It's Time to Start Minding Our Own Business (Southern Avenger)

Campaign for Liberty ^ | 2010-06-12 | Jack Hunter aka Southern Avenger

[rabscuttle385]

If I had my druthers, the never-ending conflict between Israel and Palestine would be but a small news brief in American newspapers. But since we police the world, we must always monitor our global police scanner, where not only Israel's conflicts, but those of North and South Korea, the nation of Georgia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and pretty much everywhere else is the United States' business because we insist on making it so.

What many Americans bizarrely consider national "defense" is actually an aggressive and enduring offense, and yet we are always surprised when other nations get offended.

Last week, Israeli soldiers raided a Turkish flotilla seeking to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza. From Israel's perspective, the flotilla illegally broke a blockade. When the Israeli soldiers boarded the flotilla, they were attacked by those on board, something the flotilla passengers called self-defense and Israel deemed reason enough to open fire. The end result: nine passengers dead, many soldiers wounded, 700 activists arrested or "kidnapped" (depending on your perspective), an irate Turkey, and an indignant Israel. Many nations have condemned Israel for these actions. They have also condemned the U.S. for not sufficiently condemning Israel. Even though Washington, D.C. is more than 5,000 miles from Tel Aviv, somehow Israel's controversies always automatically become ours. Why?

This basic question is not simply so-called "isolationist" naiveté, something critics would no doubt charge. It's quite the opposite: It is human nature to have a blindness toward the big questions because we get so caught up in the little ones. The average idiot couple arguing on Maury gets so caught up in their own he-said-she-said, white-trash narrative they never stop to consider whether there's any real value to their obviously irreparably damaged relationship.

The same goes for America's relationship with not only Israel, but much of the globe, where our foreign policy is eternally bogged down by the same sort of well-meaning but ultimately idealistic minutia. According to foreign affairs analyst Andrew J. Bacevich, "The bedrock assumption to which all of official Washington adheres, liberal Democrats no less than conservative Republicans, is that the United States itself constitutes the axis around which history turns. We define the future. Our actions determine its course. The world needs, expects, and yearns for America to lead, thereby ensuring the ultimate triumph of liberty."

Bacevich gives a fairly accurate description of America's view of itself and its place on the world stage and also how the U.S. insists only it can play the lead role. Bacevich adds, "For the United States to shrink from its responsibility to lead is, at the very least, to put at risk the precarious stability to which humanity clings and in all likelihood would open the door to unspeakable catastrophe. Alternatives to American leadership simply do not exist."

When there was a skirmish between Russia and Georgia in 2008, then presidential candidate John McCain exclaimed, "We are all Georgians now." No, we're not. I don't know a single American who thinks that.

The Korean War ended a half century ago, and yet we still have nearly 40,000 troops stationed there, something that takes on a special significance given the recent actions by North Korea. Defenders of the foreign policy status quo maintain that North Korea's aggression only underscores the need for a U.S. presence there. Really? For how much longer? Another 50 years? Afghanistan is now the longest war in American history. When the shooting finally stops -- a highly improbable scenario -- how long will American troops remain? Fifty years? How long will they be in Iraq? During the 2008 presidential campaign, McCain famously said troops could be in Iraq for up to "a hundred years."

Consider this: Israel's recent attack or interception was on a Turkish ship in international waters. Turkey is part of NATO; Israel isn't. According to that charter, the U.S. must now go to war with Israel. No one is suggesting any such insanity, but it is worth noting that anyone who suggests NATO is a Cold War relic that should be scrapped is ridiculed or marginalized for making such a suggestion. America simply has to be everywhere and at all times.

To question any of this is to be called an "isolationist," to question our special relationship with Israel is to be called "anti-Semitic," and to ask questions, period, about one of the most expensive, damaging, and irrational foreign policies in history is politically taboo. The seemingly hopeless conflict between Israel and the Palestinians should have never been our fight, but we've made it ours, a point driven home by the events of last week. How many more such lessons must we be taught and will we ever learn them?

[rabscuttle385]

fyi

[jessduntno]

“But since we police the world...”

No, we do not. Faulty premise, bad conclusions.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

I wasn’t aware that we “policed the world”....

[Scythian]

Good Article ... I’ll aways be in Israel’s corner, but ya ...

[earlJam]

The US has been the world’s police officer, unfortunately.

But that does not mean that we should not defend our only true democratic ally in the Middle East.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

We have to pay attention for one reason. The Jet Stream.

When the Soviet Union started to do nuclear atmospheric tests, suddenly the US had a major wake up call, because relatively large amounts of radioactive Strontium-90 were showing up in the milk of cows in Kansas and Nebraska. Not in the rest of the US, but just there.

