<The mission (of the US Army) is defense>
Defense of the US can be expanded, to include mutual defense treaties with other democracies, like NATO, and Japan. I see no reason to make treaties with, and defend, undemocratic nations. And, yes, in some cases that means standing aside and letting bad things happen. Too many times, we have replaced one tyranny with another tyranny. Or even replaced a democratically elected government with a fascist tyranny, as in Chile.
I'd also extend the principle of defense-only, to when the community of nations (the UN) approves of it, to end genocide or reverse a war of aggression. But the decision cannot be left to any one nation.
The Taliban offered Safe Haven to an organization that had attacked us, so our attack on Afghanistan was a defensive war.
Basicly, I think our foreign policy should be guided by the principles of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. This hasn't been true since 1898.
Wars of aggression, wars of colonial conquest, wars merely to extend our power, wars to create a "good business environment" for US multinationals, that's not what the U.S. is supposed to be about. A nation founded on the idea of "consent of the governed", has been taken over by imperialists. |
