I've decided that, in the wake of current events, it is appropriate to revisit an old topic again. I think that it is important in these times to really connect with what is happening in Syria, Egypt and other nations (including Libya) and our role in the turmoil that is growing rampant in our world.
A few years ago, I wrote about a book that really impacted me and opened my eyes in many ways. http://allthebiscuitsingeorgia.blogspot.com/2010/06/ugly.html I want to re share some of my previous thoughts and reflect on where our nation has arrived since then.
After the assault on our embassy in Libya and the subsequent actions in other nations in that region, I thought about how ugly things were growing and about the ugliness that was at least partially to blame. The book I'm referencing was published in 1958 and since that date we have learned almost nothing about foreign policy in this nation. In fact, we might be more incompetent than we were then.
There is plenty of blame to go around. The current administration has done an abysmal job in this area. Hillary Clinton was a nightmare as secretary of state and will only be worse if elected president. In her defense, she was trying to manage to operate in a climate that was bitter from decades of mismanagement of US foreign policy.
As I recall my reading of "The Ugly American" and the uphill battle that so many characters in that book had to fight to try to enact the types of policies that would make our international efforts effective and endear people to our nation I wonder what similar attempts are being thwarted by incompetence back home today.
US response to their attempts not only undermined their efforts but also assisted the efforts of our rivals. The book was written by former members of the foreign service and was based on actual events. It was written as a warning of what could happen if we did not change our course. That was pre-Viet Nam. Reading this book helped me see just how preventable that war could have been.
When I hear the stories about Chris Stevens, the ambassador that the Obama Administration abandoned in the Benghazi attack, it reminds me of Gilbert MacWhite. His approach and the relationship he was establishing with the people of Libya held so much promise for our future relations with that nation. At least MacWhite was only fired.
The issue that I'm writing about is not a Republican problem and it is not a Democrat problem. It is an American problem as both parties have done terrible in foreign policy planning, organization and implementation. And it is a problem that is not going to change so long as people are not moved by dead people in the streets of Damascus or Cairo. When we realize that our shortcomings overseas are a direct consequence to our failure to realize that "all men are created equal" and that the founding axiom of our nation is true worldwide. We need some serious attention placed on what is going on. We don't need to get a bunch of our folks killed but we need to find ways to put an end to the killing that is going on and we need a course of action that will actually be effective overseas.
It's time to seriously ponder these issues and the effects they have on us all.
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