America’s Foreign Policy

George Rebane

Our foreign policy is on the rocks, and has not been so badly mishandled since JFK’s screw-up brought on the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.  Our globally recognized incompetence in that national endeavor has brought us to the brink of WW3 with not only one, but two marginally stable enemies (I discount North Korea and Iran).  Russia and Red China are each exhibiting their opportunistic ire in the face of the weak leader now in the White House, one who has visibly weakened and demoralized our military and promises to continue down that path by withdrawing funding for critical technology upgrades and new combat systems procurements required to bring our defense establishment back up to par with our longstanding national security requirements.

A nation’s foreign policy begins at its border.  And our president has been purposely and impeachably delinquent with his policies starting at our southern border which he has kept invitingly open to millions of illegal aliens pouring in at a steady stream – over five million during the last two years.  This lawless stream has contributed to unmanageable crime, thousands of drug deaths, and an ongoing cultural shock to communities.  Upon closer examination, Joe Biden has done nothing to fulfill the oath he took in January 2021.  His only accomplishment in keeping half the nation in deep ignorance is his daily stream of historically preposterous lies about the state of the world, the nation, and his political opponents.  With a willing and compliant media, and a dumbed-down electorate, almost anything can be passed off as an acceptable and palliative version of reality.

We Americans permit this dangerous assault on national security and our way of life by a continuing, if not deepening, ignorance about the world and our role in it.  As mentioned, our media and educational institutions have been partners in keeping Americans in the dark about global happenings and how to relate these to our foreign policy.

This social deficit was first recognized by James F. Byrnes (1882-1972), politician (congressman, senator, governor), jurist (Supreme Court justice), and diplomat (Secretary of State) extraordinaire.  He was the ‘President’s Hand’ under Roosevelt and Truman, and critical architect of wartime and postwar policies, including peace treaties with Germany et al and Imperial Japan, and agreements to keep the USSR and international communism at bay.  He was America’s principal advisor or principal negotiator at international conferences and head-of-state meetings from 1939 to 1947.  Having taught himself shorthand in law school, he became the inveterate note taker at every meeting he attended.  No one could cite erroneous memories from previous meetings when Byrnes was involved, since he could read them chapter and verse of direct quotes of who said what when.

After the war Byrnes’ accomplishments became known and his fame spread.  There was a national outcry for him to write the definitive record of the war’s diplomatic back story and how the major decisions were made, decisions from whether/when to drop the atomic bomb to how the post-war world should be partitioned.  He acceded to this and published a detailed and fascinating history titled Speaking Frankly (1947), which instantly made it to the top of the charts along with being highlighted by the then enormously popular Book-of-the-Month Club.  For WW2 history buffs like me, reading it was an expansion of my own knowledge and a thrilling page-turning reveal of the highly classified and secret goings-on that guided where and when the battles occurred.  Along with the inevitable barnacles that collect with such a career, he was among the several under-appreciated giants that determined the course of the war and subsequent international relations.

On the subject of foreign policy Byrnes promoted openness and public participation as prerequisites to peace and avoiding unnecessary wars.  He wrote –

I continue to think that, if we are to have a lasting peace, it must be a people’s peace.  The people can exert their full influence in the conduct of foreign affairs only if they know more about them.

The basic democratic right, the right of the people to know, must be applied increasingly to the conduct of foreign affairs.  If that right is essential – as I believe it is - to the functioning of democracy here at home, it is at least equally necessary to apply it in the field of foreign affairs where the need for knowledge and understanding is so much greater.  To carry this policy into action involves a break with the diplomatic habits of the past.  Such habits are not easily broken.  Time, effort, and a constant demand by the public to know what is happening will be needed.

People cannot act intelligently if, in all matters of importance affecting our relations with other governments, they are kept in the dark.

Let there be light – and lots of it!

Comments

[Paul Emery]

George

How about Trumps promise to pull us out of Afghanistan and his promise that Mexico would pay for the mythical wall that was not built while he was President?

