Declaration of Independence, including a number of American OSS officers. While there were notable exceptions, like John Burch, the OSS was heavily left leaning and indeed included a number of Communists within its ranks, something that was not really very much frowned on at the time.
Mexico recognized the Spanish Republican government in exile as the government of Spain. The Spanish Republican government in exile was located in Mexico City, having relocated there after the fall of France in World War Two. It'd return to Paris in 1946. The body would recognize the restored Spanish constitutional monarch as the legitimate government in 1977.
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Constitutionalist Gen. Pablo Gonzáles Garza entered Mexico City
Sheriff's Deputy Constable Pablo Falcon and Deputy Sheriff Encarnacion Cuellar were shot and killed when they were ambushed by six men at a dance hall three miles from Brownsville, Texas. They are asserted to be the first victims of the Plan of San Diego, with it being ironic in that they were both Hispanic. Other causes for the ambush have been theorized.
The Germans scuttled the cruiser SMS Königsberg in the Rufiji River, German East Africa following the vessel being heavily damaged in action against the Royal Navy.
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You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Matthew, Chapter 24.
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
Winston Churchill
Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.
Donald Trump on skipping the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery.
March 2, 2025
Turkey v. Kurds
Following an opening from Turkey's strongman ruler Erdogan, the PKK is suspending armed operations.
US Mexican Border
The US is deploying an additional 3,000 troops to the Mexican border.
March 3, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
Absolutely stupid.
US v. Al Qaeda
On Feb. 23, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria, targeting and killing Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay, the senior military leader of the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate.
US Central Command.
March 4, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
The US suspended military aid to Ukraine. Europe began immediately to fill in and J. D. Vance warned, based on nothing at all, that only Trump could negotiate peace.
More likely, this accelerates the eclipse of the United States.
March 6, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
The Trump Cabal cut off intelligence access to Ukraine. Shortly after this, Russia hit Kyiv with ballistic missiles.
March 8, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
When his country called, Donald Trump called up his doctor who found that he ineligible to go into harms way due to shin splints.
Like a lot of the 1960s "not me" crowd, to include Dick Cheney and Joe Biden, this hasn't meant, in the case of Donald Trump, that he doesn't mind ordering killing done. Trump's taken into almost new territory, however, by withdrawing intelligence from an ally dependent up on us while his political party, which once stalwartly opposed foreign aggression by countries like Russia and North Korea, largely stands by.
The United States now has blood on its hands, and through betrayal:
US intel ban leads to heavy Ukrainian losses
A lot of people who admire Trump believe he has a big business head and that he's bring this to politics. Why this is a good thing is never actually mentioned. Government isn't a business. Beyond that, is Trump really a good businessman? We have very little evidence that the is. What we have evidence that he was born very wealthy and its well known that those born into great wealth are highly unlikely to lose it all. Very wealthy families that do lose everything usually do so in the course of a couple of generations. It takes that long to dissipate the wealth. My guess is that this is happening to the Trump fortune right now. Big fortunes are lost through classic means, spending on largess and women usually. My guess is that for those who are looking at the trump's fifty to seventy five years hence, you'll find that they're still rich, but not vastly so, and probably working mundane rich people's jobs.
Anyhow, one of the big myths about Trump is that he's a great negotiator . What he is, is a bully. Since returning to the Oval Office he's applied his bully skills to numerous things and its really start to fail. The tariffs are a good example. Canada has now reached the complete "fuck you" stage with Trump and he can't do one single thing about it. Probably by summer the Mid West will have rolling blackouts due to an electrical blackout. The dimwit Trump has promised to get the XL pipeline rolling again and build one extending all the way to Alaska. My prediction is that the XL if completed under Trump will be filled with air as it was supposed to transport Canadian crude. Donny probably doesn't know that. The Canadians are never going to allow the US to build a pipeline on their soil.
On the war, Ukrainian President Zylensky was brought to the US to surrender title to his country's minerals as an extorted payment for ongoing support. The meeting went famously wrong as J. D. Vance, now with in a hairsbreadth of being President, showed himself way out of his element and engaged in an argument with the embattled Ukrainian leader. Trump, coming to Vance's rescue, once again showed his intellect is really lacking and his verbal skills are that of a child. Since that time, using tactics that he learned as a real estate magnate, he's attempted to bully Ukraine into submission by withholding arms and intelligence to the country.
In blunt terms, he figures that getting Ukrainians killed will make them pliant.
It's monstrously wrong.
And its not even artful.
There's pretty good evidence at this point that the bloom is really off the rose of this administration and that even within the administration itself things are beginning to breakdown. Marco Rubio got into a yelling match with weirdo Elon Musk and actually prevailed. Another cabinet member had to take babbling Trump off the phone and negotiate a deal with Trudeau himself. Trump is slowly on his way out, but how much damage he does on the way out is yet to be seen.
