"Speak softly and carry a big stick" did NOT have the US storing its sticks on foreign soil.
On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 10:21 AM, RICHARD BROWN <[email protected] > wrote: > > The Brits, the Soviets and now us have ventured into the quagmire > called Afghanistan, made up of warlord chieftains. When will we stop > interfering in other nations? The reasons Osama bin Laden gave for > the 9-11 attacks were for our meddling in the affairs of other > nations. We have bases in 63 countries which is how we control our > empire. We need to go completely neutral, close all foreign bases and > endorse open and free economic elections in the market. Economic > democracy is the only democracy worth supporting. > > On Jul 2, 8:15 am, Frederick The Moderate <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I agree 100%. The Iraq war was illegal for the reasons stated in this > > article. First we were lied to, then we were told were were doing it > > becaue Saddam was a really bad guy and you know, we love the Iraqis so > > much - which is Constitutionally illegal and also against the WPA. The > > GOP got us into that crap and the Dems let them. Now Obama seems to > > want to engage in the same mistake as the Soviets made in Afghanistan. > > > > On Jul 2, 7:33 am, "M. Johnson" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Wednesday, July 1, 2009'Fight them over there vs. over here' a false > choiceOPINION/ANALYSISThere is no area in which Republicans have further > strayed from our traditions than in foreign affairs. > > > Generations of conservatives followed the great advice of our Founding > Fathers and pursued a restrained foreign policy that rebuffed entangling > alliances and advised America, in the words of John Quincy Adams, not to "go > abroad looking for dragons to slay." > > > Sen. Robert Taft, the stalwart of the Old Right, urged America to stay > out of NATO. Dwight Eisenhower was elected on a platform promising to get us > out of the conflict in Korea. Richard Nixon promised to end the war in > Vietnam. > > > Republicans were highly critical of Bill Clinton for his adventurism in > Somalia and Kosovo. As recently as 2000, George W. Bush campaigned on a > "humbler" foreign policy and decried nation-building. > > > But our foreign policy today looks starkly different. > > > Neoconservatives who have come to power in both the Democratic and > Republican parties argue that the U.S. must ether confront every evil in > every corner of the globe or risk danger at home. We need to "fight them > over there" they say, so we don't have to "fight them over here." This > argument presents a false choice. We do not have to pick between > interventionism and vulnerability. The complexity of our world is exactly > why the lessons of our past should ring true and demand a return to a > traditional, pro-American foreign policy: one of nonintervention. > > > Moving forward, I suggest that we as Americans adhere to these five > principles: > > > 1. We do not abdicate American sovereignty to global institutions. The > purpose of the United States is to protect the liberty of the American > people. We should never allow the WTO, NAFTA, the U.N. or the Law of the Sea > Treaty to transfer power from America to an international body. > > > 2.We provide a strong national defense, but we do not police the world. > America should be armed with defensive weapons capable of repelling any > attack. We should spend all appropriate money to make sure that no country > in world can credibly threaten us. > > > Unfortunately, our foreign policy is undermining our security. We have > more than 700 military installations in 135 countries around the globe. We > have 50,000 troops in Germany, 30,000 in Japan, and 25,000 in South Korea. > Worse, we have our brave men and women bogged down occupying Iraq and > Afghanistan in the midst of ethnic strife and civil war. > > > We spend more than $1 trillion per year on our foreign policy, and our > military is stretched thin. We can no longer afford to be the world's > policeman. We must bring our troops home from around the world, cut overseas > spending and strengthen our national defense. > > > 3. We obey the Constitution and follow the rule of law. The > Constitution clearly states that only Congress can declare war. Congress > abandoned that responsibility during the buildup to the Iraq war and must > never make that mistake again. When wars are undeclared, they drag on with > no clear plan or exit strategy. If we must fight, we should do so with > overwhelming force, win as quickly as possible and promptly withdraw. > > > 4. We do not engage in nation-building. Conservatives know government > is a poor tool to solve problems. It then makes no sense that we would think > that our government could build civil societies and solve the tremendously > complex problems of a developing country. Nation-building does not work. It > places a tremendous burden on our military and takes directly from the > pockets of the American taxpayer. The best thing we as Americans can do is > offer friendship while setting a good example of what a free and prosperous > society looks like. Ronald Reagan wanted America to be a "shining city on > the hill." We should make that our goal. > > > 5. We stay out of the internal affairs of other nations. America should > conduct trade, travel and diplomacy with all willing nations. Intervention, > however, always has unintended consequences and almost always gets us in > trouble. For example, in 1953, our CIA helped overthrow Mohammad Mosaddeq, > the democratically elected prime minister of Iran and installed the Shah of > Iran, a ruthless dictator. The blowback from our actions was in large part > responsible for the extremist Iranian Revolution of 1979, the taking of our > hostages and the many problems we have had with Iran ever since. So much of > our intervention makes no sense. We backed Saddam Hussein for much of the > 1980s, and then twice went to war against him. In the 1990s, we bribed North > Korea not to pursue atomic weapons with nuclear technology, and Kim Jong-il > used that assistance to build several nuclear bombs. > > > Intervention simply does not serve our long-term interests. > > > The world is a dangerous place and we should be concerned, but > intervention and militarism cannot solve our problems. The answers to our > foreign policy problems lie in defending our soil, scaling back our global > military footprint and trading with all willing partners. We have strayed > far from this philosophy, but we can get back on track by looking to our > Constitution, our traditions and the example of our Founding Fathers.Ron > Paul, a Pittsburgh-born obstetrician and Republican House member from Texas, > campaigned for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination on a > limited-government platform. > http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/01/fight-them-over-there-vs-... > > > -- Mark M. Kahle, , www.filacoffee.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. 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