i wish i could take credit for that line, but i heard it last night on the Daily Show and it got me thinking. i had promised myself i`d stay away from US politics, primarily because my opinion doesn`t actually matter and secondarily in the climate of “if you`re not for us, you`re against us” that pervades; with my current immigration situation; i really shouldn`t raise any flags or be seen as the `enemy`. but i can`t, i said very early on, that if staying in the US meant giving up my opinions, i couldn`t do it, i would be pandering to the fear-mongering.
a couple months ago i posted a comment in someone`s journal that one of the ways to make the US safer was a better foreign policy. i`ve gone over this before, but if you`re new let me reiterate. in terms of being a colonial power, the US is but a babe at this and it shows in the poor judgement and inconsistent foreign policy.
one of the key problems of US foreign policy has been assistance to serve its own ends and then power vacuum that it creates when they withdraw their support; especially when it becomes troublesome at home. trust me there is a pattern which we will see repeated in Iraq, the tide is already start turning. Americans seem to have no perspective; historical or otherwise; on the havoc that is wreaked in the name of intervention. the four biggest dictators in the Caribbean were as a result of US intervention and abandonment.
if you want to know why people hate Americans so much, wake up and pay attention. when people ask for help they don`t want conditions, either you`re giving aid or you`re not. if you want to be world`s police, you have to take all the responsibility, good and bad; you can`t want to be global policemen and not recognise the jurisdiction of the international criminal court. and the “if you`re not for us, you`re against us” isn`t going to engender goodwill either.
ignorance and `might is right` does not good foreign policy make. it`s been going on close to 100 years when is someone going to learn.
