The World vs. America

America the free, America the proud, America the instigator. One could argue that we as American's can adopt this new slogan legitimately and it would be internationally accepted. However, at what level is this true, and where exactly should the fingers be pointing? It is clear that Americans have dirtied the soles of their boots in other nations conflicts on multiple occasions, but have we overstepped the boundaries or were these interventions necessary? It's not hard to see why this issue is important to not just our society but to people across the World as well. It threatens our very way of life as we know it. People are not accustom to and comfortable with rapid change, and that's exactly what this issue has the potential to do. Although much of what I tell you is a matter of opinion the fact remains that many countries label the U.S. as the "bullies" of the West. We as Americans should be deeply concerned about why the majority of our global community frowns toward the very mention of our name and why they continue to grow more and more hostile by the day.

The main concern of this issue and how it could change our society is the forthcoming of war on multiple fronts. Not just with third-world countries but with major superpowers as well. America is on yet another course to a Cold War, this time double the threat. It's no secret that the U.S. is on shaky terms with both N. Korea and Iran. America has less resources and key allies in these regions to hold and maintain peace, especially while conducting the multitask of juggling foreign policy affairs between Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Israel. When does one realize the limits of one's assets and when does "multitasking" become "multislacking"? Of course, the answer we seek is not a simple solution and has been critically pondered for decades. It's obvious to see that our newly elected president has inherited many foreign policy issues, which possibly can't be fixed within his term (to be realistic about it). Furthermore, one of his greatest threats will be that of a Cold War�and if he handles it properly. Yet, what if it isn't handled properly, what would this mean to us as Americans? Everything. Society would take a dramatic shift, and my guess is for the worse. The sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers of our great nation would be called to arms to protect our freedom. Our economic structure would be shifted and geared to produce nothing but tools for war and destruction (if it isn't already). This, in turn, would produce furious citizens to rally, protest, and demonstrate their anger towards a government that failed to resolve a problem before blood was shed and missels were launched. Whether it's a case of America interfering with other nations businesses or a case of a lesser fortunate country and the greed and envy it has towards ours is unknown. I don't have the answers, and if there is somebody that does then they're surely not sitting in Washington. One could only hope that history repeats itself in this case, in that America can peacefully resolve the issue as it did in the last Cold War with the Soviet Union.

Yet, with major superpowers aside, what other threats does America face overseas? Not only could a nuclear holocaust destroy this nation one missile at a time, but third-world countries also prove to be an area of major concern. If it's one thing that Americans should have learned from the attacks of 9/11 is that the weaker states are as much of a concern as the more powerful. Finding the problem is one thing, a sound action is another. As mentioned previously, America is on the brink of a Cold War. Now we have a headache about handling a different kind of warfare, one never seen until the Iraqi invasion�one that doesn't follow the Rules of Engagement. Over the last 20 years the list of the lower-income countries that were once "neutral" and have became hostile to America continues to grow. Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, and number of areas in South America are just some countries off the top of my head. A good example of what I'm talking about is the Iraq conflict, which still continues after seeing results of less than half of what our Commander and Chief originally anticipated and promised. This could be due to the fact that the people of this region will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, whatever those might be or possibly a lack of commitment on our side. This type of warfare poses the question on how to fight a type of battle we've never encountered in the past. We've spent billions of tax payers dolors towards wartime funding to invent newer armors, weapons, and techniques that have proven to fail us time and time again. In addition, how do we explain the fact that many poorer countries are worse off after years of receiving bundles of Western foreign aid? How worse off are we in the aftermath. A majority of our society has lost faith in the governments lack of competence toward the issue. While a majority of Americans would now agree that it seems that a number of these countries were better left alone in the first place. However, these countries aren't left alone, and we continue to dig our own hole.

If your still one the edge of who's to blame here, look at it from a different angle. Imagine if a terrorist group from Mexico were to attack a foreign country such as China. China retaliates and invades Mexico. The certain terrorist group has "presumably" fled within the American borders to take refuge. China begins to enter the American borders, bombing as they please to fight a "War on Terror". I don't think America would take it so lightly, do you?

So the original question was exactly where the fingers should be pointing. If you ask me, we should take a good look in the mirror. Don't get me wrong, I'm a true patriot who has served his country for more than four years and soiled my own boots in foreign soil, but it's not hard to see that things have gotten drastically out of hand. Should we have retaliated against the 9/11 attacks? Definitely. Was it right to stay there for this long? Maybe. Should we start to pursue these terrorist if and when they flee to countries that "presumably" house them? I'd say no. One might say it's the Bush's Administration to blame, but we were the one's who appointed him to be there in the first place. Too many questions without enough answers, so let me see if I can sum it up for you. Our society has already experienced a dramatic change from the "War on Terror". It will see more than ten times that change if we continue our "War on Terror", especially when it continues to leads us to foreign soils. We as Americans need to stop turning a blind eye and realize that our country is on the brink of destruction. We as Americans need to realize that we're running out of friends in the global community. We as Americans need to make dramatic changes when it comes to our international foreign policy if we want to preserve our society the way we know it today.

Reviews

[JC]

First... thank you for your service. The USA has the world's greatest fighting force because of our all volunteer military.

I will concede to some extent that our image has been tarnished to some degree, however the countries you listed were never our allies. I also agree with MHK that when a world disaster occurs, the US is the first country everyone comes to and criticizes if they feel we haven't helped enough.

This was a very insightful and thought out. I think a clean up of grammer, spelling and punctuation would do this piece justice.


JC

[Rainbow Rider]

We are on the brink of desrtuction, I agree, but the destruction will come from within. There are now, way to many bleeding heart loons that want a socialistic nation, nay, a socialistic world. I strongly disagree with how other countries view us. Yes, if one listens to only the major network media hounds, that only report what they want us to know, then one would believe our nation is looked down on by other countries. But, just who is it every country turns to when they need something, anything, yes the good old U S of A. I could go on forever talking on this subject, but I will simply say this before I go; there is not one ( 1 ) single country out there that does NOT rely on America for a vast majority of their citizens livelyhood. Even the countries that keep sending out hate messages about us, {N Korea, Iran,etc} rely on the US to keep their country viable and safe. This would actually be a good subject to start a Group around. Let me know if you are so inclined to do so. Later ,,,,,Mhk Melvin