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FAILED FOREIGN POLICY
Sometimes we all choose to believe something is real, even though intellectually we know it isn’t so. Some times we just want to believe in something and allow it to pass our reality test, and at other times it’s just good honest fun. Most of the time, its harmless for us to perpetuate these myths and go about of lives in the real world. So, I’ll give a pass to all of you who believe in Wrestling, Santa Claus, and the Easter bunny.
However, we clearly lost the recent contest of wills with the North Koreans. They announced they were going to launch a “communications” satellite and we postured up and told them we would shoot it down. We bandied about some other strongly worded political rhetoric and then sat back and watched as the North Koreans did what they wanted to do. They knew the odds were strongly in their favor because we had backed down on the much larger nuclear proliferation contest already. Not to mention the fact that we prosecuted a half won war there many years ago that we are still supporting with troops.
To make matters worse they threatened us and the world community with superlatives as to their retaliation if we tried to interfere.( their bluff worked). We retracted our own statement regarding shooting down the missile, and of course they took that as intrinsic permission to move ahead. There is no doubt that their regime gathered important scientific data that will enhance their ability to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile at the U.S. (giving them even more tactical and political capital to use against us at the next showdown). We could have stopped the missile pre-flight or had our Japanese Allies shoot it down (we have given them the means to do so). There is no question in my mind that they will both use, and export this technology to our enemies. (some have bombs and no delivery systems, others have delivery systems and no bombs.. go fish)
I think what concerns me most is when we incorporate this “wishful” thinking into our foreign policy. When we knowingly accept the word and propaganda of another country that intends to do us harm. I get upset when we are being intellectually dishonest with our self and the American people, in matters that concern national security. The worst part is we do it over and over again, with every despot and half baked dictator around the world. What naiveté, “Come on, let’s not make waves”, maybe they really are doing what they are telling us.
There is a game that children pay called “Mother May I”. In the game the children all stand obediently in a line before the all knowing “mother”. One at a time they each ask mother for permission to take a step forward. Mother plays a strategic game allowing each to make some forward progress, some by baby steps and some by giant steps (based on how pleased Mom is with each of their behaviors and how eloquently they each ask for permission.) But, Old Mom is no fool, she knows that if she allows one participant too many steps forward, they will eventually “catch” her. To insure she stays in power, Mom appears gracious in her allocation of small successes, but in the end always sends the advancing participants back to the starting line. It’s great fun as a kid’s game, but is this the way for us to conduct ourselves on the world political stage?
It seems to me that all the world leaders that would threaten and defy the United States and the world community all know how to play this game, very well. They have learned the game of patience; they know that the leadership of the United States will play by the rules. They move forward with their destructive agenda and allow us some small successes along the way. As we get closer to making any real progress they cry foul and send us back to the starting line. The whole time these devious leaders have no real intention of complying with our wishes or objectives, as they slowly make progress to their ultimate goals.
Two steps forward and one step back, appearing to comply or feigning the desire to negotiate, while inching ever slightly towards their ultimate objective with each passing day. ( Insert the Iranian nuclear contest of wills here) They allow us to rejoice in our perceived diplomatic momentum, offering us just enough apparent success to keep us in the game. (and avoid the penalty phase). These rouge governments also realize that we have allies and detractors in the United Nations and the world community. They alternately seek approval from one sympathetic ear and then the other, much as a child that was told not to do something by one parent.
How foolish our efforts truly must appear in their eyes as they play a careful and well calculated game of cat and mouse. They know that time and public opinion will dilute the resolve and attention span of the American people. We are always so willing to trust and forget the lessons of the past. While we couch our foreign policy statements in carefully constructed, politically ambiguous, and correct terms they threaten us with blatant and inflammatory statements and threats of retaliation.
We adulterate our demands with the use of politically correct language such as “ We are leaving all options on the table” (a watered down reference to the possible use of force), or we may need to take “extreme measures”. Of course, none of these veiled threats ever deter the “evil doers” from their mission at hand. For a threat to be effective, you have to occasionally back that threat with action. Our enemies know that we are a paper tiger, and rarely if ever, back a diplomatically correct “threat” with any action. They also know that we are increasingly reluctant to act unilaterally, and God forbid acting preemptively to defuse a threat. (We need to learn a lesson from our friends in Israel) Those that would defy us and do us harm, realize that we would first go to the United Nations or try to form a coalition before taking any action.
Over time when you don’t say what you mean, and mean what you say, you loose creditability. When you loose creditability you loose the “fear factor” and perhaps more importantly, also the ability to “bluff”. In any negotiation, when you loose the ability to bluff, you are left with only a few options including walking away with your tail between your legs and all out war.
We need to revamp our foreign policy and regain our international creditability. I think the reputation we need to portray to the world is that we are fair, but tough. We need to lead with diplomacy, but not rely solely on it. Mostly we need to be consistent in our demands and expectations so that others can tell where we really stand on matters of national and global security.
Remember, there are others out there who would doubt our intentions and our resolve. There are many who will confuse our compassion for weakness. It’s vital that we respond to threats and intimidating gestures with the right posture, and measure reactions, the World is watching.
Please feel free to contact me at: pooritalianboy@gmail.com
P.I.B.
