President Joe Biden raised the hackles of the military-industrial establishment this week when he announced his intention to end America’s military presence in Afghanistan no later than September 11th of this year.
That date would be the twentieth anniversary of the catastrophic attacks on New York City and the Pentagon by Al Queda terrorists using commercial aircraft as deadly missiles. In October 2001, the U.S. and a coalition of allies began a military campaign to drive the Taliban from power and deny Al Queda a base of operations in Afghanistan. Those original objectives were achieved; however, the Taliban has never really gone away and today controls vast areas of the country, fighting a civil war against the weak, democratic regime supported by the U.S. We’ve had soldiers there fighting, being injured, and being killed for twenty years…the longest war in U.S. history.
In 2016, Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump campaigned with the promise that he would bring all American troops home from Afghanistan. He was never able to fulfill that promise, thanks to resistance from hawkish Administration officials and military brass who pander to the massive U.S. arms industry. President Biden is running into the same opposition in 2021.
Quo Vadis? Where are we going with this “policy” of military adventurism? Our continued presence in Afghanistan doesn’t make a lot of sense except to justify the continued expenditure of billions of dollars on military weapons systems. And, over 2,500 American soldiers have died…”protecting” a country that will revert back to Taliban control as soon as we leave.
Maybe that’s what Afghanistan deserves? Who are we to judge a Muslim country?
We can’t very well argue that “national security” justifies our chest-thumping adventures in the Middle East. Almost all of the 9-11 terrorists were Saudis and were funded by Saudi money, and yet Saudi Arabia is considered an “ally” which receives high-tech military hardware from the U.S. They can afford to protect themselves. Similarly, Israel, another American ally in the Middle East, has a very formidable military capability including the latest stealth aircraft, state-of-the-art weapons systems, and a nuclear arsenal, to boot.
America’s presence in the Middle East right now includes troops and weaponry in Iraq, which our country destabilized when it toppled Saddaam Hussein, and Afghanistan, which is involved in a civil war reminiscent of Vietnam in the 1960’s.
What are we doing there and what do we intend to accomplish? Will another ten years of meddling get the “job” done, whatever that is?
The United States also has a lot of troops in South Korea, ostensibly protecting that nation from its bellicose neighbor North Korea. Question: Why is America still militarily involved in the Korean Pennisula? The Korean War “police action” was ended with an armistice 70 years ago. South Korea now has an army capable of defending itself in a conventional war.
Is it the United State’s role in the world to take sides in civil disputes?
How about Taiwan? This tiny, prosperous island nation is home to a remnant of a Chinese government that was ousted from power seventy-one years ago by the Communist regime of Mao Zedong. The residents are Chinese, and the island is geographically part of China (separated by the Formosa Strait). The political status of Taiwan is similar in some respects to that of Hong Kong: a part of China that was exempted from Chinese control through colonialism (British) and international politics (America). China is now one of the world’s two great superpowers. Hong Kong has already reverted to Chinese control and it is inevitable that Taiwan will follow suit. There is no good reason why the United States should obstruct this fate…except that “protecting” the Taiwanese gives America a rationale for military presence in the South China Sea and the continuing expenditure of billions of dollars per year in weapons systems.
Back when I was young, it was common to hear America referred to as the “World’s Policeman”…ostensibly protecting the downtrodden, the defenseless, and those people who were yearning for democracy.
Of course, that was a long time ago…back when the U.S. was calling the shots, internationally-speaking, and had much more respect among nations.
Nowadays, in many countries throughout the world, America is viewed as a meddling, imperialistic power. The United States maintains 800 military bases in 70 countries and territories throughout the world. Britain, France, and Russia, by comparison, have a combined total of 30 bases in foreign countries. China, the world’s other superpower, has one overseas military base in Djibouti (East Africa).
The defense budget of the United States was $732 billion in 2018. That was more than the combined total defense budgets of the following countries: China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, and Brazil.
Why are we so defensive?
The magnitude of these expenditures, in comparison to those of other countries, makes America look “offensive”, almost looking for trouble…thousands of miles from our shores. It’s no wonder why America is perceived as a bully in many regions: our country functions on a permanent war economy.
So, why is it so hard for the United States to extricate itself from dumb conflicts that we’ve stumbled into”? It’s about the money…that would be lost to the bloated defense industries. One in every six dollars collected in Federal taxes is spent by the Defense Department, and American companies are responsible for 37 percent of arms exports worldwide. Within our Nation, there are more guns in private ownership than there are citizens.
The bottom line is that America (and Americans) seems to like to solve problems with weapons…and if all of our perceived “enemies” would disappear tomorrow, we would have to invent some to keep our economy afloat.
It is a sad state of affairs that our President must deal with.
