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IN THE STEPPES OF ASIA, BUSH’S SPIN ON THE REGION
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Foreign
Policy
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| On Getting Older | |
| Psychoactive Substances |
| [published
in Spanish in La Opinion, 2-24-02] Two years ago I was in Xian in central China. It was the first capitol of the country at the eastern terminus of the ancient Silk Road. The dust still blows in from the western deserts and chokes on hot days. I was there to visit an American charity sponsored orphanage. While driving through the middle of the city I spied an American aircraft carrier. It was on the cover of newspaper being handed out for free on the street corner. I asked the driver to pull over and I grabbed a copy for myself. On the back cover was another U.S. Navy ship, a nuclear missile submarine. I learned that the paper was a PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) rag filled with “the-grave-threat-from-America” propaganda. The purpose of such papers is to promote and consolidate internal political power by using xenophobia, that is, fear of foreigners. Indeed, xenophobia is the oldest political tool – the Chinese use it often. George W. Bush also used that old tool quite well in his first State of the Union address. He referred to the rogue nations of North Korea, Iraq, and Iran as the “evil axis,” his purposeful rhetoric reminiscent Hitler, Tojo, and the Soviets all in one. If you believe him on this one then you’ll certainly buy billions of dollars spent on National Missile Defense (I wonder why he doesn’t call it Star Wars?). But, why should we believe him on this? He’s already cried wolf once. Before September 11th the evil empire was China with their dozens of nuclear missiles pointed at Los Angeles. What happened to that threat Mr. Bush? Indeed, missing from the State of the Union was Mr. Bush’s apology for his own culpability in the September 11th tragedy. Certainly his Lone Ranger diplomacy was a causal factor. But, he has shown contrition there – he’s quickly paid our United Nations dues in the name of a new multilaterialism. More importantly, on September 11th George W. Bush stood in command of a $300 billion a year national security apparatus that was supposed to protect Americans from such foreign threats. But, he was distracted by Chinese spy planes and such. An honest leader would admit his failure and move on to fix things. He’s doing neither. Thousands of dead Afghans and we still don’t have bin Laden. I still haven’t figured out the difference between Homeland Security and National Defense? What were we doing before September 11th? Like Richard Nixon in the 1950s and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, in his State of the Union address George Jr. was using fear of foreigners to justify huge expenditures on the military and ignoring the real threats of terrorism. Now he’s pushing for a $400 billion dollar a year military. That’s what we were spending in the 1980s facing the Soviets’ tanks, ships, and nuclear arsenal. The terrorists used box cutters – 99-cent box cutters! And, now Russia spends but $40 billion a year on their military and China $25 billion. Our allies, some our former enemies, France, the UK, Germany, and Japan all spend about $35 billion each a year on defense. We are an arsenal state investing trillions on a wrong-headed defense system. Please read Martin van Creveld’s The Transformation of War (Free Press) for a 21st Century view of war. In 1991 he well made the case that state-to-state conventional warfare against the United States was obsolete. Instead, we should expect a greater use of terrorism and guerrilla tactics. Small arms and terrorist creativity are the problem, not nuclear tipped missiles fired from afar. Paul Kennedy’s tome, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (Random House) predicts the path we’re now taking. He well describes the decline of nations brought on by the kinds of military expenditures in which we are now engaged. Too much on guns means not enough on butter. Just one year ago the issues were social security, education, health care, and budget surpluses everywhere. Bin Laden has succeeded in changing all that. Terrorists promote fear. And fear is driving the direction of the nation now. Fear is limiting the debate in Washington DC about national policy. We have other choices besides bombs and bullets. American military hegemony promotes hate, not respect. We didn’t defeat communism with guns. We defeated communism with freedom and openness. We should be trading with Cuba, Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Trade causes peace. Openness causes mutual understanding. I do have one fear based on President Bush’s ovations on Tuesday. I have a seventeen year-old son. Bush’s oratory puts him in harm’s way. Mothers, hold on tight to your sons. Perhaps Ashley Wilkes put it best in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, “Most of the misery of the world has been caused by wars. And when the wars were over, no one ever knew what they were all about.” |
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The 48th Congressional District includes the following Orange County cities:
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