Darwinian Stupidity

by Richard Schwartzman, November 28, 2011

blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu

"A strong nation does not come from a strong military. Rather, it comes from a healthy and dynamic economy where free people create and produce. Only a warmongering nation that makes enemies needs military bases all over the globe"

One has to question the mindset of the current administration in Washington. The country is $15 trillion in debt due to the ever-increasing welfare-warfare state.

The warfare side of the equation is imperialistic to the point of crippling stupidity. Not only do we already have as many as 900 military bases, and military personnel in an estimated 130 different countries, and not only did we just establish a drone base in Ethiopia and commit troops to Uganda, but President Obama has just announced a new base for 2,500 U.S. Marines in Darwin, Australia.

The Chinese are angry about it, and that’s a bad thing; the Chinese government owns more than $1 trillion of our overblown debt.

According to a story in the New York Times, this is the first long-term expansion of the American military in the Pacific since the end of the Vietnam War.

“It comes despite budget cuts facing the Pentagon and an increasingly worried reaction from Chinese leaders, who have argued that the United States is seeking to encircle China militarily and economically,” the Times story said.

According to one Chinese official quoted in the story, “It may not be quite appropriate to intensify and expand military alliances and may not be in the interest of countries within this region.”

But Mr. Obama told the Australian Parliament, “ [The United States] made a deliberate and strategic decision — as a Pacific nation, the United States will play a larger and long-term role in shaping this region and its future.”

How much larger a role does the president want the country to play, and at what cost? We still have bases in Japan 66 years after the end of WWII, and bases in Korea almost 60 years after the end of hostilities there. We still have bases in Thailand and the Philippines as well as in Europe.

The president said he’s not trying to isolate China, but the story suggests he has become wary of that nation’s intentions.

A more objective view of the situation would indicate that foreign nations should be wary of U.S. intentions. While China has the ability to field a larger military force than the United States, the United States still has the most potent and the most technologically advanced (as far as we know) military in the world, and we have shown the willingness to use it.

That is not a flag-waving rah-rah statement. It’s an indictment of our foreign policy.

We’ve killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghanis for no valid reason or just cause. Those people didn’t attack the United States, and neither did their governments.

The insanity continues even beyond the hawkish screeching over some perceived need to go to war against Iran. Making matters worse is that the administration is now looking at another war in Africa. According to the Los Angeles Times,

Kenya’s government has made an urgent appeal to the Obama administration for the Pentagon to provide intelligence and logistical support to Kenya's faltering month-old military operation in Somalia against the Shabab, a powerful Al Qaeda-linked militia.

Administration officials are considering the request.

With respect to our new Australian base, the New York Times says,

While the new military commitment is relatively modest, Mr. Obama has promoted it as the cornerstone of a strategy to confront more directly the challenge posed by China’s rapid advance as an economic and military power. He has also made some progress in creating a new Pacific free-trade zone that would give America’s free-market allies in the region some trading privileges that do not immediately extend to China.

While libertarians might question the truth of the phrase “free market,” it’s clear that the actions are a challenge to China, as the story states.

“Some allies have expressed concerns that the United States, facing war fatigue and a slackened economy, will cede its leadership role to China,” according to the NYT.

So it’s a show of strength, or maybe just perceived strength. Yet, it makes one do some questioning.

What do U.S. politicians mean when they say they want to keep our country strong, to keep a strong military? And who says a strong military is a good thing? In 1783, the mightiest military in the world lost a war and 13 colonies. In 1939, France was considered by some to have the strongest military in all of Europe. In 1975, the unequivocally best military in the world lost a war in Vietnam. And in 1989, after 10 years in Afghanistan, the nation with the second most powerful military in the world dissolved.

A strong nation does not come from a strong military. Rather, it comes from a healthy and dynamic economy where free people create and produce. Only a warmongering nation that makes enemies needs military bases all over the globe.

Richard Schwartzman is managing editor at Chadds Ford Live in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania - FFF.org