Let’s say you just played a game and lost. It could be a game of hockey or soccer or something similar.
One of your teammates that’s not happy with the
outcome, pushes you to ask the winning team to come back and play a revanchist
round. It will be a round in which your team will play the same as it did
before, thus prove that it was the right way to play this game. And the team’s
strategy will be vindicated.
You dismiss the suggestion in your mind,
thinking that it is a dumb idea. You don’t even bother asking your teammate
what will happen if you lose a second time. But sensing that you’re not taking
him seriously, he proposes a change in the way that you will play the game next
time. He says that instead of playing to score goals as the team did previously,
it should concentrate on playing defensively this time to prevent the other
team from scoring. That does not change the strategy that still needs to be
vindicated, he assures you, but only puts the emphasis unto a new priority.
You still think that the idea is a dumb one,
and dismiss it. What makes it even dumber, in your view, is that it has its
analogue in the real world where the stakes are life and death situations, and
the score is measured by the number of dead people that result from playing the
senseless game.
You get a clear view of what that is when you
read the article which came under the title: “The Afghanistan failure should
not deter a strong foreign policy,” written by Larry Farnsworth, and published
on September 17, 2021 in The Washington Times.
Farnsworth began his discussion by admitting
the following:
“In 2001, the idea of going to Afghanistan to
topple a government that harbored the individuals who masterminded 9/11 was
popular. Recent polling indicates that the American people oppose the idea of
nation-building as a policy goal. We cannot continue nation-building as a
foreign policy priority when those countries refuse to stand and fight for
themselves”.
Larry Farnsworth seems to have put down a
marker. It is that America may accept to do nation-building again if the
country in question is willing to stand and fight for itself. However, above
and beyond all of that, Larry Farnsworth clings to the following set of ideas:
“The absence of American leadership is making
the region less safe, and a cut-and-run strategy has created mayhem that will
empower radical terrorist networks. The Afghanistan example must not inhibit
the US from pursuing a robust national defense that stresses opposition to
China and Russia while focusing on targeting terrorist havens. This disaster in
Afghanistan has forever weakened the perception of America as an effective
exporter of democracy and individual freedom”.
This means that in Larry Farnsworth’s
opinion, America must continue to pursue the same old foreign policy, but
without getting involved in nation-building unless the government that America
installs in the country it invades, joins America in fighting what amounts to a
civil war against the part of the population that refuses to submit. So then,
what does that boil down to? It boils down to the following:
“Strong rhetorical support for smaller
nations facing threats like Taiwan and Ukraine is essential to build the
confidence of allies, and also serves as a deterrent to bad actors on the
global stage. The Russians have long-term plans to expand into former
Soviet Republics like Ukraine. Putin has spent seven years fighting to take
land from Ukraine. China is another challenge. Vice President Harris reiterated
that the US would keep a strong military presence in the South China Sea.
That’s a good start. The most immediate threat to the peace is Taiwan, as China
talks about taking control of that island nation”.
But why do all of this? What’s America’s
ultimate goal? Larry Farnsworth says it is essential for America to do all of
that because of the following reason:
“America’s resolve is being tested, and only
a foreign policy strategy that has America leading will protect our citizens,
our allies, and our homeland”.
The assumption here is that America is a prey
that’s surrounded by predators waiting for the opportunity to pounce on it a
devour it. There was a time when America did not believe in this theory, and it
was loved by the rest of the world. It was only when America began to treat
others as if they were its enemies that they became its enemies.
The truth is that nobody is out to hurt
America for no reason. Those whom America is eyeing, just want to be left
alone. If America comes to its senses and starts to believe it has what it
takes to be valued by the rest of the world, it will quickly regain the
standing in the eyes of the world it used to enjoy. What America needs to do to
get there, is stop listening to those who advise her that the world is full of
predators waiting to pounce on her for no reason except that they are evil.
In fact, the only evil actors in this unfortunate drama, are those who go behind the back of the people they hate, and slander them by whispering lies in the ears of those who listen to them. This is why those who used to listen should listen no more to the lowlife leeches that live at the expense of others.