Where Did America Go?

NOTES OF CONCERN....
      .....Jack Blair


               WHERE DID AMERICA GO



A strong America is a safe America.

That is what I learned in school and what I have witnessed in my life.

Today America is not strong.

Today America is not safe.

The current administration wants to limit our armed forces to WWII levels.  I find this madness but that is a topic for a future column.

Today I want to focus on how we are perceived around the world by allies and enemies alike.

In Egypt we decided they should have democracy and we abandoned our long time ally, Hosni Mubarak and ended up with the Muslim Brotherhood. Mubarak might well have been an unsavory character but he liked us. The current government hates us.

In Libya we encouraged the young rebels of the Arab Spring to overthrow Gaddafi. Gaddafi was never our friend but President Reagan put a missile through the front door of his tent and we hardly heard from him since. Our support resulted in his brutal murder on our television screens and a government that will be active against us.

The Saudis long time allies with questionable personal reasons have essentially said they will look elsewhere for friends. They find us unreliable and they can see what happened to their neighbors who were previously our friends.

In Syria we boldly supported the rebel uprising against Assad. Then we put the famous red line in the sand. Then we erased it. Assad is still in place. I don’t think he is going anywhere soon. To whatever extent we had him neutralized he is no longer neutral where we are concerned. He hates us.

In Iran a former U.S.President decided to get rid of the Shah. Again, the Shah was a pretty brutal character but he was our ally. His replacement, the Ayatollah and subsequent fellows really hate us.

Friends, our foreign policy is in a shambles. Treaties, relationships, compromises that took decades to put into place no longer hold. Previous administrations and diplomats made friends with folks who thought like we did, and tried to simply calm those who did not.

This current U.S. administration naive at worst and simply foolhardy at best but has managed to bring down around us an entire area of the world that would rather see us not exist at all.


Can anyone wonder why any of these nations would trust us as they view our current operations in the area.

Now turn to our traditional allies in Europe. The British Parliament shamed the Prime Minister for suggesting they should help the US in Syria.

The German Chancellor, plenty upset about our tapping her personal phone, and reliant on Russia for oil trade, has hardly been heard from about the Ukraine.

The French president, busy balancing a personal crisis of mistresses is unavailable even for comment.

The list is longer. But you get what I am trying to say.

We have shown ourselves to lack resolve. We have not followed through on our threats. We have backed the wrong people regularly and we have abandoned those who thought they had our support.

No one trusts us.

We are untrustworthy. We have proven it.

We are lacking in diplomatic skills.

We meddle where we need not meddle. And we do so with the seeming capacity of a university freshman.

Where are our leaders?

There is our problem. We do not seem to have any at the moment. Certainly none that can match the skills, determination and strength of those we admire in the history of our land.

Until we get men and women into leadership positions in The White House and the Congress, people who unite together against our common enemies, make compromises with those who could be our enemies and try to neutralize their abilities to harm us, and help poor and underdeveloped nations to get on their feet, we are relegated to becoming a “former power.”

Once Britannia ruled the waves.

Once Rome ruled the world.

Their history should inform us as we think of where we are headed.

Where are the Sons of Liberty?

Where are those who will simply not find it acceptable to be mediocre?

When you find them, please encourage them to raise their hands and then organize them to get involved in straightening the path of the ship of state.