Sometimes we all choose to believe something is real, even though intellectually we know it isn’t so. Some times we just want to believe in something and allow it to pass our reality test, and at other times it’s just good honest fun. Most of the time, its harmless for us to perpetuate these myths and go about of lives in the real world. So, I’ll give a pass to all of you who believe in Wrestling, Santa Claus, and the Easter bunny.
However, we clearly lost the recent contest of wills with the North Koreans. They announced they were going to launch a “communications” satellite and we postured up and told them we would shoot it down. We bandied about some other strongly worded political rhetoric and then sat back and watched as the North Koreans did what they wanted to do. They knew the odds were strongly in their favor because we had backed down on the much larger nuclear proliferation contest already. Not to mention the fact that we prosecuted a half won war there many years ago that we are still supporting with troops.
To make matters worse they threatened us and the world community with superlatives as to their retaliation if we tried to interfere.( their bluff worked). We retracted our own statement regarding shooting down the missile, and of course they took that as intrinsic permission to move ahead. There is no doubt that their regime gathered important scientific data that will enhance their ability to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile at the U.S. (giving them even more tactical and political capital to use against us at the next showdown). We could have stopped the missile pre-flight or had our Japanese Allies shoot it down (we have given them the means to do so). There is no question in my mind that they will both use, and export this technology to our enemies. (some have bombs and no delivery systems, others have delivery systems and no bombs.. go fish)
I think what concerns me most is when we incorporate this “wishful” thinking into our foreign policy. When we knowingly accept the word and propaganda of another country that intends to do us harm. I get upset when we are being intellectually dishonest with our self and the American people, in matters that concern national security. The worst part is we do it over and over again, with every despot and half baked dictator around the world. What naiveté, “Come on, let’s not make waves”, maybe they really are doing what they are telling us.
There is a game that children pay called “Mother May I”. In the game the children all stand obediently in a line before the all knowing “mother”. One at a time they each ask mother for permission to take a step forward. Mother plays a strategic game allowing each to make some forward progress, some by baby steps and some by giant steps (based on how pleased Mom is with each of their behaviors and how eloquently they each ask for permission.) But, Old Mom is no fool, she knows that if she allows one participant too many steps forward, they will eventually “catch” her. To insure she stays in power, Mom appears gracious in her allocation of small successes, but in the end always sends the advancing participants back to the starting line. It’s great fun as a kid’s game, but is this the way for us to conduct ourselves on the world political stage?
It seems to me that all the world leaders that would threaten and defy the United States and the world community all know how to play this game, very well. They have learned the game of patience; they know that the leadership of the United States will play by the rules. They move forward with their destructive agenda and allow us some small successes along the way. As we get closer to making any real progress they cry foul and send us back to the starting line. The whole time these devious leaders have no real intention of complying with our wishes or objectives, as they slowly make progress to their ultimate goals.
Two steps forward and one step back, appearing to comply or feigning the desire to negotiate, while inching ever slightly towards their ultimate objective with each passing day. ( Insert the Iranian nuclear contest of wills here) They allow us to rejoice in our perceived diplomatic momentum, offering us just enough apparent success to keep us in the game. (and avoid the penalty phase). These rouge governments also realize that we have allies and detractors in the United Nations and the world community. They alternately seek approval from one sympathetic ear and then the other, much as a child that was told not to do something by one parent.
How foolish our efforts truly must appear in their eyes as they play a careful and well calculated game of cat and mouse. They know that time and public opinion will dilute the resolve and attention span of the American people. We are always so willing to trust and forget the lessons of the past. While we couch our foreign policy statements in carefully constructed, politically ambiguous, and correct terms they threaten us with blatant and inflammatory statements and threats of retaliation.
We adulterate our demands with the use of politically correct language such as “ We are leaving all options on the table” (a watered down reference to the possible use of force), or we may need to take “extreme measures”. Of course, none of these veiled threats ever deter the “evil doers” from their mission at hand. For a threat to be effective, you have to occasionally back that threat with action. Our enemies know that we are a paper tiger, and rarely if ever, back a diplomatically correct “threat” with any action. They also know that we are increasingly reluctant to act unilaterally, and God forbid acting preemptively to defuse a threat. (We need to learn a lesson from our friends in Israel) Those that would defy us and do us harm, realize that we would first go to the United Nations or try to form a coalition before taking any action.
Over time when you don’t say what you mean, and mean what you say, you loose creditability. When you loose creditability you loose the “fear factor” and perhaps more importantly, also the ability to “bluff”. In any negotiation, when you loose the ability to bluff, you are left with only a few options including walking away with your tail between your legs and all out war.
We need to revamp our foreign policy and regain our international creditability. I think the reputation we need to portray to the world is that we are fair, but tough. We need to lead with diplomacy, but not rely solely on it. Mostly we need to be consistent in our demands and expectations so that others can tell where we really stand on matters of national and global security.
Remember, there are others out there who would doubt our intentions and our resolve. There are many who will confuse our compassion for weakness. It’s vital that we respond to threats and intimidating gestures with the right posture, and measure reactions, the World is watching.
Please feel free to contact me at: pooritalianboy@gmail.com
P.I.B.
