Free Republic

A growing number of Americans, including libertarians, are suggesting that the U.S. should adopt a "Fortress America" foreign/defense policy: withdraw all of its troops from all foreign countries, end all aid to foreign governments, and withdraw from all alliances. They try to justify this by quoting George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, the latter of whom proclaimed, "Trade with all, entangling alliances with none." Such a policy was obsolete and unfeasible already during the 20th century, but it makes even less sense now, during the 21st century, in today's world. Policies that might've worked during the 18th century are not feasible...

Like the famous racehorse Silky Sullivan, Sen. Rick Santorum is known as a great closer. Yet, months ago, he had been virtually given up for dead by pundits in his race against Bob Casey, Jr., son of the popular, pro-life, former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania. One poll early this year had Santorum down 23 points, an almost insurmountable deficit. A Strategic Value poll had Santorum down 16 points. Now the senator who had been written off is finishing fast. An average of all polls monitored by the RealClearPolitics.com website finds him trailing by 6 points. The most recent Strategic Value...

Give the illegals amnesty after a 5-year probationary period, whereas if they commit a felony or two misdemeanors they are immediately deported, make them take mandatory TB and other immunizations and HIV tests within 60 days (out of their own pocket), in that 5-year period they must sign up for a digitized, biometric federal ID card and without this card they cannot obtain employment. Must carry automobile insurance. Employers are fined $25,000 a day if the (formerly) illegals don't present this ID at the time of hire. Make English the official language and end bilingual ballots and in taxpayer-funded education,...

<p>ONE wonders what Osama bin Laden and his ilk learned from Hiroshima.</p> <p>The decision to incinerate the Japanese city and another, Nagasaki, was not taken in anger. White men in gray business suits and military uniforms, after much deliberation, decided that the United States could not give the Japanese any warning, that although it could not concentrate on a civilian area, it should seek to make a profound psychological impression on as many inhabitants as possible. They argued that it would be cheaper in American lives to release the nuclear genie.</p>

''We must recognize what a large and growing number of Iraqis now believe,'' said Sen. Ted Kennedy last week, that ``the war in Iraq has become a war against the American occupation.''Even with the heroic and heartening election turnout, Kennedy is not entirely wrong. The insurgency has always been a war against the U.S. occupation and those Iraqis who cooperate with us. But the paradox that Kennedy fails to address is this: While the U.S. invasion and occupation precipitated the insurgency, it has grown to where only the U.S. military keeps it from seizing power. Should we withdraw now, there...

Illegal immigration has become a major problem in much of the developed world. The US believes a million and a half immigrants cross its borders illegally every year. The majority of them do not come through its tightly-controlled airports - they wander in across the long and porous border which separates the US from its southern neighbour, Mexico. It is always the unexpected detail that one remembers. The bottles of Hellman's mayonnaise, strewn between the Saguaro cacti like the remnants of some hastily abandoned picnic. "What's with the mayonnaise?" I asked Garrett Neubauer, the ex-marine turned border patrol "agent", as...

At last week's Democratic National Convention, the Democratic leadership outlined its vision for American foreign policy and the war on terrorism. Despite the frequent references to alliance building, the common theme running through the most prominent Democratic speeches revealed a grand strategy based on retreating to Fortress America. The Democrats' goal is to make the United States into an international version of a gated community. On the first night, Hillary Rodham Clinton offered the American people a security strategy that contained no call to deal with foreign threats at their source. Instead, she offered a strategy based on the idea...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 — An antiaircraft missile, ready for use, sits atop a federal office building near the White House. Devices that test the air for chemical and biological substances are positioned throughout the city. Subway stations are now equipped with "bomb containment" trash bins. A major highway that runs by the Pentagon is being rerouted several hundred yards away. A security wall is going up around the Washington Monument. Day by day, the nation's capital is becoming a fortress, turning a city known for graceful beauty into a virtual armed camp. In response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist...

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...

Progress in the Arab world is being hindered by the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11, 2001, tightening of visa restrictions and the U.S. government's treatment of terrorism suspects, a team of Arab intellectuals contends in a new report to be released today in Jordan. Thirty percent fewer Arabs studied in the United States in 2002 than three years earlier, according to the Arab Human Development Report. Some Arab governments also defended draconian measures against opponents by pointing to the stern security measures imposed by the United States and other developed democracies. "It's 30 percent. Many reformers saw these people as the...

The United States is turning protectionist. Or at least that’s the growing risk in this tough economic climate. America is now taking dead aim on the “China problem.” Legislation has been introduced in the US Congress that threatens to impose 27.5% across-the board tariffs on Chinese exports into the US if the RMB peg is not abandoned. In my opinion, this is a classic example of opportunistic politics leading to bad economics. Such an approach would have negative impacts on the US, China, and the broader global economy. It is right out of the script of the nightmares of the...

With visa scrutiny to be stepped up Friday, some foresee a still bigger falloff in students, researchers, au pairs, and others. By Abraham McLaughlin | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor From college students to lab researchers to au pairs, America is normally a magnet for millions of foreigners. But this year it's seeing a dramatic drop-off in the number of visitors. Both tighter restrictions on getting into this country - and a strong disillusionment with the US abroad - are causing tens of thousands of people worldwide to forgo trips to America. Critics say the decline is evidence...