Posted on 09/14/2001 12:53:27 PM PDT by Arator
Blowback -- the perverse result of globalist interventionism whereby the crisis one seeks to remedy via war is only exascerbated, demanding ever escalating and ever more self-sacrificing interventions in turn until, ultimately, by too many repeated turns of this vicious cycle, one destroys all that one first set out to save, including one's self.
The last century could very well be called "The Century of American Blowback".
We first abandoned our traditional isolationism and neutrality to "make the world safe for democracy" in WWI. But we just ended up making the world ripe for Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and Tojo instead. WWII was the ultimate blowback from foolhardy American interventionism.
In the wake of the disaster that was WWII, the world was soon haunted by Mao, Ho Chi Min, Kim Il Sung, and Pol Pot as well.
Amidst this world of multiplying demons, our interventionism became perpetual and global, and the blowbacks continued to roll like thunder across a darkening sky...
Our interventionism in Iran on behalf of the Shah blows back with Khomeni and Iran transforms into a radicalized anti-American fundamentalist Islamic state.
Our interventionism in Afganistan to help them fight a Soviet invasion blows back with the Taliban and Osama Bin Ladin, also dedicated to our destruction.
Our interventionism in the Gulf War saves Kuwait but left Saddam's regime in place, ever active and now intensely dedicated to our ultimate destruction.
Our interventionism in Somalia ended in our shameful humiliation.
Our interventionism in Israel has forced upon her a so-called "peace process" which has not surprisingly produced its exact opposite -- an ugly war against a terrorist PLO we rescued from post-Gulf War oblvion and re-empowered which now threatens expand and engulf the entire region.
Our interventionism in the Balkans has been catostrophic, alienating Serb and Russian and all men of good conscience because we fight along side the Islamic Jihadist KLA against out matched and beleaguered Christian Slavs.
The net result of nearly a century of American interventionism: Utter chaos, ever intensifying global calamity, and an ever more futile and increasing expenditure of American blood and treasure, the latest of which has been the horrors we have witnessed this week in New York and Washington.
Which brings me to my key questions which I'd like us all to debate:
Is the latest proposed "War to End All Wars" even worth pursuing? Or could its blowback be the ultimate blowback and our final coup-de-gras?
Given our proven ability to just make things even worse for ourselves by intervening abroad, might not our best course of action be to withdraw from this global madness and resume our former (pre-1917) strict neutrality in world affairs, acting to defend only ourselves and only when our country, our fellow citizens or our property are threatened, keeping ourselves strictly neutral and on the sidelines in every one of the ancient conflicts which perpetually roils the old world?
Let us now debate this. What is America's wisest course now? Is it another futile war and the blowback which is sure to follow? Or is it a return to the posture and principles advocated by our founders?
"You may not be interested in war," Leon Trotsky said, "but war is interested in you." Yesterday, it hunted us down and snatched thousands from their airplane seats, their morning briefings, and their business meetings with grisly efficiency. In an act of terror too horrific to comprehend, much less control, America was attacked by a power too cowardly to show its face.A century of titans' clashes left the U.S. mainland unscathed. We felt secure within our borders, confident of our country's strength. But this morning, twin icons to our old invincibility lie ruined. The World Trade Center, monument to our economic dominance, and the Pentagon, center of our military might, now entomb more victims than we can yet count. They leave families ever after affected by their absence and a country lesser for their lost contributions.
Tempted though some may be to glean talking points from the tragedy, this is no time for sermonizing about failed intelligence or soured imperialism. This is a season for a heartsick nation to mourn our fallen and commend our heroes. Details will surface soon enough, but they won't fill empty chairs at dinner tables. Buildings can be reconstructed; broken families cannot.
We may never know with certainty why evil stalked our skies that day. But we can find its agents. With the same steely resolve as the terrorists who targeted us, we will answer with a double measure of the same determination. Any nation that harbored them, any group that supported them, any individual that gave them aid must be held accountable - not in the name of revenge, but for justice's own sake.
The war that came looking for us yesterday plays by unwritten rules. It bypasses our fighting forces, stakes no claim to our territory, and makes weapons of our own assets. Pandemonium and panic are the laurels it covets, but yesterday we denied terror that reward. As casualty reports rose, so too did the spirit of a disconsolate nation - so much so that New York's mayor asked volunteers to stop coming and blood banks couldn't contain willing donors.
Late last night, amidst the carnage of lower Manhattan, an anonymous patriot raised a flag from a twisted lamppost. Beneath its watch, rescue workers toiled through the night, sorting through the wreckage of buildings and bodies. As they tended the wounded and grieved the dead, our banner's colors faded beneath layers of dust, yet it fluttered still -- a tattered reminder that America, though shaken still stands, and will live to fight another day. - Patrick J. Buchanan
good effort, but you are spitting in the wind.....the War Party has firm control of the sheeple right now and no amount of sensible discussion will stop the hysteria
People should reflect that the very same people who got us into this mess are now the ones telling us how to get out of it
We are, all of us, useful idiots.
I loathe catch 22s, but here we are again.
No, let's not.
I personally believed that America should be less interventionist in the world. That all the world's troubles are not ours. I knew that someday people we had angered would find a way to strike at us and in this technological age they would do it powerfully. I have no desire to go to war for Israel or Taiwan or Kosovo.
None of that matters now. None of that changes the fact that today we find ourselves at war with an enemy out to destroy us. That's the reality we have to deal with and whining about how it should have been different doesn't help.
We need to destroy the enemy that would destroy us. I don't care why they feel the way they do, and I don't care what justifications they find in American foreign policy. I will not personally tolerate anyone who advocates surrender, as you do.
We need to, and apparently are going to, declare war on terrorism. We are going to change the rules of acceptable behavior and enforce those rules. Practice terrorism and not only will you die, but so will your compatriots, your cause and maybe your country. Don't like it? Too bad.
As I've always believed, Pat Buchanan demonstrates once again that he is not nearly so obtuse as some of his followers.
Nonsense. There were tyrants in the world long before the United States came upon the scene. The fact is, successful nations will always be a target of others. It is only when a nation fails to defend itself that it is destroyed.
Ohh,I suspect there will be blowback,that usually happens from a mushroom cloud!
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