Time magazine recently published the results of an international poll asking which country was the greatest threat to world peace. The US came in first, by a large margin.
We can continue to tell ourselves how wonderful we are, and how strong our military is, but we have demonstrated time and again a hair-trigger policy to go to war without reason and to mess with sovereign nations’ internal affairs. Remember Grenada? And what did we gain by our influence in Iran, or by supporting Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Ladin? How well did we do for the citizens of Chile and Nicaragua?
I’d say this started long before Mr. Kerry took over for Ms. Clinton. I’d say this started long before Mr. Obama took office.
I recommend a reading of “The Ugly American”, written in 1958 by two members who quit the State Department because of their intolerance for how willingly and how frequently the department botched its mission. Those same problems are still there today. The details will infuriate you.
I am not a big fan of Mr. Obama’s foreign policy. I will give him props for getting us (sort of) out of Iraq. I wish we would leave Afghanistan today. And I’m glad we didn’t rush to war in Syria and Iran (can you say “Quagmire”?), which would have almost certainly happened if Mr. McCain or Mr. Romney had been elected. That said, there have been some major blockbuster policy errors in many previous administrations, and while some of you posters won’t blame them (merely because they no longer hold office), history already has.
Time magazine recently published the results of an international poll asking which country was the greatest threat to world peace. The US came in first, by a large margin.
We can continue to tell ourselves how wonderful we are, and how strong our military is, but we have demonstrated time and again a hair-trigger policy to go to war without reason and to mess with sovereign nations’ internal affairs. Remember Grenada? And what did we gain by our influence in Iran, or by supporting Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Ladin? How well did we do for the citizens of Chile and Nicaragua?
I’d say this started long before Mr. Kerry took over for Ms. Clinton. I’d say this started long before Mr. Obama took office.
I recommend a reading of “The Ugly American”, written in 1958 by two members who quit the State Department because of their intolerance for how willingly and how frequently the department botched its mission. Those same problems are still there today. The details will infuriate you.
I am not a big fan of Mr. Obama’s foreign policy. I will give him props for getting us (sort of) out of Iraq. I wish we would leave Afghanistan today. And I’m glad we didn’t rush to war in Syria and Iran (can you say “Quagmire”?), which would have almost certainly happened if Mr. McCain or Mr. Romney had been elected. That said, there have been some major blockbuster policy errors in many previous administrations, and while some of you posters won’t blame them (merely because they no longer hold office), history already has.