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| Home Front: Politix |
| Superman returns to Smallville |
| 2006-07-30 |
| Asked recently by Gallup whether "the United States should mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along as best they can on their own", nearly half of Americans (46 per cent) said it should - compared with just 20 per cent 40 years ago. A clear majority of Americans (56 per cent) now say it was a mistake for the US to go into Iraq. Another poll, conducted earlier this year on behalf of National Geographic, found that 63 per cent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 could not find Iraq on a map, while 75 per cent could locate neither Israel nor Iran. Unfortunately for Mr Blair, the rest of the world has a diametrically different view of the USA. According to the latest Pew Global Attitudes survey, even we Britons regard the American presence in Iraq as a bigger danger to world peace than either Iran or North Korea. A third of British voters think the US invaded Iraq "to control Middle Eastern oil". A quarter think America aims "to dominate the world". In short, we - in common with most Europeans - increasingly regard the United States not as Superman but as Lex Luthor. Conventional wisdom has it that the American government is in a position to dictate to the Israeli government because of the latter's dependence on economic and military aid from the United States. Thus, when Condoleezza Rice opposed a joint Arab-European call for an immediate ceasefire at last week's Rome summit, most commentators interpreted this as an American green light for continued Israeli attacks on Lebanese targets. From both ends of the political spectrum I heard the same anti-American refrain: "If they really wanted to stop the fighting, they could." I asked a few people last week what share of Israel's GDP they thought was accounted for by American aid. The estimates went as high as 40 per cent. In fact, US aid to Israel was equivalent to just 3.2 per cent of Israel's gross domestic product in 2004, compared with 14 per cent in 1986. American aid today is much more important for Jordan (14 per cent of GDP) and the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza (5.6 per cent) than it is for Israel. It is therefore a complete fantasy to think that Washington can somehow force Tel Aviv to stop fighting when rockets fired by an Iranian-backed terrorist organisation are raining down daily on Israeli territory. The unpalatable truth about the present crisis in the Middle East is that it is a symptom of American weakness rather than American dominance. Consider, too, just how few troops the White House has at its disposal in the region as a whole. The United States has a population in excess of 290 million, of whom nearly 75 million are men aged between 15 and 49. Yet the number of military personnel on active duty in all overseas theatres is little more than a quarter of a million - roughly 0.1 per cent of the American population. When Britain was the global colossus in the 1880s, that figure was six times higher. It is all very well calling for yet another peacekeeping force. But the United States patently cannot man it. Like Superman, the US has vast potential strength. If it wants to be, it really can be "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound". It is richer by far than the other countries in the world. It has mind-boggling firepower - enough to incinerate Iran in an afternoon. And yet, as Mr Blair understands, this Superman would really rather revert to being Clark Kent. Of course, the moral of Superman Returns is that when the messianic Man of Steel retreats into provincial isolation, Metropolis descends into anarchy. Tragically, the same fate may now lie in store for the Middle East as the American superpower heads back to Smallville. And Dean/Reid/Pelosi are setting the donks up to run on an isolationist platform in 2008. We may get a choice, not an echo. That would make for an interesting election. |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #10 One of the worst things to come out of Iraq is that America will not enter into a pre-emptive war till after we're all long gone. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-07-30 19:01 |
| #9 Isolationism no longer works in the age of nuclear weapons. Anyone who thinks so is merely inviting terrorist nuclear attacks on American soil. In the name of our own national security, we are obliged to go out and whack every single potential threat we have the time and patience to smack down. At the same time that we perform these pre-emptive strikes, we should also be doing our d@mnedest to bring the Internet to every single country imaginable. If it requires setting up dedicated satellite downlinks for the entire Mid-East and Islamic regions, so be it. Just as the information age brought about the downfall of Soviet dictatorship, so will the Internet (help) bring an end to Islamic fascism. Folks hereabout who jokingly say we should bombard the Arabic countries with endless pronography, male enhancement ads, farmgirls gone wild and breast augmentation spam have just about got it right. Only the free flow of information is going to have anywhere near the effect of sustained bombing campaigns. And I'll leave it to you to guess which choice is less expensive. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-07-30 18:48 |
| #8 Groky: I think we should give the average American more credit. It would mean some changes, but I think we could become "self sufficient" rather quickly if we had to. You're spot on about the politicians however, they're globalist millionaires who could care less about Peoria. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-07-30 15:24 |
| #7 The US has two long-term 'enemies' worthy of concern in the world; Islam and China. We're fighting Islam in Iraq and Afghanistan with our own forces; fighting via Special Ops, proxies, and allies is going on other places. I think the decision was made some time ago to take a different path with China - and also different than was taken with the USSR. Still MAD, but with China the 'D' is for dependence. We are dependent on each other with our trade, and with our financial markets, to the point where the economic failure of either country severely hurts both. So we dance around the fringes, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, India - more shadow-boxing than sparring. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2006-07-30 15:22 |
| #6 I'm an old-style isolationist. But, the sad truth today is that America has long since stopped being self-sufficient. Back in the 70s, decisons were made with far-reaching consequences. We are now dependent on foreign products for our livelihood. Telling the rest of the world to suck it simply won't work. The plutocrats that give money to the politicians won't allow such a thing to pass - they might lose money! |
| Posted by: gromky 2006-07-30 14:36 |
| #5 I begining to think Americans are getting tired of nation building and I am going to feel real sorry for the next country that makes us mad enough to invade. That country going to get the no holds bar version of war and the MSM going to see what a real war looks like. |
| Posted by: djohn66 2006-07-30 14:28 |
| #4 And those moon rocks cost too damn much! We could'a had free health care and ponys! |
| Posted by: 6 2006-07-30 13:20 |
| #3 I agree NS. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-07-30 11:35 |
| #2 I've got to admit that my default position is to agree with your father. My problem is we've been violated but the right people haven't been whacked. When I see Abrams cruising through Tehran and Mecca, I'll be ready to come home. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-07-30 11:33 |
| #1 Thanks for the post NS. My late father always said, "we'd be much better off to stay on our own shores and the hell out of other folk's business. If they violate you, say nothing but take a big stick and whack the living hell outta them and come back home." He always said "they'd been fighting it out over there for thousands of years and they would never be peaceful like our neighbors across the Wabash in Indiana." Simple country logic, but he older I get, the more truth I see in it. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-07-30 11:25 |