Why Be Engaged in Europe?

For John, BLUF:  This is about World War One, The Great War, of which we have a number of memorials here in Lowell, including Kittredge Park.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Lesson of the Great War:  Stay Engaged, America

Here is the sub-headline:

A century after the guns fell silent, the United States risks replicating the errors of the past.

From Defense One, by Professor Eliot A Cohen, 9 July 2018.

I do disagree with Professor Cohen on one point.  I believe the Commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), General John "Black Jack" Pershing, was right to want the US forces to be committed as a whole, rather than in penny packets along the front.  The reason was psychological.  Support for the war would be enhanced by American performance and diminished by American accomplishments being blurred in with those of the French and British.

If we glance at Dead Carl for a moment we see the emotional, the psychological, as the first in the three items listed in his "Trinity".  It appears General Pershing knew this.  One suspects President Wilson, with his Southern background, would have sensed it also.

But, back to the larger theme, we do need to stay engaged in Europe, because it will likely cost us in the long run to not be so engaged.

Regards  —  Cliff