Posted on 10/09/2001 11:25:39 AM PDT by johnqueuepublic
PipeBombNews Editorial
~ Empire America? – Yes! ~
By William A. Mayer - Editor & Publisher
October 9, 2001
“...Cold, poverty, and a life of danger and fatigue fortify the strength and courage of barbarians. In every age they have oppressed the polite and peaceful nations of China, India, and Persia, who neglected, and still neglect, to counter-balance these natural powers by the resources of military art. The warlike states of antiquity, Greece, Macedonia, and Rome, educated a race of soldiers; exercised their bodies, disciplined their courage, multiplied their forces by regular evolutions, and converted the iron which they possessed into strong and serviceable weapons. But this superiority insensibly declined with their laws and manners: and the feeble policy of Constantine and his successors armed and instructed, for the ruin of the empire, the rude valour of the barbarian mercenaries...” - From Edward Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" - 1765It is with a thousand years of perspective and hindsight that Gibbon, with us looking over his shoulder two centuries later, restates the simple law of the jungle - kill or be killed.
Failure to internalize and act upon the fact that planet Earth is more often than not a cruel and factious place is more than foolish, it is suicidal.
Critics from the squishy right, mostly champions of libertarian thought, counsel a retreat from any American role that even approaches that of global policeman.
Populist wing nuts like Pat Buchanan argue that America can simply walk away from foreign squabbles, using the verbiage from George Washington’s farewell address that warned of “entangling foreign alliances”
Taking a much more aggressive tact, the left has a long history of indicting the West and especially America as colonialist plunderers of other cultures, imposing hegemony via economic and military power.
While this accusation can be dismissed as an essentially ideological attack it is now time to turn the argument on its head and actually embrace the kernel of the concept, and the sooner the better.
From the time the Roman republic was declared in 509 BC to it’s ultimate sacking by the Visigoths in 410 AD the Roman Empire, which at its zenith spanned over 2000 miles in breadth, for the first time in the history placed the most desirable and arable land in the old world under the control of a centralized modern government - a system which forged this land and its inhabitants into a supra almost federal type organization, elevating it far above the surrounding barbarian world.
How did they do this?
- · They ordered society from top to bottom, training young minds and bodies together at rigorous levels
- · They developed new concepts of governmental organization and integration
- · They invented the science of military tactics - analyzing the lessons of previous wars and battles
- · They developed the idea of public works and public sanitation
- · They were able to instill among the citizenry, and above all the martial class, absolute devotion to duty and fidelity of purpose
The Roman Empire was willed into being by force of personality and force of arms.
Above all it was successful, guaranteeing relative peace (or what could pass for it in a world primarily populated by, what only can be described as, quasi-human beasts) for nearly a millennium.
When the empire failed it ushered in a thousand years of darkness and horror.
Yes the Romans were oft times cruel themselves, but their cruelty generally had a purpose. It was the exception to the rule, not the personification of it.
Caesar Augustus and Julius Caesar were the two most remarkable men in the history of the ancient world, making the flowering of Rome complete.
America also has a chance to flower anew.
America has a meeting with destiny, history and events beyond her control have demanded her presence.
To say that we stand at a crossroads is trite, but indeed we do so stand.
We have been forced to learn hard truths in a very short time.
We have learned that we are alone in this world; that we are hated by those jealous of our standard of living and because we have had the temerity to follow an older more benevolent prophet.
We have been shown that our complex society, though stunningly diverse and rich beyond belief, is so delicately balanced - so free - that it is in many ways as fragile as a mayfly.
We have been brought face to face with the fact that this delicate creature is now pursued by the hounds of hell; illiterate barbarians barely capable of signing their own names, who use a 7th century text to justify extermination of the non-Islamic world.
It is as if we are confronted by escapees from some insane time warp who have taken advantage of our good nature, our belief in equality and our dedication to civil liberties and freedom.
If we cower from this challenge, if we pull inward we will be picked off one by one, community by community.
We will become targets of opportunity succumbing with increasing rapidity as weapons of greater and greater power become available to agents of terror, plunging us into a an abyss from which escape is unlikely.
There can only be one response – to embrace power, to accept the role for which we have been unknowingly grooming ourselves for 200 years.
