Some of these principles may sound familiar. A few of them were first expressed back in 1984 in President Reagan’s cabinet. They were designed to help us sharply define when and how we should use force, and they served us well in the Reagan years. Times are much different now, but I believe that by updating these time-tested principles to address the unique and changing circumstances and threats that we face today, they will serve us well now and into the future. Remember, Reagan liked to keep it simple, yet profound. Remember what he would say to the enemy? He’d say, “we win, you lose.” Some may argue that today in a world where we are dealing with terrorist organizations rather than Cold War adversaries, these principals are outdated. On the contrary, these principles are timeless. They will allow us to effectively and forcefully defend our vital national interests and those of our key allies in the age of terrorism. We must vigorously defend ourselves, but at the same time we must not wear down our armed forces with never-ending and ever-increasing commitments. I believe that America must never retreat into isolation. The world would be less safe and less free without our leadership. And we must never forget that America has a responsibility to lead. “To whom much is given, much is expected.” We cannot be the world’s policeman granted, or the world’s ATM. But we can lead by example. By our words and, when necessary, by our actions, we must and we will remain the world’s abiding beacon of freedom.
One of the key differences between Palin's doctrine and Powell's doctrine is the need for international support. the Bush/Powell's doctrine was basically Reagan's doctrine except Powell and bush added that need for international support and called it the New world Order. Palin is calling for rejection of that New world Order and a return of the Reagan Doctrine updated to handle the fact that we are not in the cold war but in a different type of fight.
As far as your point about all wars following the 5 points. that simply is not true. The gulf war's end was dictated not by a clearly defined plan but on how far the coalition of the willing allowed America to go. Iraq and Afghanistan were not in any way shape or form following these 5 points. nor is the present Libya operation, or Kosovo or the Haiti mission and on and on. the last military operation that followed the Reagan doctrine was Panama.
After all, the vast majority of Freepers bought into the Iraq War and the justifications put out by the Bush administration: we had a well-defined objective (get rid of Saddam which would automatically lead to the establishment of a democratic government), go in with sufficient force, and get out quick.
If you didn't believe all that horsepucky then Freepers would accuse you of being a commie pinko pacifist.
I've become really cynical with regard to America's foreign policy. I wish we would just change it to being truly and openly cynical: if a country kills an American, we bomb them. If they mess with one of our corporations then we bomb them. Otherwise keep the lines of trade and communication open in hopes that they will eventually come to their senses and institute democratic free market principles.