by
Dr. Robert Owens
Historians spend their lives looking backwards. Futurists spend their
lives looking forward. My goal has been to blend the two disciplines
into one seamless panorama. For if you don’t know the past you have no
context for the present, and if you have no context for the present the
future appears to be whatever those who shape the present portray it to
be. Those who believed the Eternal Empire was truly eternal, those who
believed the sun would never set on the British Empire, those who
believed in a 1,000 year Reich, and those who believed the USSR was the
vision of the future proved those who shape the present always project a
future which shows their empire as the one that will never fall.
When I was studying to become a Historian I came to a point where I had
to declare a field of special study. This is where my obsession with
current events intersected with my love for History. This is when I
realized that current events are the forever unfolding always receding
conveyor belt of reality. This is when I first verbalized the
perception that as the future slides into the present and the present
slides into the past our lives are the history of the future.
Therefore in my writings I seek to frame the flow of today with
knowledge of yesterday to create a window into tomorrow.
History tells us that Imperial Republics fall. We have the examples of
Athens and all the other grasping Greek republics that followed her. We have
Rome the example always deferred to of a republic that allowed an empire to
stifle freedom. The list however does not end there, we can look at
Venice and the various republics of Renaissance Italy, and of course the
First Republic of France
which was birthed in blood and died in fire. The siren song of empire
has seduced republics down through history to trade in their freedom for
power which eventually cost them both their freedom and the power.
It is time to re-think America’s international military commitments.
Though settled by European kingdoms seeking empires, the United States
wasn’t founded to become an empire. Individuals fought against the
empire building tyrants until their determination and resolve won
independence against all odds. Then, although the world was filled with
despotic kings, our Framers gave us a Republic. However, it is worth
remembering
the exchange
that took place between Ben Franklin, the elder statesman of the
Constitutional Convention, and an unknown woman. As he left
Independence Hall he was asked, “Well Doctor what have we got a republic
or a monarchy?” Appealing to his legendary wit Franklin
replied,
“A republic, if you can keep it.” We and our ancestors have been
blessed by the Republic for hundreds of years. We’ve benefited from the
liberty to live our lives and pursue our happiness. Now we’ve arrived
at the “if you can keep it” phase of our journey.
At the cost of hundreds of billions and thousands of lives we
doubled-down in Afghanistan. At the cost of over a trillion and
thousands of lives we conquered Iraq and deposed Saddam. We spearheaded
the bombing campaign in Libya. Our drones strike suspected enemies far
and near including American citizens. Troops have been dispatched to
central Africa. And the perennial war drums still beat at the very
mention of Iran. We are committed to treat any attack on dozens of
countries from South Korea to Lithuania as an attack on our homeland.
In other wards we are committed to send American troops to fight and die
for countries which in the case of South Korea are well able to defend
themselves, and in the case of Lithuania and many others that are of no
strategic importance to the United States.
We have sent our fellow citizens to fight long hard slogs in
countries whose names are the very synonym for Quagmire. As our economy
was being outsourced, our debt monetized, and our infrastructure
crumbled we meekly followed our leaders deeper into thankless
nation-building campaigns in nation after nation including one that’s
resisted and foiled every empire from Alexander to Moscow.
Instead of using our cruise missiles and stealth capabilities we fell
into the trap announced and laid by Bin Laden. Whose strategy was as
Lawrence Wright
told
us in his seminal book Looming Towers to, “lure America into the same
trap the Soviets had fallen into: Afghanistan.” How did he plan to do
it? “To continually attack until the U.S. forces invaded; then the
mujahedeen would swarm upon them and bleed them until the entire
American empire fell from its wounds. It had happened to Great Britain
and to the Soviet Union. He was certain it would happen to America.”
There were twists and turns on our journey from republic to empire.
George Washington warned us to avoid foreign entanglements.
Thomas Jefferson
outlined the essential principles of our government which included this
advice concerning foreign affairs, “peace, commerce, and honest
friendship with all nations entangling alliances with none.”
For more than one hundred years we concentrated on using our liberty
to build a mighty nation. Then the temptation of empire captured the
American imagination in the 1890s, a time when Europe was rushing to
gobble up the last places open for colonization or carving up those
areas unsuited for colonies into spheres of influence. Under
President McKinley the United States
entered the scramble for colonies in the
Spanish-American War winning Puerto Pico and the Philippines
Teddy Roosevelt followed McKinley walking softly while carrying a big stick in the form of the
Great White Fleet
and multiple intrusions into the sovereignty of Latin American
countries. After being re-elected on the promise to keep America
neutral
President Wilson proclaimed America must fight World War I to “
Make the World Safe for Democracy.”
An adventure which cost over 300, 000 casualties and which actually
expanded the empires of England, France, and Japan. After the war, the
Congress of the United States re-asserted control by rejecting the
international entanglements of the
League of Nations Treaty returning to the traditional American foreign policy of freedom of trade and freedom of action.
Under FDR America fought an
undeclared naval war against Germany in 1940 and 41 and imposed draconian
embargoes
against Japan prior to Pearl Harbor. Once we were attacked we had to
defend ourselves. However, when World War II ended not with the defeat
of totalitarianism but instead with the expansion of it in Eastern
Europe the guiding light of American foreign policy seems to have been
permanently extinguished. As the British Empire sailed into the sunset
we filled the void taking up the role of leader of the West in the Cold
War. For forty-six years we faced the Soviets until they collapsed
under the weight of their own empire Then instead of coming home we
spread our wings even further embracing Eastern Europe promising to send
young Americans to fight for Estonia and Slovakia among others, and now
the sun never sets upon the American Empire.
Not only is it against the founding principles of America to
establish and maintain an empire of far-flung outposts, we cannot afford
to be the Policeman of the world. We cannot afford to build nations
for people who don’t want them. How did a peaceful nation of free
citizens become the advocate of pre-emptive attack and endless
occupation? How much blood and treasure did we invest in Iraq, and what
is the result? A
Shi’a ally for
Iran.
The war in Afghanistan was obviously defensive and retaliatory in
nature given the Taliban’s support for Al Qaeda. But ten years later
what’s it all about? Are we really dedicated to building a modern
nation for tribal people who have no sense of nationhood? Or have we
walked into the same trap that brought the Soviets to their knees?
Currently the United States has armed forces in
over 130 countries.
We’re committed to defend most of these countries against aggression.
Where were all these allies on 9-11? Where are they in Afghanistan?
Why do we have treaties binding us to go to war to defend those who
refuse to support us when we’re attacked? If these policies are
counter-productive are there any alternatives?
Close the foreign bases and bring our troops home. Station them on
the border to protect us from the on-going invasion of illegal
immigrants who’re overloading our systems. We can seal and secure the
mountainous border between the Koreas and we can secure our own borders
if we have the wisdom and the will. If we need to project American
power use the carrier battle-groups designed for that purpose. Protect
America and rebuild our infrastructure instead of everyone else’s. When
asked what to do with the American Military after World War I
Will Rogers said,
“Get ‘em all home, add to their number, add to their training, then
just sit tight with a great feeling of security and just read about
foreign wars. That’s the best thing in the world to do with them.”
If we want to save the Republic we need to lose the empire, or we can cling to the empire and lose both.
