The Truth About American War & Foreign Policy

Considering the recent events transpiring in Libya, I think it’s a necessity to speak about America’s reasons for going to war and the foreign policy that follows.  The immediate reason for war isn’t necessarily the most important aspect of going to war.  Obviously, war can be a terrible thing but it is necessary to protect the nation.  The problem is that the policy makers know why we are going to war, but they have trouble being frank enough for the American people to fully understand.  Because of the disconnect in the flow of information, the global media has a field day with every single battle fought with American soldiers. 

The United States is the most powerful nation in the world, because of this we are responsible for more global issues than other established nations have to deal with.  While European nations sit around and place “strategic sanctions” on countries, we are busy devising a plan to permanently rid ourselves of the problem.  That is why we are viewed as picking on the small guy, because we understand the necessity to pull the weed before it spreads and ruins the entire yard per se. 

This is nothing new though, starting post WWII the media has bashed almost every strategic military campaign the US military has executed.  Vietnam might be the most controversial war in our history.  Not because of the real reason why we were there, but because of the perceived notion of why we were there.  When we went into Vietnam, nobody in the country knew where Vietnam was and why we would send American troops to Southeast Asia.  People asked how does this country affect us and is there an immediate threat to the US’s security?  These answers were never answered properly, and when they were answered the people just didn’t listen.  The reason why we were there was to stop the spread of communism.  The Soviets and Chinese provided everything for the North Vietnamese forces and Vietcong short of their daily rice.  They were promoting a North Vietnamese nation that would control their people by force and rid the country of all sense of liberty.  To take that a step further, the Soviets didn’t plan on stopping with Vietnam.  They wanted to convert all of Asia and then Europe to communist nations.  Some might say, well what’s wrong with that?  They can have whatever government they want, it’s not our problem.  Let me ask you this, what happened when Hitler just controlled Germany?  Not much right?  The war didn’t start until he conquered other countries by force.  As his military power grew with every victory, he became more and more dangerous.  Then we all know what happened next, the holocaust.  The point is that with more power, comes corruption and a stronger potential for a disaster.  If Hitler would have just been the ruler of Germany, and never spread to other nations do you think the holocaust would have ever happened?  No.  German born Jews would have been most likely oppressed and forced to leave the country, but by no means would genocide have happened.  That’s the important thing to keep in mind, the United States is committed to make sure that an enemy doesn’t emerge that represents a clear and present danger to the world.  By taking steps to win wars before they become world wars, the country and the world becomes a safer place.  We didn’t necessarily win the Vietnam War, but we did stop the spread of communism until Afghanistan came into the picture.

Afghanistan before 2001 was one of the most successful covert operations in our history.  We trained Afghan fighters to fight the Soviet war machine.  We did this by training the soldiers to be able to fight the Spetznatz Soviet Special Forces and also provided stinger missiles to shoot down Soviet helicopters.  After a few years and a few billion dollars the rebels finally pushed the Soviets out of Afghanistan.  The Soviets sunk so much money into Afghanistan that the war bankrupted them and shortly after the Soviet Union crashed.  At the time, it was a great victory because we stopped the spread of communism and through our actions in Afghanistan we indirectly dismantled the Soviet Union.

Now people don’t quite see it the same.  People like to say we are now fighting the troops that we trained and supplied twenty years ago!  What were we thinking, to give them all of these weapons and funds?!  The fact of the matter is that at the time we knew that the people we were supplying were indeed terrorists.  We knew that even though we won the war for them, they wouldn’t thank us and become pro American.  With that being said, at the time we embraced the lesser of two evils.  We supported terrorism to beat communism.  There is no doubt about that, but that doesn’t make us myopic in our choice for intervention.  We fully understood the consequences of that war, and we are now living with them. 

Nothing has changed though, the Middle East didn’t like us during the Afghan war and they don’t like us now.  It’s not because we let our women drive, go to school, and walk around without a burka.  It’s especially not because of oil.  The real reason why Al Quida has success recruiting troops and suicide bombers is because of the western support for Israel.  That’s the real reason, there is no doubting that.  That war has been going on before America ever even existed.  There are other variables that are caveats to the larger problem but those can’t be helped.  So what are we to do?  We can’t sit by and allow the Middle East to retake Israel and allow the annihilation of all of Israel’s citizens.  Because of this hatred towards Israel, they hate us.  It is now engrained in Americans minds and Fundamentalist minds that we hate each other.  America stopping its support for Israel or pulling out of Middle Eastern countries will only make matters worse.

It always surprises me when I hear the hatred towards the war in Iraq and the reasons why we invaded Iraq.  We invaded them on the basis of Iraq having WMD’s, turned out we didn’t find any.  That doesn’t change anything.  Saddam Hussein was a terrible person and a violent leader, he massacred his own people.  The world is a better place without him and his regime.  Regardless of whether or not we found the WMD’s the war was a success.  I believe the reason that the world still views that war as a mistake is that Iraq didn’t pose as an immediate threat to the United States.

There is a pattern here.  Since WWII our foreign policy has been aimed to stop the rise of a leader that will amass enough power to pose as an immediate threat to the Nation’s security.  Keeping your foot on the throat of the enemy is a necessity to prevent another world war.  That’s what we all need to understand.  American leaders don’t put a map of the Middle East on the wall and throw darts at the board to see who we will attack next.  There are valid reasons for our decisions, and it’s our duty to make sure that these foreign leaders are stopped before something terrible happens.  It’s not all about oil, although I will say that the stability of oil prices is a necessity for the global economy.  Take that however you want, but it’s a fact. 

America is the big dog on campus, and the media loves to dissect and criticize every move we make.  Why do they do that?  People enjoy watching that, it seems to be that it’s easier for people to protest the reason for a war than to find a reason to support a war.  If we did the research that we should, and stop using the news as our source of information then maybe we’ll be more refined in our view on American foreign policy.  The end result is we need to realize that the wars we fight are for a reason.  If we pull out from the Middle East, do we really want to be involved in a world war ten years from now or see an American city destroyed by a WMD?  No, we don’t.  That is why we are over there fighting.  Not so much to protect the day to day safety of the nation, but to protect the long term stability and safety of the United States.  That’s a reason I’d fight for every day of the week.