Should the U.S. Keep Intervening in the Third World?

The United States, being the last superpower bully on the globe, has an emergency strike force, huge airlift capacity, and air superiority almost anywhere in the world. With this largesse it is always tempted to intervene in the internal affairs of small third world countries under the guise of protecting the world from terrorism. It Looks Easy The United States, with a hyped up propaganda style media, over the top democratic institutions that constantly assail other dictatorships for abuse of human rights with a long past tradition

of intervening in other affairs using humanitarian reasons. Muslim Regimes Middle East Muslim countries abound in one chaotic crisis after another with mobs of unhappy protestors, egged on by hostile clerics, showing up to intimidate the military holding them at bay. One thing leads to another; soon there is an uprising with conventional weapons and soldiers & civilians wind up being murdered in the street. Congress along with the hyperactive media calls for the U.S. military to respond; the president threatens the country with a response while hovering over the kill button. Are we the global police in this instance? Order Out of Chaos?

The United States rushes aircraft carriers to the region, missiles at the ready poised for an attack, troop carriers scream through the air, a wicked dictatorship is overthrown, then what? Problems Begin After invading Iraq and Afghanistan difficulties started to emerge, small at first, growing progressively worse, then out of control. Can we honestly say things have gotten better in either country? Have the bombings ceased? Are our well trained soldiers any safer now that we control both countries? Did intervention in either country help the global terrorism threat? Perhaps to some degree, but was it worth all the blood we spilled and treasure spent? Are either country any better off?

Getting involved is Easy Going trigger happy is easy when you have the resources, generals whispering sweet invasion plans in your ears, targets that are accessible, and media hype like shock and awe to see you through. Getting out of those countries have proved to be quite another matter altogether however. Equipment Left in Iraq The military vehicles, tanks, planes, helicopters, and artillery left behind in Irag was worth over $30 billion dollars, not counting the military supplies, ammo dumps, etc. It is enough to equip a small army and indeed if another power hungry wannabe dictator avails himself he could easily overthrow the present regime by just seizing Americas military equipment. So what

did we really prove and who are we setting up here? Operating in Ignorance The fact is we are operating in ignorance throughout the Middle East not knowing what is in store for the U.S. or Israel our staunch ally. We cannot, with any specific precision, identify any true democratic forces that exist or even be certain they are there. If we arm rebels in Syria we cannot be sure those weapons will not end up in terrorist hands. The same can be said for Egyptian rebels where the Muslim Brotherhood took over the government two years ago with Morsi at the helm. Now he is out and another rebel is in. Conclusion

We are at a loss as to which personalities and organizations we should back, or indeed, if any are reliable. Nor do we know if any are immune to terrorist penetration. What we should know by now is to stay our hand, what Benjamin Disraeli called masterly inactivity. Patience has always been the key. If one thing in this world is certain it is that the coming of democracy to the Middle East is going to take a very long time. Standing back and listening to Israels Massad (like our CIA) is the best way to go if we are indeed to usher in democracy in these lawless countries.