[Paul Emery]

Link to Trump quote Oct 7, 2020:

On Wednesday evening, just a few hours before the vice presidential debate, Trump wrote on Twitter that “we should have the small remaining number of our brave men and women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas.”

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/10/07/trump-us-will-be-out-of-afghanistan-by-christmas/

[Gregory]

punchy

Your forfeit is noted.

[George Rebane]

PaulE 1159am - Well, it sure looks like Trump did the right thing as new info came in about the resurgence of the Taliban. That kind of thinking was not possible in the Bumblebrain administration which resulted in our catastrophic surrender of Afghanistan to the most primitive band of murderous ragheads on earth today. And the wall, wasn't that opposed by all the leftwing idiots in Congress at the time who cut off funds for it. Those same idiots build walls around their homes at our expense, and are now looking funds to quietly build more wall along our "secure" southern boundary. Talk about lies. And thanks for bringing this up.

But would love to hear you assess Biden's foreign policies re Russia, China, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudis, Venezuela, ... - now there's been a clean sweep of genius from the halls of this administration.

[Randy]

Don't forget the gift of billions in abandoned weapons and equipment when Biden pulled the troops. Like Christmas morning for the terrorists not that they celebrate.

[Bill Tozer]

“How Do People Know the Truth?”: Biden Unleashes Tirade Over Musk Restoring Free Speech Protections on Twitter

https://jonathanturley.org/2022/11/05/de-madness-biden-unleashes-tirade-over-musk-restoring-free-speech-protections-on-twitter/
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Afghanistan: Everyone warned Trump, everyone warned Biden. Do not fight in the Mid East in summer!! Leave in the winter when they are not set up. That’s the time to exit. The Taliban and all those Stone Age savages we left with billions of dollars of high tech weapons in their hands always fight in lspring through summer, but not in winter. It’s been that way for centuries. It’s Biblical.

“It happened in the spring of the year, at the time kings go out to battle, that Joab led out the armed forces and ravaged the country of the people of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. And Joab defeated Rabbah and overthrew it.”

Cross reference:

“In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.”

But, nooo. Biden knew better. And we all paid. There are still Americans in Afghanistan left behind to this very hour, not to mention the lost of 13 US Marines which could have been avoided with timing.

However, I think we all underestimate the ‘Biden Knows Best’ disaster. Afghanistan started the shift away from Biden. It’s was Afghanistan when it started.
Joe Biden was packaged as an emphatic caring man whom himself had face big tragedies in his own life—the suddenly death of his wife in a car wreck and later his firstborn son who died of brain cancer. Joe knows your pain.

But Afghanistan showed Biden to be a cruel person. The cover of empathic Joe was blown. Cruel, heartless man. No GOD; no Good Orderly Direction. It’s not leaving Afghanistan that is the question, but how it was done. It did not have to end in total chaos….in summer when all the kings’ armies gathered and marched for war. A few months later would have made a world of difference. Not leaving that he’ll hole, but the execution of the departure is the big black eye. After that, Biden looked like a different kind of person. Mean, boneheaded, leaving carnage in his wake.

Punchy Punch Emery. Ya, I remember when Clinton said our boys would back from Bosnia by Christmas. How many years after the “wave of air strikes in our first air war” did we stay there? Home by Christmas sounds like a Hallmark Movie.

Hang tight to that Jan 6 stuff. Hang vary tight. Meanwhile, you have hitched your wagon for a real McCoy war monger who will not allow a negotiated settlement. They want war with Russia so much that are slobbering all over themselves as I say, Chao.
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PS: Psul Emery. Paul Emerytoad, how are you holding up?

[Bill Tozer]

Opps: correction to above

“Afghanistan: Everyone warned Trump, everyone warned Biden. Do not fight in the Mid East in summer!! Leave in the winter when they are not set up.” —wrong.

“Afghanistan: Everyone warned Trump, everyone warned Biden. Do not FLEE in the Mid East in summer!! Leave in the winter when they are not set up.” —correct