I had a commander in the Air Force once who taught me a valuable lesson. I learned it too late to make much of an impact on my military career, but it has served me well in my later years when I have become slightly more mature. The boss pointed out to me that while it is indeed valuable to note the nakedness of the emperor occasionally, it is more beneficial to the situation if you provide some alternative clothing. In other words, the benefit of coming up with solutions will be appreciated while the continual pointing out of shortcomings is likely to alienate those whom you wish to impress. We all know what’s “wrong” but the winners are those who can tell you what to do to correct it.
Simple, yes. But let’s look at the American political situation. We’ve got a two party system for better or worse. And these days it looks like much worse. There is a dim bulb at the end of the tunnel here in Texas where the independent candidacy of Kinky Friedman for Governor next year seems to be gaining momentum. (Seriously!!!) Nationally though, we see the two tall dogs in the fight nipping at each other and perpetuating animosities with little positive occurring. It’s easy to see why people get depressed and cynical about government. The Bush administration is fighting daily to keep their heads above water and the opposition is piling on with continual finger-pointing regarding what is wrong.
Yet, if we step back from most of the arguments, we should be able to come to agreement where things could be improved and further agreement on where things could have been better. Fault is independent of party. Example: hurricane relief. Were there failures? Absolutely. Were there successes? Of course. Could things have been done more efficiently? Should the feds have been in quicker? Could the locals have prepared better? Could people have saved themselves by planning ahead? We’ve seen three hurricanes in a very short period and seen one total debacle, one serious traffic jam, and one major power outage with minimal injuries. Three levels of disaster, each with some level of blame and some level of competence displayed.
Maybe the biggest issue for the national government today is the global war on terror. To isolate it to Iraq is popular shorthand, but a foolish economy. The war is global and it will be expensive in both blood and treasure. On this big issue, I’ll argue strongly that the administration is right.
The opposition, that would be the Democrats, bemoans the loss of life and the cost. They point at failures and seem to overlook the despotic regimes that have been replaced in Iraq and Afghanistan. They don’t notice the impact of the effort on other areas in the world—Libya denouncing WMD research, North Korea sitting down in six-party negotiations, Israel withdrawing from Gaza, etc. They don’t seem to care that there’s a constitution in Iraq, free elections, an emerging democracy in the Middle East. They simply reiterate, “quagmire” and “exit strategy” and “skyrocketing death toll” and “roll back the tax cuts”. They seem to be very good at pointing out exaggerations of problems, but they don’t seem very adept at proposing solutions to the situation.
The philosopher Santayana gave as the cliché quote about failing to learn lessons and condemnation to repetition. There’s a lot of truth to it. So, what has happened in the past when the US attempted to stay home, guarded by our coastal oceans while the rest of the world rolled around in the mud?
Remember (I know you didn’t live it, but you might have read about it,) World War I? The Triple Alliance and Triple Entente dragged into hostilities over a simple little assassination of a low-level royal in the Balkans. We tried to stay home. Did pretty well from 1914 to 1917, but we couldn’t hold out forever. We got dragged in and during the process demonstrated the fact that America was finally going to be an international player. We had no choice.
Remember World War II? No, it didn’t start on December 7, 1941. I know you think it did, but a little historical research will leave you thinking that 1931 might be a start date in Asia, or maybe 1937 in Europe, or at least 1939 during the Battle of Britain. Pearl Harbor demonstrated pretty clearly that we couldn’t sit out a war on the sidelines. Bertold Becht was responsible for the famous anti-war quote about “what if they gave a war and nobody came?” The next line is overlooked by the pacifists, “then the war will come to you”!
Remember Berlin and the blockade? What if we had stayed home? Korea and the invasion by the North? What if we had allowed the communists to invade without reaction wherever they wished around the world? There’s be no Kias or Hyundais on the road today.
Should we have stayed home from Vietnam. You might argue in favor of that, but you would be ignoring the long term economic impact on the Pacific rim of rampant communism. China today is most definitely a capitalist economy. Japan remains a powerhouse and S. Korea is a pretty good outcome as well. Even Vietnam is much more capitalist than communist economically. Commerce is good for peace and communism didn’t really enhance global trade with the free world.
Had we not followed Kennan’s recommendation for containment, Truman’s doctrine on alliances to resist communist expansion, Dulles’ view of dominos, and eventually Reagan’s policy of strong deterrence and defense, the Soviet Union would never have collapsed and the world would still be poised on the brink of nuclear holocaust. We had an obligation to come to the party and to play hard. The results are hard to dislike.
Would it make the American left happy for us to fold our tents and slip quietly out of the sandbox of the Middle East? Sure. Would it let us live peacefully at home, secure in our lives and insulated from the 21st century world? Hardly. Can we let the jihadists fight among themselves, push Israel into the Mediterranean, bomb the occasional disco in Indonesia and derail transit in central Europe knowing that we are safe behind our oceans? No way!
I’m willing to entertain the arguments of the left. Tell me what’s wrong in the Middle East and what the cost of US intervention is. I’ll listen. But be sure to tell me what the alternative is. Tell me how withdrawal is going to solve the problems. Tell me how we will be safe from future 9/11 tragedies. Tell me how our economy will thrive with a hostile Middle East throttling the oil pipeline to Europe, Russia and the Far East even though we have enough of our own oil to meet our needs. Tell me your solution. I know what the problems are.
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