At any rate, somewhere on the far side of things thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are joining the souls of those of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to lament being betrayed by the United States. But at the same time, the departed spirits of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger can take solace that their betrayal of an ally wasn't the work of a demented toddler.
Here in the US, the hardcore MAGA's are all saying it'll work out, or coming up with reason why betrayal is okay. It won't, and it isn't.
March 13, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
Russia rejected lil Don's suggestion of a cease fire.
March 16, 2025
Middle Eastern War
The US struck the Houthis yesterday, who vowed retaliation.
March 17, 2025
Middle Eastern War
|
Hegseth Says Campaign Against Houthis Will be
'Unrelenting' Until Hostilities Cease March 17,
2025 | By Matthew Olay During
a media interview yesterday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S.
military will continue to tactically engage Iranian-backed Houthis until they
stop acting aggressively against U.S. ships in the region. Hegseth
commented on the topic following President Donald J. Trump's order for U.S.
Central Command to launch multiple airstrikes against Houthis in Yemen, March
15, 2025. "Freedom
of navigation is basic; it's a core national interest," Hegseth said,
adding that the current campaign is about restoring deterrents in the region
in addition to freedom of navigation. "The
minute the Houthis say, 'We'll stop shooting at your ships [and] we'll stop
shooting at your drones,' this campaign will end but, until then, it will be
unrelenting," he continued. Hegseth
also said the airstrikes were meant to draw Iran's attention. "The
message is clear to Iran … Your support of the Houthis needs to end
immediately. We will hold you accountable as the sponsor of this proxy, and I
echo [the president's] statement [that] we will not be nice about it,"
Hegseth said. The
Houthis have been acting aggressively in the Red Sea region since October
2023, when a U.S. Navy destroyer had to intercept three land-attack cruise
missiles fired by the Houthis toward Israel. Since
then, the Houthis have launched over 100 drone and missile attacks targeting
American and allied ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, resulting in
many commercial ships having to alter their routes to avoid the region at a
tremendous commercial cost. Hegseth
likened the severe economic impact of the Houthi aggression in the region to
"being held hostage by a terrorist organization" and then pointed
out that the Trump administration has indeed labeled the Houthis as
such. "To
the Houthis: [the airstrikes weren't] a one-night thing … This is about
stopping the shooting at assets in that critical waterway to reopen the
freedom of navigation, which is a core national interest of the United
States," Hegseth said, before again reemphasizing that Iran needs to
"back off" from enabling the Houthis. Hegseth
said Iran and its additional military proxies — including Hamas and Hezbollah
— are in a "weakened state." "But
it doesn't mean they still don't have the desire [for aggression]," he
said, adding that Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. "Iran
must get that clear message and negotiate the end of their pursuit for
nuclear weapons because … President Trump has said clearly that they will not
get a bomb," Hegseth said. |
March 19, 2025
Middle Eastern War
Israel is back to bombarding Gaza, so the cease fire did not hold.
Russo Ukrainian War
Putin agreed to an infrastructure ceasefire, which it turned around and immediately violated.
cont:
March 23, 2025
Middle Eastern War
The rocket and counterstrike feature of this war in Lebanon has returned.
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukraine has hit some major Russian air assets and fuel assets in the last couple of days. Russia had hit Kyiv.
March 24, 2025
The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen.
I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing.
This is going to require some explaining.
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans. Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic.
March 25, 2025
Middle Eastern War
The Trump administration petulantly denied texting war plans to The Atlantic, while insulting the recipient, while it simultaneously became more obvious that in fact it had occurred.
The US hit Houthi targets in Yemen again.
March 30, 2025
It's been a bad week, foreign policy wise, for the supposed great negotiator, Donald Trump.
United States v. Iran
In a press interview today Donald Trump threated to bomb Iran to the hilt if it does not enter into a nuclear deal with the United States.
Iran has replied it won't enter into direct talks with the US, but might be willing to discuss this matter in some other fashion.
Russo Ukrainian War
The great dealmaker also expressed frustration, or rather that he was "pissed off", with Putin, accusing him of lying and not wanting a peace.
Apparently Trump is the last guy on Earth who didn't already know this, besides flunky sycophants.
He's threating secondary tariffs.
Middle Eastern War.
Revealed on the leaked texts VP Vance was concerned that Trump didn't understand what the bombing. He said:
3 percent of US trade runs through the suez. 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.
I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.
April 2, 2025
Israel v. Hamas
Israel has announced its intends to seize "large" areas of land in Gaza.
April 8, 2025
Israel v. Hamas
Israel now controls, once again, 50% of Gaza.
Russo Ukrainian War
ISW reports that Russian advances have slowed to a crawl.
