Non-Intervention
Listening to the GOP debates and the straw polls that normally follow has made it apparent that most people do not have any idea what the issues facing America are. Not only do they not know the issues, they have no idea of what needs to be done to get us back on track. In the political arena it seems that most people will pick one issue and choose the candidate that sounds the best to them on that issue. They don’t look at how their candidate stands on other issues or how those other issues will affect them in the long run or the country as a whole. Most people have single issue concerns that will have indirect adverse effects on the direction of the country; and in turn adverse effects on the Nation and the American people as a whole. Over the next few essays I write I’m going to take a closer look at some of the issues that keep coming up and then take them to the point of where they will affect the entire population either positively or negatively.
We are fighting a war on terror and have been for the past 10 years. This war has not only cost untold billions of dollars, contributing significantly to the National debt and deficit; it has also cost thousands of American lives, not to mention the thousands of lives to citizens of other Nations. What is has also done is brought to light that we have Military bases and personnel spread out all across the globe. The argument that the pro war, not pro Military, use to justify the war and the support of the bases on foreign soil is that it is for our National defense. Is it really? First off our Military is spread so thin that we are constantly calling up the National Guard. We aren’t calling them up to fill the gaps left in the defense here at home; we are calling them up to deploy overseas to fill gaps in the Military. We are leaving our own borders open with little to no Military available to defend them. While there are a few of the candidates that are saying it is time to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and it is, there is only one that is consistent on the fact that we need to get out of all the foreign countries. This attitude is incorrectly called being an isolationist. Being an isolationist means you want nothing to do with other Countries, no political ties, no trade ties, no allies, nothing. Wanting our Military out of other Countries is not being an isolationist; it is following the doctrine George Washington laid out in his farewell speech following his Presidency, a doctrine of non-intervention. Non-intervention means not getting involved with other Nations political issues while maintaining trade with all Nations. Once we become entangled in political agendas of foreign Nations we take the risk of becoming involved with wars on foreign lands.
When we take the side of one Nation over another we take the risk of alienating Nations which in the end could result in another Pearl Harbor or 9-11. In most cases any time we have become involved in foreign wars we have also become involved with Nation rebuilding and in some cases trying to spread democracy to Nations that either do not understand democracy or do not want it. Nation rebuilding not only costs the American taxpayer, it also gives our Politicians the false belief that the recipient Nation is now beholden to us. Forcing democracy on a Nation that has no desire to be a democratic Nation, much less a Republic like we are supposed to have is an invitation to starting more civil unrest that we will ultimately be entangled; this in turn will cost more money and lives. This argument for non-intervention is true with Israel as well as all other Nations. Israel, while they are the one Nation in the Middle East that shares common beliefs with America, they are their own Nation and they will survive or not on their own. Nothing we do will change that fact, it may prolong it, but it won’t change it.
All the above is also true with foreign aide. Foreign aide is American taxpayer money that usually does not get spent the way our Politicians want it to be spent, or at least not in the way they are telling us it will spent. The war in Afghanistan back in the early 80’s between Afghan rebels against Russia and the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan is a perfect example. Congressman Charlie Wilson from TX coaxed billions of dollars to be funneled to the Afghan rebels without it being directly attributed to the rebels. America also provided training to the rebels by our CIA. We trained Osama Bin Laden on how to use our weapons and then provided him with those weapons. Once the rebels pushed back the Russian troops we packed up and left. For once we did not get involved in Nation rebuilding since we were not officially involved in the conflict and this left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Afghan people which ultimately resulted in the Taliban getting the foothold in the country and to stir up the discontent towards the American way of life. We are now in Afghanistan fighting the same people that we originally supported.
Political entanglements, Military occupation resulting in the colonization of foreign countries and the export of American dollars are not the way to the common defense of our Nation. Our Military should be protecting this Nation and its territories. Our Naval and Air Forces should be patrolling the waters and the skies surrounding our Nation while our ground forces are protecting our borders. Some will argue that our Military can not operate on our soil, Posse Comitatus Act, not true; our Military can not be used to enforce local laws. With a fraction of the money that has been and is being spent to support Military bases across the globe we could have developed the greatest defense system possible to prevent our Nation from being attacked and all the while maintaining a heightened state of training for our Military. By stopping foreign aide and political allegiances no Nation would be beholding to America and America would be beholden to none. Our goal should be to protect our trade routes, our borders and our skies while opening up trade with all.
Look at the issue of non-intervention in another way. For the most part Americans are non-interventionists, they just don’t know it. Last year there were riots and civil unrest over the Wisconsin budget. During that whole time I didn’t see a single member of the Iowa National Guard, or the Minnesota National Guard coming to the rescue of either the Wisconsin Governor or the Teachers unions. If they had, America would have had a fit over one State interfering with another States affairs. The same is true with most of the periods of unrest in this Nation, the Watts riots, the Rodney King riots or the riots at Kent State. It is also true that in none of these cases were there any troops from Germany, Iraq, Japan or any other foreign Nation on our shores in support of the rebellious masses. Again Americans would have been calling for a declaration of war against whatever Nation had dared to send troops onto American soil. What gives us the arrogance to believe that since it is us sending troops onto foreign soil it is OK?
