Fortress America Disrupts World Peace (For paleocons and folks in Rio Linda, ISOLATIONISM IS BAD!)

The Chicago Tribune ^ | November 17, 2003 | Dennis Byrne

[quidnunc]

With problems mounting in Iraq, the case is being pressed to get out of there now and to hunker down into Fortress America. Whether the U.S. chooses the road of internationalism or isolationism could be the biggest issue in the coming presidential election, and the most important foreign policy decision of the last half century.

Unless events first decide the issue. That would happen if the United States was forced into an ugly defeat in Iraq by a growing isolation imposed on America — not by itself, but by members of the "international community." By continuing to withhold moral and material support of American efforts in Iraq, they are pushing American voters to grow weary of its global superpower responsibilities and crawl into a shell.

-snip-

[alloysteel]

If what has been going on in the world outside the purview of "Fortress America" is supposed to be "peace", then it could stand a whole lot of disruption.

Peace is a consequence of conclusive victory and the resulting amity of reconciliation, not the absence of war acts. Peace may forever elude the human race, but the ideal of peace is not served by abject surrender to bullying tactics.

[caltrop]

Obviously the author of this piece doesn't understand that insinuating ourselves into every ancient ethnic and religious war, most of which we don't begin to understand, can only result in our being seen as a participant in such conflicts. Once we involve ourselves, the extension of these disputes to US soil and interests follows as night follows day.

Playing policeman to the world is expensive, doing so without a clear picture of what your objectives are and the obstacles to achieving them is idiotic. On both counts, I think we're better off not wandering around the globe looking for dragons to slay. There are plenty of them out there, just as there have always been and as there always will be.

[.cnI redruM]

Thank you. Peace will never be served by the cut and run cowards. The neo-isolationists who think we can hide behind our borders, let the rest of the world go to hell Jim Bakker in a room with naked twelve-year-olds, and still duck in time to miss the blowback are morons.

Our failure to impose massive improvements in Latin America, particularly Mexico is the number one reason these people are turning up like human crabgrass in every poor neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Our gutless failure to confront Hardcore Islam during the 90's made 9/11 the single most enduring legacy of the so-called Clinton Administration.

Our pathetic desire to back out of trade agreements and impose a Berlin Wall of tariffs, to protect outmoded and backwards industries, will only cause the entire rest of the world to discriminate against America first when it comes to international trade.

[sixmil]

What fortress America? You mean the one being invaded legally and illegally by millions of people a year?

[taxed2death]

I agree. The author must be reporting from a parellel universe. Here in the N.E. we're being over-run by beaners.