April 13, 2025
Mexican Border
Military Mission for Sealing the Southern Border of the United States and Repelling Invasions
Presidential Memoranda
April 11, 2025
NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM/NSPM-4
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE
THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY
SUBJECT: Military Mission for Sealing the Southern Border of the United States and Repelling Invasions
As the Chief Executive and Commander in Chief, the United States Constitution empowers me to direct the various elements of the executive branch to protect our homeland and ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the United States in the manner I deem most efficient and effective, consistent with applicable law. Our southern border is under attack from a variety of threats. The complexity of the current situation requires that our military take a more direct role in securing our southern border than in the recent past. Through Executive Order 14167 of January 20, 2025 (Clarifying the Military’s Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the United States), I assigned the Armed Forces of the United States the military missions of repelling the invasion and sealing the United States southern border from unlawful entry to maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States. This memorandum provides additional guidance on securing the southern border to the heads of certain executive departments.
Section 1. Policy. (a) to accomplish the military missions described in Executive Order 14167, and to ensure the safety and security of the military and other Federal personnel in areas of military operations within Federal lands along the southern border, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take all appropriate actions:
(i) to provide for the use and jurisdiction by the Department of Defense over such Federal lands, including the Roosevelt Reservation and excluding Federal Indian Reservations, that are reasonably necessary to enable military activities directed in this memorandum, including border-barrier construction and emplacement of detection and monitoring equipment; and
(ii) to provide for transfer and acceptance of jurisdiction over such Federal lands in accordance with applicable law to enable military activities directed in this memorandum to occur on a military installation under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense and for the designation of such Federal lands as National Defense Areas by the Secretary of Defense.
(b) The Secretary of the Interior shall allow the Secretary of Defense to use those portions of the Roosevelt Reservation not yet transferred or withdrawn under this memorandum. In accordance with Proclamation 10886 of January 20, 2025 (Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States), 43 U.S.C. 155 is hereby invoked and the Secretary of the Interior may make withdrawals, reservations, and restrictions of public lands to provide for the utilization of public lands by the Department of Defense to address the emergency at the southern border, without regard to any limitation on withdrawals otherwise applicable under the terms of the Engle Act, 43 U.S.C. 155-158.
(c) The Secretary of Defense may determine those military activities that are reasonably necessary and appropriate to accomplish the mission assigned in Executive Order 14167 and that are necessary to protect and maintain the security of military installations, consistent with section 2672 of title 10, United States Code, and the longstanding authority of a military installation commander to exclude persons from a military installation, as recognized in section 21 of the Internal Security Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 797) and 18 U.S.C. 1382.
(d) In carrying out activities under this memorandum, members of the Armed Forces will follow rules for the use of force prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.
Sec. 2. Phased Implementation. The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Homeland Security will initially implement this memorandum on a limited sector of Federal lands designated by the Secretary of Defense. Within 45 days of the date of this memorandum, the Secretary of Defense shall assess this initial phase. At any time, the Secretary of Defense may extend activities under this memorandum to additional Federal lands along the southern border in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor, and other executive departments and agencies as appropriate.
Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority of the Secretary of Defense to authorize and request that State Governors order members of the National Guard under authority of title 32 of the United States Code to conduct Department of Defense activities, including as appropriate to support law enforcement activities under the responsibility of the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security, if requested by such official;
(ii) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(iii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
April 18, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the US is about to give up attempting to broker a peace in the Ruisso Ukrainian War.
Apparently his boss, the great deal maker, and friend of thug Putin, isn't as effective at deal making as he claimed.
April 23, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians and it’s time for them to either say ‘yes’ or for the United States to walk away from this process.
J. D. Vance.
So much for Trump's negotiating skills.
April 26, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the war in private in the Sistine Chapel, before Pope Francis' funeral.
April 27, 2025
Russo Ukrainian War
The Russians are asserting they have expelled all Ukrainian troops from the Kursk oblast.
May 3, 2025
Mexican Border
The administration declared a "Texas National Defense Area" spanning 63 miles east of El Paso along the Texas-New Mexico border, following having declared a similar 170-mile-long zone created in New Mexico last month.
May 6, 2025
India v. Pakistan
India launched airstrikes inside of Pakistan on sites its alleges are terrorist locations. This follows a recent terrorist attack in India.
May 7, 2025
Middle Eastern War
Trump is claiming the Houthis capitulated in the face of US and UK bombing raids and will cease attacking shipping.
May 8, 2025
India v. Pakistan
Pakistan is claiming that a very large scale air battle took place between India and Pakistan over the past 24 hours.
May 10, 2025
India v. Pakistan
Pakistan strikes Indian bases with Fatah missiles
Cont:
Both contestants have agreed to a ceasefire, after having run right up to the brink of full scale war.
Donald Trump implied the US had a role in this, although its not at all clear that this is really the case.
And with this entry, this edition of Wars and Rumors of War concludes.
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