Posted on 08/17/2008 4:50:53 PM PDT by B4Ranch
Juxtaposed on opposite pages of the BBC International newspaper were two stories: "..thousands of people (in Seoul, South Korea) protesting against resumption of U.S. Beef imports..." and "The U.S. announced that it will send half a million tons of food aid to North Korea." How can two so closely connected groups of people hold such strong opposite opinions about the safety of U.S. food exports? Easy. It's the haves vs. the have-nots. South Korea is a strong democratic nation, our ally, who owes its existence to the U.S. and the United Nations. It has the luxury to be choosey. Its protest against American Beef, as stated, is the fear of mad cow disease, but is really to protect their highly subsidized isolationist agricultural trade policy. That's not a crime, but they should not hide behind food safety as a reason.
Whereas North Korea, an oppressed country led by a dictator, lost an estimated 1 million people to starvation in the 1990s and is facing another famine. The government has nuclear weapon intentions, a cruel disregard for its own people, and has been threatening invasion against South Korea since we pushed them back in 1951. About 33,000 American soldiers died protecting South Korea.
So the question that bubbles up like acid indigestion in many of us when we hear South Koreans shouting, "We don't need U.S. troops and we don't need U.S. mad cows!" is, why did we help the ingrates in the first place?
Four days after Sadaam Hussein's statue was pulled down in Baghdad, there were anti-U.S. Iraqis protesting. I realize now they were Sadaam's cronies, but still. When the French politicians curse us, the British press demean us, and when our closest friends, the Canadians, accuse the USDA of conspiracy to falsify our mad cow disease findings ... it all hurts.
So much of our blood and our wealth has been spent protecting freedom on this planet. One cannot imagine a world today if the U.S. had refused to intervene. Paris would be a German suburb, South Korea would be a Japanese or communist slave state, and Abu Ghraib would still be the real torture chamber it once was under Sadaam.
Why is such a powerful country, the United States of America, so generous in spite of such deliberate insults and bashings? In my opinion it is directly related to the strong religious beliefs of our founding fathers, in which we still abide.
We do not do good deeds to "show off." We help the downtrodden, be it the homeless in San Francisco or the starving in North Korea, because Christ said "As you do for the least of these my brethren, you do unto me."
And we turn the other cheek to the "What have you done for me lately's," because we are directed to show forgiveness and mercy to all who offend.
It is the embodiment of God's grace. And the saving grace for all the Frances, South Koreas and Iraqs of the world who are free people today because America believes.
Baxter Black is a veterinarian and cowboy poet. His column appears weekly and airs each Monday at 6:20 a.m. on KGNC Talk Radio 710. He can be reached at baxterblack.com or 800-654-2550.
Succinct, but well-said. Bump.
McCain had it right. Why should we continue to pump in aid to countries that despise the US? They are like all liberals—they will take the hand outs and then bite the hand that has fed them.
Hear the song at: http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr%201=1016%20&query=bite&num=1&start=1&sortBy=&sortOrder=id
Bump and ping.
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