Sometimes sharing your thoughts can cause people to think you're un-American. This may likely be one of those times. Therefore, I must establish a few things up front:
1. The September 11th attacks are NOT America's fault, and I won't even be suggesting that;
2. The people who carried out the attacks, and those who directed them, are solely responsible for murdering the victims in New York, Pennsylvania and Arlington;
3. Anything I write about understanding motives or of political perspectives should in no way be construed as sympathizing with terrorists - merely that we need to, at times, be able to relate to geopolitical realities from more than just an American perspective.
With those disclaimers now being established, I hope my words will not be taken out of the context in which they are intended.
My feelings have been conflicted over the past several weeks, surrounding the ten-year mark of 9/11. I think a lot of it is because my views and positions on a number of things have changed, some of them dramatically, over the course of these past ten years. I certainly haven't come any closer to becoming a Democrat, mind you, but I do find myself moving farther away from being a textbook representation of today's Republican party.
I've always been interested in studying the US Constitution but it's become increasingly important to me as I have finally starting realizing how much of it has either been disregarded or misunderstood. It is through this renewed obsession with the constitution that I have been prompted to revisit other founding documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, as well as other writings of our founders (e.g. The Federalist Papers) and speeches made during their tenures as statesmen. These are the sources for understanding original intent, if that is in fact our goal, as opposed to bending the constitution to our own desires. It is through these self-directed studies that it has become clear to me that the founders masterfully crafted nearly all of their writing and public speaking in response to a shared vision of what this nation ought to be and what it ought not to be. They had first hand experience with the latter, which shaped their convictions for the former.
A famous quote from Jefferson comes from his first inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1801: "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations — entangling alliances with none."
I think somewhere along the way, we have lost sight of that principle. It is a tenet that, when followed, discourages empire-building and fosters good international relations; two things with which we currently are experiencing some difficulty.
We presently find ourselves involved in undeclared and unconstitutional "wars" and we have troops deployed, in one form or another, in something like 130 countries. We use the force of our military to topple foreign governments, prop up dictators and interfere with the internal affairs of other sovereign nations. We serve up pre-packaged revolutions and occupy lands where many of the people don't want us there anymore (if they ever did in the first place). As if that isn't enough, we enforce embargoes that generally end up increasing the mortality of foreign children and elderly, rather than impacting the governments or leaders we intend to influence by them. We have strayed rather far from Jefferson's vision... and we wonder why hatred toward America brews to the point of boiling over.
Now, don't get me wrong here. I am not bashing our people serving in the military. They do not choose the conflicts nor do they specify how they will be deployed. They are merely trying to selflessly serve their county (and all of us) in the best way they know and most of them do so faithfully and honorably. Many have made the ultimate sacrifice, giving life and limb in the service of country - that is what sickens me about how they are used. I think our current policies dishonor these brave men and women. We throw them into harm's way, filling their minds with the illusion they are defending freedom and changing the face of the world for the better, when it may be having quite the opposite effect. Before you assume that I will now heap the blame upon the Obama administration, think again; this all started way before he was sworn into office. There is plenty of blame to be shared by all.
We need to bring our troops home. Period.
In addition to our military presence in many parts of the world being unconstitutional and fiscally unsustainable, I think it has also had the unintended consequence of making us less safe. Our military assets are stretched so thin across the globe that we are experiencing the equivalent of conscription, by routinely extending enlistments to keep troops in theater. We don't have US troops available to actually protect the United States. With a foreign policy that routinely pisses off a lot of the world, and makes it much easier for terrorists to advance their recruiting efforts, we are in quite a precarious position.
I think the best thing we can do is return to what used to make us the envy of the world - showing our commitment to liberty and freedom by setting a good example, both at home and abroad. That is what made us a Shining City on a Hill, which is something worth recapturing.
© the stiff lizard
© the stiff lizard
