The United States And Its Future Foreign Policy

Over the past seven plus years, the American people found out the hard way how George Bush's foreign policy has been a disaster for our country.  Not only have we snubbed our long term allies, but the President has used our military power with impunity to try and force democracy on another nation.  Mr. Bush violated our past commitments of working with our allies on so many fronts and therefore the next President will have to work extra hard to turn things around.

 

The next President will have to restore America's moral mantle of world leadership.  That does not mean America needs to be the world's policeman.  It means we have to lead and show the way for our allies and foes alike.  America needs to be strong economically and militarily and reverse those policies that have not only been non-productive but that have simply failed.  Remember Bush's so called "tough talk" did not prevent the worst foreign terror attack on U.S. soil on 9-11.  We can not keep arming other nations and expect other nations not to send arms to other countries.  There is no creditability in our actions when we do that. 

 

The next President should openly work to bring Israel, India, and Pakistan to be a party to the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty as the U.S. and other nuclear powers are.  America loses its leverage when it tries to pick and choose what countries can or can not have WMD without checks and balances. 

 

Our next President should speak softly and carry a big stick.  Not to push our weight around, but to show our determination to make a difference in the would for peace.  No other nation will attack America if our foreign policy carries the message that it would never be of benefit to those who harbor such thoughts.  We have no adversaries that carry the destructive power that Russia possessed during the cold war, yet they knew it would not be to their advantage to launch a Nuclear War.

 

The main threat from  WMD comes from Israel, Pakistan, and India because those countries have unstable leaders and because the U.S. has a present foreign policy that is silent on those countries' responsibilities and the threat they pose.  It is almost as if our President does not want to talk about it.  We make matters worse by threats to other countries who belong to the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.

 

The next President will have an opportunity to work to reverse the madness of a foreign policy run by the President and individuals who think they have the power to bully people around while not having a sound foreign policy based on American principals, values, and respect.  I'm not sure how much time the new President will have, but I know our country will have to pull together and do what ever it takes.  In the mean time, let's hope Mr. Bush does not try anything cute to make matters worse for the new administration.  

Iran: What Bush Really Knew

George Bush's rhetoric concerning Iran for the past six months is a mirror image of his rhetoric concerning Iraq during the run up to that war.  In the second instance, Bush claimed that Iraq had reconstituted its nuclear weapons program; but they had not.  With Iran he said they were building nuclear weapons.  However, we found out in the NIE report released just last week that they stopped that in 2003 when they froze the program.  That was over four years ago.

 

What the news media failed to pick up on is that from 2001 to 2003, Iran was working to produce nuclear weapons and Bush was silent.  Instead, he was attacking Iraq.  The Los Angeles Times reported that when Bush came to office he was totally disinterested in Iran, this according to a CIA official.  In fact, the CIA had made up a large Iran task force of nearly 100 officers and analysts by the end of the Clinton administration.  When Bush took office, it shrank to fewer than a dozen officers.  Those resources were shifted to other targets by Bush.  It went from being focused on Iran to being switched to Iraq.

 

The NIE report released last week now catches Mr. Bush in another lie.  He said he did not know till a few days ago that Iran froze its nuclear weapons program in 2003.  This guy has lost all respect for the office of the President.  He now wants to change the subject on Iran so he is trying to demand that they reveal all their covert activity.  Mr. Bush should demand Israel, India, and Pakistan reveal all their covert activity of their nuclear weapons program as well.  Their leaders are also unstable. 

Nuclear Arms In The Middle East

I wrote a commentary on November 14 concerning Israel, India, and Pakistan having stockpiles of nuclear and other WMD and not being a part of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as other nations are.  Now it has been revealed through newly released documents from the Nixon Presidential Library, that in 1969, Nixon and his close advisers were worried about a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.  Their worry was Israel's development of a Nuclear capacity.  National security advisor Henry Kissinger wrote Nixon a memorandum and pointed out that the Israelis are probably more likely than almost any other country to actually use their nuclear weapons.  Kissinger also said this is one program on which the Israelis has persistently deceived America and may even have stolen from America.

 

That was 38 years ago.  Just think what kind of WMD arsenal Israel must have at this time and it is unchecked by the United States and the international community.  It is time for the U.S. and other countries to demand Israel open its facilities to inspection.  

 

The leaders of Israel are too unstable to have this unchecked arsenal of WMD.  They would just as soon put our country in harms way to further their own ambition in the Middle East and the world.  They use their military power with impunity and they continue to build and extend their settlements on Palestinian land.  Is it any wonder why India and Pakistan developed a nuclear weapons program?  And is it any wonder why Iran may want to have a nuclear capacity when Israel can use its military with impunity?

 

The United States needs to re-evaluate its foreign policy with Israel.  No more blank checks and automatic backing.  Israel needs to earn our support like any other country.  Israel's powerful lobby in the U.S. needs to be kept at arms length.  The leaders of Israel can not be trusted; they lie.  And for those who think otherwise about Israel, they should read the book, "Body of Secrets" by James Bamford and judge for themselves.

Trouble Ahead: Pakistan, India, and Israel

All three countries have stockpiles of nuclear weapons and other WMD according to the experts.  None of them participate in the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.  The United States, Britain, France, Russia, China are all involved in the treaty, and yes, so is Iran.  The administration talks almost daily about the dangers of the proliferation of these WMD to other countries and parties, yet we have no foreign policy to put pressure on these 3 countries to join the treaty and open up their nuclear plants to inspection.  Has any one heard Mr. Bush, or for that matter any Republican, talk about this issue?

 

Now we have Pakistan  being declared in a state of emergency by President Pervez Musharraf.  He is still chief of staff of the Army and the Army is in charge of maintaining the order.  Finally after 6 years and $10 billion for Pakistan the administration is asking Mr. Musharraf to give up his Army role.  The country is in turmoil and the  Pakistani Army and Pakistani intelligence are in charge of protecting and preserving their nuclear stockpile.  Members of this administration and others say they believe the weapons are safe.  But suppose the Army splits and tries to overthrow their President, then how safe would those stockpiles be?  Remember, Mr. Musharraf himself came into power with a coup.

 

Adding to the mixture is former prime minister Benazir Bhutto back in Pakistan from exile.  The administration seems to favor her sharing power with Musharraf.  He does not seem to take to kind to that approach and just recently had her under house arrest.  The Shah of Iran was put in power by the United States and everyone knows what happened to that country down the road.   

 

It is past time for the U.S. and other governments to put pressure on Israel, Pakistan, and India to join the non-proliferation treaty and open up their facilities for inspection.  Is that too much to ask for in this dangerous world? I think not.  All three countries are in a part of the world that is unstable and is prone to radical ideas.  That's reason enough in my estimation.