We must establish a Pax Americana – a worldwide dominion – an Empire – hard when need be - but fair and leavened with our deep regard for liberty.
We must create our own martial culture, appropriate for the times, as did the Romans.
Our young people must be educated and inculcated into this culture.
We must once again strive for excellence, OUR test scores in mathematics, science, reading and history must become the standard by which achievement is measured.
The pledge of allegiance must be said - with purpose - in every classroom in the United States, abstinence will be tolerated , but doing so will reflect poorly on those so choosing.
We must develop and deploy the weapons of the 21st century, directed energy weapons, space based lasers, ultra supersonic fighters and bombers - whatever advanced technological means whereby power, authority and in the case of attack - revenge - can be projected.
We must not strike indiscriminately at innocents, but we will not let their presence shield our enemies.
A very good symbolic first step might be to send the UN packing; it has become a symbol of anti-Americanism. It exudes racism, is corrupt to its core and is anti-Christian and anti-Semitic to boot - send it to Chernobyl where its red glow will then match its ideology.
Rome does not consult Babylon on matters of foreign policy.
Grasping at the mantle of such awesome power brings with it the attendant duty of exercising it in a way consistent with the values that have preserved us to this point.
Our founding fathers could never have conceived the world in which we live, but they would never forgive us if we departed from the ideals that they died for.
By observing and acting upon what is best in our heritage we can avoid becoming merely another Reich - smug, egocentric and eventually despotic.
It is a heady challenge, one which is unique in the history of the modern world, but one which we MUST accept - the portent of allowing fanatical madmen to wage a continuous jihad against us, with the full array of modern weapons, is too terrible an alternative to contemplate.
If you just sold them products you would not have to worry about their hearts and mind.
Tony
That's a very American perspective. We shouldn't count on it working everywhere else. Chances are it won't.
America today is a powerful country you have the most powerful and advanced military in the world, if the objective of the exercise is to defend America well you have won, no other country can touch you.
But America has a new role a role that she is not sure about as this thread will testify to.
In a Free Market environment you but at the sellers price, that is what capitalism is all about, what is on offer and what is the price.
The Arab states of the Middle East have Oil, America wants Oil, simple.
Except America wants to ensure that.
1)The price is ok.
2) She has access to it.
So we are not talking about capitalism anymore, we are talking about a similar arrangement Britain (my country) had with its empire, they sell us the resources we want at a price we have fixed we manufacture goods from those resources and sell them back also at a price we have fixed.
If America pulled out of the Middle East the radical Islamism might/will take over and may up the price of Oil or refuse to sell it to America as a way of getting America to halt its support of Israel.
The answer many say is to take the Oil fields of them, after all we are stronger good answer, unless that rule is brought to America, I want what you got if you wont sell it to me at a price I find agreeable then I will take it of you.
America presents to the world certain ideals, and what I see here is first sigh of hardship, its not going my way lets ditch those ideals
Tony
Lions do kill hardy game, mainly Wildebeasts although they never pass up the opportunity to steal anothers kill, especially from hyenas and jackals who though quite fierce are no match for a 500 pound kitty.
I think you are off the mark a bit when you say that the jungle has no economic value and is therefore somehow irrelevant, its more a semantic manipulation without addressing the core question.
The core question being given the great availability of really nasty weapons to nutcases like the extreme Islamic fundamentalists how do you protect yourselves.
Libertarian thought says that your concerns stop at your (reinforced) borders. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The only thing that will save us is having the will to project our power, OUR WILL, over anyone who threatens us. I think to do this involves acceptance of some mantle very close to empire.
Our system is, as the author noted, very delicate in many ways - we can not accept many more 9/11 without very severe repercussions - look at what has happened to the economy with just one attack.
When you pour sand in a finely tuned watch it stops, when you pour sand in a Timex it just keeps on ticking.
Cultures like Afghanistan cant fall very far, they are already at pre medieval levels, we on the other hand have a long way to fall and the shock of suddenly living like we did 100 years ago would destroy this country imho.
FINALLY!!!
A line that makes sense in this litany of idiocy. Of course, it only makes sense if taken out of context, since the author is an advocate of empire not a proponent of constitutional government.
It takes more to defend freedom than spouting the (L)libertarian catch phrase of the moment.
America is ALREADY an empire, calling it anything else does not change the fact.
