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We need to redefine quite radically all these concepts in the post-9/11 world. Quietly and without fanfare, we will by necessity soon come to see the world in entirely different ways. Bases must be far smaller and built at the invitation of the host, and we must have in advance a clear understanding of under which exact conditions they can be used. Our German deployment should be cut up and resituated among many Eastern European countries, with advance guidelines as to how soldiers can be sent out should trouble arise in the Middle East.
We should also accept the notion that neutrals are not allies, and thus should not pillory them for their triangulation. We are angry at France only because it is a duplicitous ally; once we cease seeing it as a close friend, we will be no more angry with it than we are with Sweden or New Zealand — which both have at times expressed their anti-Americanism, and expect nothing from us should they find themselves in crises. Germany's behavior now grates on us, but only because we expect it to be a Britain — rather than a Belgium, to which it is far more closely attuned. We should never be angry with Canada, simply because we should never expect anything from it — inasmuch as it has long ago decided to emulate the European Union model. Let us respect its status as a neutral and pacifistic state that neither wishes nor deserves cooperation with the United States in defense matters.
By the same token, we must cease treating belligerents as friends and friends as neutrals (or worse). It makes absolutely no sense, for example, that Egypt has hundreds of Abrams tanks (that can only be used against Israel) while Australia has none. Indeed, the latter proved resolute and supportive in our current crisis; the former, constantly critical. More importantly, Australia is a rich, democratic, continent-sized nation, with common traditions and values like our own — and has been at our side through every major war.
Surely, Canberra's past history and present friendship — coupled with its strategic location, stuck as it is with neighbors like Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, China, and North Korea — make it a key ally worthy of American deference and military assistance. The old notion that prosperous, friendly Western countries do not need our assistance, while fickle non-Western states deserve blackmail aid, is passé — and, of course, has no public support. Most Americans would rather give 600 tanks to Australia than sell one to Cairo; or prefer to work closely with the democracy in India than with the dictatorship in Pakistan, where the current, transitory order is one bullet away from Islamic chaos. Not a single Muslim in democratic India is an international terrorist; in contrast, terror is the chief export of the Pakistani madrassas.
Because Europe uses the United Nations to restrain American initiatives, it is precisely there we also must quietly turn, with principled reforms rather than bluster and invective. As part of a broader initiative with democratic India, we need to insist on the latter's membership in the Security Council, along with Japan. France should share its veto with the entire European Union. And any nation that wishes to enjoy a vote in the General Assembly must first prove that its own citizens enjoy the same privilege at home.
Future military alliances should not be predicated on large bases, which ultimately encourage insidious relationships, where the dependent party resents the troops, chafes at paternalism, and develops a naive view of the world. Given the far greater economy and population of South Korea in comparison with the North, there is little reason to deploy American troops on the DMZ at all. A gradual withdrawal — with promises that in a time of conflict our planes and missiles will be right behind South Korean youngsters as they slog toward the front — makes far more sense. Note the difference with our real ally Israel, which confronts its formidable enemies with our material help — but without thousands of American soldiers on its Green Line.
In the months since the Iraqi war, the world situation has, in fact, starting to calm down; and with that equilibrium comes the realization that the old Cold War protocols no longer apply, and that the United States is in a far stronger position than ever before. With China and Russia claiming neutrality; with Britain, Australia, Japan, and much of Eastern Europe allied; and with India increasingly receptive to American peace-feelers — we should worry less and less about Old Europe and the tired Arab street, whose collective bark is far worse than their bite. The sad fact is that, for billions of people in an emerging Asia and the Americas, Europe and our enemies in the Middle East are mostly irrelevant, and will become even more so in the months ahead.
I have often wondered why the U.S. hasn't rewarded Australia's many sacrifices and contributions in our military efforts more.
Anyone know?
After Britian, Australia is perhaps our second-best ally.
Great article - lots of good sense here. Sad part is, nobody will ever do anything about it. We just keep giving million$ to foreign gubbermints who could care less if we had a 9/11 in every major American city (on the same day).
Now, if we could replace Colin Powell with Victor Davis Hanson, there might be hope for the future of all the world. Nah, could never happen.
The sad fact is that, for billions of people in an emerging Asia and the Americas, Europe and our enemies in the Middle East are mostly irrelevant, and will become even more so in the months ahead.
...and that just doesn't make sense. The only way our enemies in the ME will become irrelevant to anyone (Asia, Europe or Latin America), is if we kill all of the jihadi's first. Period.
Any other course of action is suicide.
5.56mm