STRANGE BED FELLOWS

Our foreign policy is strange indeed. We have cuddled up to dictators, only to drop the support when a popular revolt takes place; except, of course, for Iran, where we were dear friends with the Shah and his beautiful young wife. In that country, Iran, the mullahs simply would have nothing to do with the Great Satan (that's us, by the way). We welcomed the fugitive ruler with open arms and gave him the best medical care until he died of cancer. When Batista, the cruel despot of Cuba, whom we loved to do business with even though he persecuted political opponents and was rotten to the core, finally saw the writing on the wall, we dropped him like a hot potato and initially embraced Fidel Castro as the new tyrant. We all know what happened...Examples abound but they all have one thing in common: Our foreign policy seems, since the end of the Cold War, mostly focused on whether or not we can do business with that country. There are other important considerations of a political nature as is the case with Pakistan.



President Carter welcomes the Shah in 1977

We no longer invade countries to increase the size of the American Empire; the war with Mexico and with Spain allowed us to expand the Southwest considerably in the 19th century. We now invade sovereign nations because we, officially speaking, believe that they pose a threat to our peaceful existence. The fact that some have oil (Iraq) and/or fabulous reserves of rare minerals (Afghanistan) is simply icing on the cake. We waste billions of depreciated dollars in aiding Pakistan, an "ally" that has spread nuclear technology to other rogue nations and that keeps sending (informally of course) thousands of religious combatants to Afghanistan. With friends like these, who needs...?

"The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials."    

By JAMES RISEN Published: June 13, 2010 The New York Times 

We reluctantly helped the revolution in Lybia (more oil anybody?) amid the popular (in the U.S.) rejection of more billions spent on foreign wars and in the midst of a new potential recession. Oh, I forgot! We have a complete embargo of the Cuban island after more than 50 years, a fact which is not only stupid (just to please a few Cuban refugees) but constitutes an act of war. Why don't we do  that with North Korea, a country that has been pulling our chain ever since the end of the Korean War. Could it be because China looms in the background?

It is high time to reject the concept of Real Politik of our former Secretary of State Kissinger; it might have been expedient during the Cold War, but it has no place in the modern world. I am beginning to sympathize with the presidential candidate Ron Paul, who advocates a type of isolationism.




Let's stop playing the role of policeman of the world and start focusing on the numerous ailments that afflict this beautiful country.