Think of Iraq, Syria, Libya, Chad, Ethiopia, Sudan, and places like that. Maybe you have traveled and been to some of these countries. I have been to several. Well, not to the whole country, but to a tiny part of them that is reserved for the tourist trade. I was in part of Egypt, Syria and Israel in 1971. I was in Morocco in 2013. Nice places to visit, but to me they were very different culturally, ethnically and in terms of religion. Frankly, I admit that I was merely a tourist, and my exposure to the people and their world was miniscule.
So what do we think we are doing when we bring the massive United States military into a country and topple their government (Iraq and Libya) or attack their leadership, (Egypt, Somalia)? This writer suggests that we are bringing instability and rapid change, (too rapid) to areas of the world very much different than our own. Face it, the USA is comprised of people of European ancestry, Western culture and traditions and Jewish or Christian religion. When we enter the countries listed, we bring into these places the impact of that ancestry.
Is our bringing our ancestry and all its parts a bad thing? No, it is not! However, ponder if it is a bad thing when it comes uninvited, under the flag of war and with the power of bombs and boots. For my part, I think that the impact of our forced entry into South West Asia, (I think that is the official geographical designation of the area) is unnecessary turmoil, too rapid change and fear. Fear? Afraid of the USA? How can someone say such a thing? We are not a people to be feared.
Agreed, Americans are a wonderful people. They are not fearsome nor should anyone be afraid of us. However, America is the greatest military, economic and industrial nation of the world and our bombs and boots are to be feared. Afraid of our military? Yes, and it should be so because ours is the mightiest and most effective military in the world. However, we really do not intend, at least at the level of the rank and file, to destroy and dominate the world. Nonetheless, our military does destroy and it does dominate. It is what the military does.
America is the greatest, free democracy on planet earth. We are truly an exceptional nation. We are an exceptional people. All things being equal, I believe that the vast majority of people on our planet would like to be like us, enjoy the blessings that we have been given, and live in peace and freedom, as we do. Maybe it is time for us to forget the Post WW II decision that we are the sole defenders of freedom and democracy. Maybe it is time for us to forget the Cold War decision that we are the last and best hope against international communism. Maybe it is time to simply be proud of who we are, of what we have accomplished and to offer our example to a world that very much wants to be like us.
Progressive Politics 