Posted on 03/19/2004 1:13:48 AM PST by JohnHuang2
The danger of multilateralism
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Since the first Persian Gulf War, American leaders have sworn by multilateralism in foreign policy.
It has become an article of faith that military actions should only be undertaken with the help and cooperation of allies – even when those allies don't have all that much to contribute and even when those allies are brought in kicking and screaming.
Let me be the first to point out that one of the dangers of multilateralism was just illustrated in Spain.
Spain didn't necessarily contribute much significant in terms of actual military capability in Iraq. As with most of the nations contributing combat or peacekeeping forces to the coalition, Spain's participation was more symbolic than substantive.
But symbolism is a two-way street. And when a symbolic partner decides to leave the coalition under pressure, that symbolism is more destructive than its original commitment was constructive.
A coalition of the kind we have built in Iraq – symbolically, anyway – is only as strong as its weakest link. We just learned who the weakest link was. But we may find others going the way of Spain before long, if they, too, learn there's a real cost to standing up against the Islamist "holy warriors."
That's why America should reassert its sovereignty – its absolute right to defend itself without regard to the concerns of other nations.
Sovereignty has always been a very important concept to America. Sovereignty and independence go hand in hand. They were two ideals upon which the nation established itself and broke from the crown of England.
Yet, today, the conventional wisdom is that we must yield to the fact that we live in an "interdependent" world.
Interdependent is just another way of saying we are dependent. It's just another way of saying we are no longer independent. I'm not willing to concede that point and no other American worth his or her salt should either.
Imagine if our vital national security interests really did depend on what Spanish voters decided to do. That would be a horrible form of dependency. Neither should we place our fate in the hands of any other people.
Of course we live in an interdependent world. But that's no reason to pretend we, as a nation, can't make it on our own. That's no reason we, as a nation, can't determine our own destiny. That's no reason we, as a nation, can't govern ourselves and defend ourselves without reliance on the good wishes of others.
These multilateral coalitions and the global agencies we are forming are robbing America of a rich heritage. They are robbing America of our freedom. They are robbing America of what our founders fought so valiantly to establish – independence.
Ronald Reagan may have been the last U.S. president to understand the importance of independence.
Independence doesn't mean we don't form temporary alliances to defeat common enemies. But it does mean we don't establish permanent alliances that force us to fight in foreign wars that don't concern the security interests of the American people. It does mean that we don't form even temporary alliances just for the sake of appearances.
It's unfortunate that this, again, is one of those issues that is hardly raised in our political debate today. The Democratic and Republican parties might differ slightly on the need for building international consensus, but neither party asserts unequivocally that America has the absolute right to defend itself whenever and wherever we are threatened.
That's the kind of leadership people would follow. Ironically, that's the kind of leadership other nations would willingly follow as well.
THANK YOU! Been making this very point. WTF was it demanded that Spain send in an unpopular token force of 1300 troops? That "symbol" ended up giving the Socialists and Al Queda a convient means of eliminating a key Bush ally!
I am almost dismayed to have to agree for a change. I've decided to stop my petty comments when I don't. Peace...
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