As it turned out, for unknown reasons, as the jet stream passes over the United States, it has a downward drop into the Midwest. Thus these nuclear particles made on the other side of the world, were rapidly transported by the jet stream and dumped in our lap.

So we had to create the Atmospheric Test Ban Treaty in a hurry.

Well, the condition still exists today. So anywhere in the northern hemisphere where nations start exploding surface burst or atmospheric nuclear weapons, *we* are going to get dumped on.

Israel has made it clear that if some nation throws a nuclear missile at them, they are not going to limit retaliation to just that one Islamic country, but that they will blast a bunch of Islamic countries.

From our point of view, that would be a “medium” nuclear exchange, since the maximum number of nuclear weapons that Israel has is equal to only about two of our Ohio class submarines nuclear weapons. But that’s enough.

So we, or somebody else, is going to have to keep leaning on these hateful 2-3 fifths of the world’s population, or else the breadbasket of the United States is going to be terribly polluted.

[Centurion2000]

Afghanistan is now the longest war in American history

When did we declare war again? I must have missed that.

[Pessimist]

“To question any of this is to be called an “isolationist,” to question our special relationship with Israel is to be called “anti-Semitic,”

Absolutely true. And there are many here that use those very tactics, even while lambasting the Obama bots for using the same tactic.

[junta]

You’re gonna get scorched. Between the DOD spending junkies and the theocrats and MEpingers I give this thread an hour. We guard the borders of how many countries but give ours away to any dirtbag who can sneak across the border hold hands with some white liberal traitor and screech “racist.” Yep we need to spend more on the DOD till we are a three thousand mile wide Detroit.

[LastNorwegian]

Because ‘minding your own business’ worked so well in WW2.

Ever hear that expression about “hanging together or hanging separately”? It’s still true and Israel is the canary in the coalmine. Their enemies are also ours as we will find out if/when they are annihilated.

Similarly it remains in the best interests of the US to halt not just the spread of North Korean nuclear and missile tech, but the power of tyranny which is currently spreading even into our own countries.

[Jewbacca]

“Last week, Israeli soldiers raided a Turkish flotilla seeking to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza. “

It has been established the boats were either empty or contained garbage. Indeed, it was of so little use, after Israel inspected it for weapons and sent it on to Gaza, the Gazan arabs refused it.

[PGalt]

The threats to this nation have never been so imminent, the foe never been so great in numbers, the tactics never been so assymetric, the infiltration so complete, the enablers/co-conspirators so vocal/entrenched and the ideology so long-standing and virulent.

Wake up, Jack.

[Nosterrex]

At some point, America has to face reality. Just as we do not have the financial resources to fund the entitlements, we cannot police the world. I am not for total isolationism as are many Libertarians, but I am for limited international intervention, very limited. We do not have the resources to police the world. Charity begins at home, as the Scriptures say. This moral imperative that some people have to make the world a better place through American interventionism is another term for tyranny. Good intentions have often been the foundation for the worst atrocities in history.

[Salem]

"...and the theocrats and MEpingers I give this thread an hour."

Over two hours. We will endeavor to be more prompt in the future.

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" ... It's time we recognized the nature of the conflict. It's total war and we are all involved. Nobody on our side is exempted because of age, gender, or handicap. The Islamofacists have stolen childhood from the world."—FReeper Retief
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A student told his professor he was going to "Palestine" to "fight for freedom, peace and justice,"—Orwellian leftist code words that mean "murder Jews."

[patriot preacher]

Thanks for bringing this thread to my attention. Sad that there are so many even here on FR that are a part of the “Head in the Sand” crowd.

I suppose, however, they’ll feel comfortable when, one day, the camel jockey’s force them to worship their sand god — IF they let them live....

[Salem]

I noticed on your profile page you say you are a college professor. Have you heard of Focus on the Family's Truth Project yet? Just curious.

[patriot preacher]

I’ve heard of it — but know nothing about it really — I will look it up now that you mention it :-) Thanks

[Lurker]

I wasn’t aware that we “policed the world”....

Really. You need to pay more attention.

[Salem]

Yeah, if you are heading any type of ministry or small group, it is a truly invaluable series. I go to a sizable independent Evangelical church and they have been running the twelve part program on Tuesday nights for the last few months. They were really surprised at the interest and turnout.

Bottom line is that polling indicates just 9 percent of visible Christianity in America has a Biblical worldview. Which explains a lot, with the social turmoil we are seeing in America these days. They put this program together to counter that.