Meistro1
19th April 2006, 22:49
American Foreign Policy
Theodore Rosevelt was known to quote the West African proverb "walk softly and carry a big stick" for both his dealings with treacherous party bosses as well as his foreign politics and it is a maxim worth remembering. The concept of behaving yourself (as a country) in your dealings with other nations in a manner that is most likely to avoid confrontation while maintaing the ability to defend yourself seems like an ideal method of behaviour.
Over the last fifty years this advice has been ignored time and again by your leaders. Decades of seemingly endless unprovoked and unjustified military attacks on foreign nations can hardly be categorized as 'walking softly'. The American involvement and funding of Contras in Nicaragua and the covert sale of arms to both Iraq and Iran during the Iraq - Iran conflict are blatant examples of an interventionist foreign policy. Not only are these actions reprehensible from a moral and humanitarian standpoint they lack any clear benefit for the American people. These are mistakes made by individuals within the organization that is the American government not the flaws of Americans themselves.
The citizens of the United States did not prop up countless petty dictators in South America. The citizens of the United States did not support Sadamn Hussien, Jorge Videla and Augusto Pinochet but their leaders did and ultimately the people are responsible for what their elected leaders do. A foreign policy that promotes dictatorships, war and violence will only lead to further anti-American sentiment and violence. There is no excuse for a nation which loves freedom as you do to so openly embrace tyranny.
Theodore Rosevelt was known to quote the West African proverb "walk softly and carry a big stick" for both his dealings with treacherous party bosses as well as his foreign politics and it is a maxim worth remembering. The concept of behaving yourself (as a country) in your dealings with other nations in a manner that is most likely to avoid confrontation while maintaing the ability to defend yourself seems like an ideal method of behaviour.
Over the last fifty years this advice has been ignored time and again by your leaders. Decades of seemingly endless unprovoked and unjustified military attacks on foreign nations can hardly be categorized as 'walking softly'. The American involvement and funding of Contras in Nicaragua and the covert sale of arms to both Iraq and Iran during the Iraq - Iran conflict are blatant examples of an interventionist foreign policy. Not only are these actions reprehensible from a moral and humanitarian standpoint they lack any clear benefit for the American people. These are mistakes made by individuals within the organization that is the American government not the flaws of Americans themselves.
The citizens of the United States did not prop up countless petty dictators in South America. The citizens of the United States did not support Sadamn Hussien, Jorge Videla and Augusto Pinochet but their leaders did and ultimately the people are responsible for what their elected leaders do. A foreign policy that promotes dictatorships, war and violence will only lead to further anti-American sentiment and violence. There is no excuse for a nation which loves freedom as you do to so openly embrace tyranny.