I think that you have given very little thought to just how serious a challenge state sponsored terrorism actually is.
Without unparalleled power at our disposal America will die an ugly death because we are HATED because we are successful and because we subscribe to Judeo Christian ethics.
I am not willing to allow this and will gladly support whatever it takes to make us secure.
Security is the primary civil liberty, without we have nothing.
Looks like Ben Stein to me, is this part of some sinister Hebraic conspiracy??
LOL
Yeah, I've always had comtempt for that squishy wingnut, Washington. What an effeminate wuss!
...Although I can't seem to remember which war it was in which William A. Mayer lead an army to victory.
However, wouldn't that result in a one-world government (a new world order) that many of us find repugnant?
The problem with one global government is that it makes it too easy for a nefarious group to control the globe by taking control of that government. We would need to make sure that the Empire wasn't a democracy.
America also has a chance to flower anew.
If only WE could have a dictator, too!
The only way to save a Republic is to kill it.
The British Empire was based on a constitutionally prescribed monarchy.
America already an empire and we do (the last time I looked anyway) have a constitution also.
Again I find the worshiping of libertarianism here kinda troubling, as it wholly fails to offer any way to defend the US because its primary tenet is that our concerns stop at our borders, which is childish and near sighted in the extreme - We do not need to continually learn the lesson of Pearl Harbor and 9/11 - we can only take so much.
Power corrupts and the more power the more corruption.
"We the People" nor the rest of the world needs a new tyrant to contend with.
However, wouldn't that result in a one-world government (a new world order) that many of us find repugnant?
The problem with one global government is that it makes it too easy for a nefarious group to control the globe by taking control of that government. We would need to make sure that the Empire wasn't a democracy.
By making sure that it is our nefarious group that takes control.
Tony
I politely suggested that you may want to rethink the nature of our security requirements and you immediately launch a pre emptive vituperative attack, claiming that I started it, which is hogwash.
Im a newbie here only been posting for a couple of months, but I am seeing a trend. A lot of the posters of your ilk use military sounding names as if they were indeed kin of Thomas Jefferson or John Adams.
I dont care what your military record (if any) is I only care about the quality of your thought, which is in my opinion lacking in both scope and focus.
I think I know where you are coming from so Im not really taking offense, all is fair in a good political discussion, but as viewed by a "man on the street" your verbiage would be seen as pretty extreme.
All I did was post an editorial from an author whose ideas I have grown to like and all of a sudden we are fighting in the streets of America.
I dont get it, but Im sure you have your reasons.
I am no stranger to weapons either but Im not going to use that knowledge as some sort of club in what I thought was a debate.
The point remains that if the United States is going to survive it is going to have to be a lot tougher than it is now, that we will indeed have to develop and deploy weapons of even more fearful power and at the same time extend our reach, globally, so their power can be brought to bear on our enemies.
It seems that your libertarian perspective has blinded you to the reality of survival, hell if you want Hellen Keller as your mentor so be it, but just between you and me I think I read somewhere that she was blind.
I politely suggested that you may want to rethink the nature of our security requirements and you immediately launch a pre emptive vituperative attack, claiming that I started it, which is hogwash.
Im a newbie here only been posting for a couple of months, but I am seeing a trend. A lot of the posters of your ilk use military sounding names as if they were indeed kin of Thomas Jefferson or John Adams.
I dont care what your military record (if any) is I only care about the quality of your thought, which is in my opinion lacking in both scope and focus.
I think I know where you are coming from so Im not really taking offense, all is fair in a good political discussion, but as viewed by a "man on the street" your verbiage would be seen as pretty extreme.
All I did was post an editorial from an author whose ideas I have grown to like and all of a sudden we are fighting in the streets of America.
I dont get it, but Im sure you have your reasons.
I am no stranger to weapons either but Im not going to use that knowledge as some sort of club in what I thought was a debate.
The point remains that if the United States is going to survive it is going to have to be a lot tougher than it is now, that we will indeed have to develop and deploy weapons of even more fearful power and at the same time extend our reach, globally, so their power can be brought to bear on our enemies.
It seems that your libertarian perspective has blinded you to the reality of survival, hell if you want Hellen Keller as your mentor so be it, but just between you and me I think I read somewhere that she was blind.
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