Notes of Concern…
…Jack Blair
THE PRACTICE OF MEDDLING
Secretary Gates, our Defense Secretary, is reported this week to have confirmed that Libya posed no threat to the United States and that it was not in our vital national interest to intervene there.
I ask you to reflect a few minutes on that statement.
Presidents do not have the authority under our constitution to simply engage other nations over issues that do not affect our nation.
In fact, any such intent is covered under the checks and balances our forefathers placed in that document. Clearly, we could have a man or woman heading the executive branch who might wish to engage an enemy for a variety of reasons. With the stroke of a pen he could send hundreds of millions of dollars in the form of missiles into the air to rain down on another nation.
This is exactly what happened in Libya.
Many in Congress, Democrats and Republicans, are grousing over the “semblance” of advise and consent. A few have even called for impeachment.
We are in a period now when we are already caught up in two major involvements in Iraq and Afghanistan. Neither of these was of Obama’s making but decisions regarding the continuation of both were his to make over the past two years.
We played games with our old ally Egypt and assisted in bringing down that government. Recent news articles report that we replaced Mubarak with the military and they now seem to share governing with the Muslim Brotherhood. You might recall how much those folks like us!
Now we are playing in Libya’s “sandbox” with the potential result being the overthrow of their current government or the victory of that government guaranteeing the everlasting hatred of the United States.
News reports tell us Jordan and Syria are now having internal troubles. One wonders how long it will be before we decide to invest time and money in trying to direct the outcome of those controversies.
For anyone still left in the United States who wonders why Muslim nations hate us so, take another look at our involvements, interferences, and attempts to gerrymander the governing structures of governments in the Middle East and perhaps you will discover that we have a long history of backing the wrong fellow, turning on those who have been our allies for years, and appearing to be meddling in everyone’s internal affairs.
Ask yourselves these questions:
1. are the revolutionaries in these countries really seeking democracy?
2. If they are, and they succeed in bringing down a government, do you really think the power brokers will then permit them to democratize?
3. When the shooting stops, do you see any way the United States enjoys either a new friendship or a sense of partnership with the succeeding governing group?
4. Can you find any reason why a long time ally of ours in the Middle East, or any potential future ally, should find comfort in our having their back?
5. By what stretch of the imagination could you find justification for our meddling in the affairs of these nations?
6. And most importantly, what provision of our Constitution permits these sorts of sorties into other countries?
Bulletin: if you or your home or your loved ones have been attacked recently by Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Libya or any other Middle Eastern nation, please advise the U.S. Departments of State and Defense and The White House as they have all gotten out ahead of the curve and we have a good head start on the war that would then be Constitutionally appropriate.
Readers, we need a course change and we need it soon.
