Why America Matters
After so many years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the general consensus has been that Americans are war wary....and everything we did wasn't even worth it.....and moving forward we should probably not get involved in issues overseas. Our own Commander in Chief is virtually OBSESSED with bringing every single troop home, regardless of the state of things on the ground.
So American power over the last six years under Obama has receded home to its own shores. Now, clearly I am ideaologocally at odds wth the President about almost everything...but let's put politics aside and take a review of some facts of what has happened since America has decided it's best to keep to itself:
After decades of American foreign policy beating back and essentially destorying the Soviet Union, Russia has now annexed Crimea and threatens Ukraine. As American influence shrinks, Russian influence in the area grows.
In 2011 Iraq was a secure and stable country. Vice President Joe Biden even said it would be considered "one of the great achievments of this adminstration" going on further to say, "You’re gonna see a stable government in Iraq that is actually movin’ toward a representative government. I’ve been there 17 times now. I go about every two months, three months. I know every one of the major players in all the segments of that society. It’s impressed me. I’ve been impressed, how they have been deciding to use the political process, rather than guns, to settle their differences.” Obama was urged by many people to leave a small force behind to ensure all the gains made by our brave soldiers would not come undone. He refused to heed the warnings and advice. Iraq is now on the verge of collapse. The void we left is being filled by both ISIS (the most well funded, well equiped, army of terrorists ever assembled) along with Iran. As American influence shrinks, ISIS and Iranian influence grows.
I could go on and on with examples of how Obama's "smart" foreign policy and "soft power" of "leading from behind" (all words his own adminstration uses) has left not just the USA weaker but the world in CHAOS. China's growing influence over the Pacific, the diminishing situation in Afghanistan, chemical weapons being used in Syria, first murdered American Ambassador since 1979 in Liyba, etc.
Now lets talk about some more facts. Why is everyone so concerned with bringing ALL THE TROOPS home from Iraq and Afghanistant? You all understand that we NEVER do that, right?
We have 28,500 US Soldiers in South Korea and have for decades. Why do you think North Korea stays it it's miserable corner of the peninsula? Because we stand between the civilized society and the communist dictator up north. Where America is, there is not chaos, there is order. Have you ever seen this map of the Korean peninsula from space at night? It speaks for itslef.
There are 50,000 US Soldiers in Japan. We have pledged to join them in defending Japan should the need arise. Japan, which just a few decades ago waged the most vicious attack on our homeland ever, is now the world's THIRD largest economy, a respected and and respectful member of the world community, and a good friend to the United States. Where America is, there is not chaos, there is order.
So we need to snap the hell out of this funk we are in. This pussy attitude that we should take our ball and go home. That whatever we do doesn't matter. That this is hard so we should just quit. That is a shitty atittude.
As Aristotle said, "Nature abhors a vacuum." So when America leaves places, the void left will always be filled by someone else. History shows us that chances are, we won't like who does.
That is why America matters.