We can not go around the world overthrowing or supporting the overthrowing of every Dictator we do like, all that will do is create a Dictator of our own since that is the power that will be needed. Dictators will come and go, the People of those Nations that are under the rule of a Dictator are the only ones that can decide whether or not they want to live under that type of rule or not, we decided we did not, we put it in writing in 1776 in a little read document called the Declaration of Independence.
Steve Avery
9/25/2011
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i can say i agree but i definitely disagree as well with some of what you say. The US has its political clout in the world arena for two reasons. One we are a economic juggernaut and two we can respond in minuets any where to anything militarily, this keeps most countries in check. The threat of a strike keeps Iran in a more political posturing than actually doing anything militarily in the middle east. They want the oil just as bad as we do. The forwarded deployed ships keeps mass pirate coves from forming. The need is real to have forward deployed assets to react. You can not ever logically say that we can defend our interest abroad with assets at home. Now i am not for going to war over anything but the threat of a retaliation is a true and know deterrent. We could drastically down size our forward deployed assets for sure but they are needed. Also a nation with fixed defenses is a nation of targets. Building a fence is not an answer to anything. This keeps our economic assets protected along with our political interest protected. The weight of words falls heavier when assisted by the weight of the ability to react.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that we should not be in the game of nation building but i do not wholly rule it out. if they people truly want help then i agree lets give it to them in the shape of a loan. well help if you pay back what we spend to help you. you mention we did it in the 1776, saying if you want it you can get it. Though you forget we didnt do it on our own. The French won the war for us. They gave us the fleet to corner Cornwallis. They kept the mass of the English army from the America's and over in Europe. We would have never won if the English brought their full might to bare. The reason we succeed where others fail is not because of how we do it or what form of government they are put into. it is the desire to change, to make it work, that i agree with. The people of Iraq are used to a central government they just wanted the change of government. The Afghanistan people dont care they are happy living with isolated tribes.
The foreign aid is a good and bad thing. It can be a powerful political tool to further our interests but it is a double edge sword when used to freely. Look at the relationship we have with Pakistan and India. during the cold war we propped up Pakistan with a ton of foreign aid to fight India. India was with the Russians. once they broke free and we notice we could abuse the cheap labor we dumped Pakistan and went to India. People wonder why we have such a bad foreign relationships. Though now India is our free labor pool. If were going to maintain our standard of living we so enjoy well need this asset. Though like all assets its only as good as how you use it. If you abuse it, then it becomes a detriment to your goal.
The above response to my blog was submitted by a friend, since they chose to log in as anonymous I am not going to reveal the persons name.
ReplyDeleteVery good response but I can not wholly agree with your reasoning. As for being an economic juggernaut, maybe at one time, now we are an economic disaster that is on track to bankruptcy. Tied to this disaster are the multiple bases we have established across the globe and foreign aide. The argument you present for having the foreign bases has merit, unless you look at what our Navy is capable of and has been doing. Maintaining trade routes was the primary purpose of the Navy, that is why the Navy was included in the Constitution. The Navy has the ability to provide that forward deployed deterrence that is required to maintain a strong defense for our Nation without having to establish or maintain foreign bases. You speak of launching attacks within minutes, just to clarify things, when the President decided to enter into the conflict in Libya the aircraft that made the first bombing runs can from Oklahoma, not an overseas base. Our interests abroad are trade interests. The political interests we have created are not in the best interest of the American People as a whole, they are in the best interest of trying to create power for those that are already in power. We are doing things to other Nations that we would go to war over if they tried to do it us. I never said to build a fence, I said non-intervention, big difference. We want and need the trade with other countries, free trade, not trade tied up with the political dealings of other countries. You cited an example of Pakistan and India, great example, of how sticking our nose into other Nations conflicts can come to a bad end for us. As for the oil, that has been beat to death, we are interested in their oil so that we can prevent the exploration of oil in our own country, does make sense but that is the way it is. We have oil here, and we do not receive all our oil or even that large a percentage of it from the Middle East for example. We receive oil from many Nations, some we are not friendly with in any way. Most if not all of it can be replaced if we would just harvest the oil fields we have here in America. Maintaining the theory that we are dependent on foreign oil accomplishes a couple of things politically, it provides the stand that we need to maintain our Military presence overseas and it provides a political tool to further the green movement. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for finding better sources of energy for us, but the political clout that will be lost if we do is what the Politicians do not want to see.
I also meant to touch on your reference to the French assisting us in the Revolutionary War. True and we would not have won if it had not been for them. You have to remember that the French did have reasons of their own for coming to our aide, they had taken a beating in the Seven Year War by the English. They lost Canada and other lands they were trying to colonize. They had a desire to fight the English and try to regain some dominance in this region of the globe again. It is true we asked for help, we asked for help to fight a common foe, we also asked after we had declared our independence. The French did not come waltzing in uninvited with the goal of creating another French colony. The French did not stay after the conflict and try to influence which way our Government was formed. We did take advantage of the French in the sense that we knew they wanted revenge against the English, what we are doing overseas is simply political, it is not in the best interest of the United States or her People. I do thank you for commenting and I understand that everyone will have their own views which may or may not be in line with mine.