* The Liberty Tree *
columnist: Jake Morphonios

Topic: Ron Paul
Ron Paul vs President Bush on Foreign Policy

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Foreign Policy for Dummies: A Primer for Neo-Conservatives Based on Constitutional Principles Endorsed by Congressman Paul.

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by Jake Morphonios
(Libertarian)
Thursday, January 10, 2008

Today President George W. Bush visited Israel, using the opportunity to engage in verbal saber-rattling against Israel’s arch-nemesis, Iran. Though he campaigned in 2000 on a promise to adhere to traditional Republican opposition to nation-building, President Bush has bloodied the world in an autocratic path of intervention, invasion and failed foreign policy. As America’s reputation in the world has sunk to an all-time low, perhaps Bush would benefit from a brief lesson in the consequences of imperial conquest. 

Throughout history, there has always been a great temptation for rulers to spread their influence and pursue empire over liberty. Few resist this temptation to power. There always seems to be a natural inclination to yield to this historic human passion. Could it be that progress and civilization and promoting freedom require ignoring this impulse to control others, as the founders of this
great nation advised?

Historically, the driving force behind world domination is usually an effort to control wealth. The Europeans were searching for gold when they came to the Americas. Now it's our turn to seek control over the black gold which drives much of what we do today in foreign affairs. Competing with the Soviet Union prompted our involvement in areas of the world where the struggle for the balance of power was the sole motivating force.

The foreign policy of the 20th century replaced the policy endorsed by all the early presidents. This permitted our steadily growing involvement overseas in an effort to control the world's commercial interests, with a special emphasis on oil. Our influence in the Middle East evolved out of concern for the newly created state of Israel in 1947, and our desire to secure control over the flow of oil in that region. Israel's needs and Arab oil have influenced our foreign policy for more than a half a century.

In the 1950s, the CIA installed the Shah in Iran. It was not until the hostage crisis of the late 1970s that the unintended consequences of this became apparent. This generated Iranian hatred of America and led to the takeover by the reactionary Khoumini and the Islamic fundamentalists. It caused greater regional instability than we anticipated. Our meddling in the internal affairs of Iran was of no benefit to us and set the stage for our failed policy in dealing with Iraq.

We allied ourselves in the 1980s with Iraq in its war with Iran, and assisted Saddam Hussein in his rise to power. America did nothing to stop Hussein's development of chemical and biological weapons and at least indirectly assisted in their development. As a consequence of that needless intervention, George W. Bush reasoned that it was necessary to go to war to protect America from the very weapons our government helped Iraq develop. And as usual, the result of our invasion and occupation of Iraq yielded unintended consequences. As bad as Hussein was, he was an enemy of Al Qaeda. Iraq, as a result of America’s unconstitutional nation-building effort, is now a haven and breeding ground for terrorists.

Although our puppet dictatorship in Saudi Arabia has lasted for many decades, it's becoming shakier every day. The Saudi people are not friendly toward us, and our military presence on their holy soil is greatly resented. This contributes to the radical fundamentalist hatred directed toward us. Another unfavorable consequence to America, such as a regime change not to our liking, could soon occur in Saudi Arabia. It is not merely a coincidence that 15 of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis.

The Persian Gulf War, fought without an express declaration of war, is in reality still going on. It looks now like 9/11 may well have been a single battle in that larger war. It indicates how seriously flawed our foreign policy is. In the 1980s, we got involved in the Soviet/Afghan war and actually sided with the forces of Osama bin Laden, helping him gain power. This obviously was an alliance of no benefit to the United States, and it has now come back to haunt us. Our policy for years was to encourage Saudi Arabia to oppose communism by financing and promoting Islamic fundamentalism. Surely the shortcomings of that policy are now evident to everyone.

Clinton's bombing of Sudan and Afghanistan on the eve of his indictment over Monica Lewinsky shattered a Taliban plan to expel Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan. Clinton's subsequent bombing of Baghdad on the eve of his impeachment hardly won any converts to our cause or reassured Muslim people in the Middle East of a balanced American policy. The continued bombing of Iraq over these past 15 years, along with the deadly sanctions that resulted in hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilian deaths, has not been beneficial to our security. And it has been used as one of the excuses for recruiting fanatics ready to sacrifice their lives in demonstrating their hatred toward us.

Essentially all Muslims see our policy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as being openly favorable toward Israel and in opposition to the Palestinians. It is for this reason they hold us responsible for Palestinian deaths, since almost all Israeli weapons are from the United States. Since the Palestinians don't even have an army and must live in refugee camps, one should understand why the animosity builds.

Congressman Ron Paul understands these sensitive issues and how to best deal with them. It is through strict adherence to the supreme law of our land, the US Constitution, that Dr. Paul will return the United States to a position of respect in the world. Like our founding fathers, Ron Paul advocates friendship with all nations and entangling alliances with none.

For more articles by Jake Morphonios, please visit: http://www.nolanchart.com/author232.html

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2008 Jake Morphonios, all rights reserved.
Published: Thursday, January 10, 2008
Last modified: Thursday, January 10, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of Jake Morphonios only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Jake Morphonios is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

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