why americans hate foreign policy

[Guest saintjohn]

an essay with something to annoy just about everyone:

Americans would like to ignore foreign policy. Our previous attempts at isolationism were successful. Unfortunately, they were successful for Hitler's Germany and Tojo's Japan. Evil is an outreach programme. A solitary bad person sitting alone, harbouring genocidal thoughts, and wishing he ruled the world is not a problem unless he lives next to us in the trailer park.

In the big geopolitical trailer park that is the world today, he does. America has to act. But, when America acts, other nations accuse us of being "hegemonistic," of engaging in "unilateralism," of behaving as if we're the only nation on earth that counts.

We are. Russia used to be a superpower but resigned "to spend more time with the family." China is supposed to be mighty, but the Chinese leadership quakes when a couple of hundred Falun Gong members do tai chi for Jesus.

The European Union looks impressive on paper, with a greater population and a larger economy than America's. But the military spending of Britain, France, Germany, and Italy combined does not equal one third of the US defence budget.

When other countries demand a role in the exercise of global power, America can ask another fundamental American question: "You and what army?"

source:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/09/18/do1801.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2004/09/18/ixopinion.html

[Guest pod]

And that is the truth. Despite the quagmire in Iraq, we do posess the world's most advanced armed forces. The US military is living proof that numbers don't mean shit. The problem we've encountered right now is the proper application of these new technologies in current wartime strategy...nevermind the fact that the war would have been over and done with years ago if everything was done covertly. The military leadership sucks in that respect, they regard the special forces as a curiosity at best. Read Shadow Warriors to see what I mean.

The EU doesn't amount to much either. Who are they kidding? What makes them think the population of Europe can so easily put aside thousands of years of hating each other? They might claim to be enlightened, but in the end they all regard each other with suspicion.

[ryan2772]

...nevermind the fact that the war would have been over and done with years ago if everything was done covertly.

you make this point a lot, and you're right.

[Guest bcnjunkie]

But, when America acts, other nations accuse us of being "hegemonistic," of engaging in "unilateralism," of behaving as if we're the only nation on earth that counts.

this is the only part I found not true, most civilized people (in Europe at least or Latin America) believe that the US has hidden agendas rather than just "defender of the world", if it were this sort of "righteous policeman" lots of unjust coups, wars, rebellions and oppresive goverments would have been dealt with.

[Guest endymion]

A common element between Hitler's Germany, Tojo's Japan, Soviet Russia and the USA is that all of those nations developed cultures that encouraged the belief that they were the best and most sophisticated nation on the planet and that people from everywhere else didn't matter because they didn't live there.

The author implies that countries with huge armies are great nations and that countries with smaller armies suck. The Roman Empire, the USSR, Japan, Germany, all had realy really big armies. A big army will not ensure super power status forever all by itself. A too-large or too-active military can and has actually strained the economies and cultures of past super powers and led to the fall of entire civilizations.

The author also implies that Russia made a mistake by retreating militarily from Afghanistan? Did they make a mistake by retreating or did we simply repeat their mistake by invading Iraq? Were they mistaken for learning a lesson or were we mistaken for not learning that lesson?