- America's Entangling Alliances in the Middle East
by Ron Paul
We were warned,
and in the early years of our Republic, we heeded that
warning. Today, though, we are entangled in everyone's affairs
throughout the world, and we are less safe as a result. The
current Middle-East crisis is one that we helped create, and
it is typical of how foreign intervention fails to serve our
interests. Now we find ourselves smack-dab in the middle of a
fight that will not soon end. No matter what the outcome, we
lose.
By trying to support both
sides we, in the end, will alienate both sides. We are forced, by domestic
politics here at home, to support Israel at all costs, with billions of
dollars of aid, sophisticated weapons, and a guarantee that America will
do whatever is necessary for Israel's security.
Political pressure compels us
to support Israel, but it is oil that prompts us to guarantee security for
the western puppet governments of the oil-rich Arab nations.
Since the Israeli-Arab fight
will not soon be resolved, our policy of involving ourselves in a conflict
unrelated to our security guarantees that we will suffer the consequences.
What a choice! We must choose
between the character of Arafat versus that of Sharon.
The information the average
American gets from the major media outlets, with their obvious bias, only
makes the problem worse. Who would ever guess that the side that loses
seven people to every one on the other side is portrayed as the sole
aggressor and condemned as terrorists? We should remember that Palestinian
deaths are seen by most Arabs as being American-inspired, since our
weapons are being used against them, and they're the ones whose land has
been continuously taken from them.
Yet there are still some in
this country who can't understand why many in the Arab/Muslim world hate
America.
Is it any wonder that the
grassroots people in Arab nations, even in Kuwait, threaten their own
governments that are totally dominated by American power and money?
The arguments against foreign
intervention are many. The chaos in the current Middle-East crisis should
be evidence enough for all Americans to reconsider our extensive role
overseas and reaffirm the foreign policy of our early leaders- a policy
that kept us out of the affairs of others.
But here we are in the middle
of a war that has no end and serves only to divide us here at home, while
the unbalanced slaughter continues with tanks and aircraft tearing up a
country that does not even have an army.
It is amazing that the clamor
of support for Israel here at home comes from men of deep religious
conviction in the Christian faith, who are convinced they are doing the
Lord's work. That, quite frankly, is difficult for me as a Christian to
comprehend. We need to remember the young people who will be on the front
lines when the big war starts- which is something so many in this body
seem intent on provoking.
Ironically, the biggest
frustration in Washington, for those who eagerly resort to war to resolve
differences, is that the violence in the Middle East has delayed plans for
starting another war against Iraq.
Current policy prompts our
government on one day to give the go-ahead to Sharon to do what he needs
to do to combat terrorism (a term that now has little or no meaning); on
the next day, however, our government tells him to quit, for fear that we
may overly aggravate our oil pals in the Arab nations and jeopardize our
oil supplies. This is an impossible policy that will inevitably lead to
chaos.
Foreign interventionism is bad
for America. Special interests control our policies, while true national
security is ignored. Real defense needs, the defense of our borders, are
ignored, and the financial interests of corporations, bankers, and the
military-industrial complex gain control- and the American people lose.
It's costly, to say the least.
Already our military budget has sapped domestic spending and caused the
deficit to explode. But the greatest danger is that one day these
contained conflicts will get out of control. Certainly the stage is set
for that to happen in the Middle East and south central Asia. A world war
is a possibility that should not be ignored. Our policy of subsidizing
both sides is ludicrous. We support Arabs and Jews, Pakistanis and
Indians, Chinese and Russians. We have troops in 140 countries around the
world just looking for trouble. Our policies have led us to support Al
Qaeda in Kosovo and bomb their Serb adversaries. We have, in the past,
allied ourselves with bin Laden, as well as Saddam Hussein, only to find
out later the seriousness of our mistake. Will this foolishness ever end?
A non-interventionist foreign
policy has a lot to say for itself, especially when one looks at the
danger and inconsistency of our current policy in the Middle East.
Mr. Ron Paul is
a Member of Congress, 14th
District of Texas, USA.
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