[Peace-discuss] Occupation

[C. G. Estabrook]

Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of Texas there was a large 
foreign military base, say Chinese or Russian. Imagine that thousands of armed 
foreign troops were constantly patrolling American streets in military vehicles. 
Imagine they were here under the auspices of “keeping us safe” or “promoting 
democracy” or “protecting their strategic interests.”

Imagine that they operated outside of US law, and that the Constitution did not 
apply to them. Imagine that every now and then they made mistakes or acted on 
bad information and accidentally killed or terrorized innocent Americans, 
including women and children, most of the time with little to no repercussions 
or consequences. Imagine that they set up check points on our soil and routinely 
searched and ransacked entire neighborhoods of homes. Imagine if Americans were 
fearful of these foreign troops, and overwhelmingly thought America would be 
better off without their presence.

Imagine if some Americans were so angry about them being in Texas that they 
actually joined together to fight them off, in defense of our soil and 
sovereignty, because leadership in government refused or were unable to do so. 
Imagine that those Americans were labeled terrorists or insurgents for their 
defensive actions, and routinely killed, or captured and tortured by the foreign 
troops on our land. Imagine that the occupiers’ attitude was that if they just 
killed enough Americans, the resistance would stop, but instead, for every 
American killed, ten more would take up arms against them, resulting in 
perpetual bloodshed. Imagine if most of the citizens of the foreign land also 
wanted these troops to return home. Imagine if they elected a leader who 
promised to bring them home and put an end to this horror.

Imagine if that leader changed his mind once he took office.

The reality is that our military presence on foreign soil is as offensive to the 
people that live there as armed Chinese troops would be if they were stationed 
in Texas. We would not stand for it here, but we have had a globe straddling 
empire and a very intrusive foreign policy for decades that incites a lot of 
hatred and resentment towards us.

According to our own CIA, our meddling in the Middle East was the prime 
motivation for the horrific attacks on 9/11. But instead of re-evaluating our 
foreign policy, we have simply escalated it. We had a right to go after those 
responsible for 9/11, to be sure, but why do so many Americans feel as if we 
have a right to a military presence in some 160 countries when we wouldn’t stand 
for even one foreign base on our soil, for any reason? These are not embassies, 
mind you, these are military installations. The new administration is not 
materially changing anything about this. Shuffling troops around and playing 
with semantics does not accomplish the goals of the American people, who simply 
want our men and women to come home. 50,000 troops left behind in Iraq is not 
conducive to peace any more than 50,000 Russian soldiers would be in the United 
States.

Shutting down military bases and ceasing to deal with other nations with threats 
and violence is not isolationism. It is the opposite. Opening ourselves up to 
friendship, honest trade and diplomacy is the foreign policy of peace and 
prosperity. It is the only foreign policy that will not bankrupt us in short 
order, as our current actions most definitely will. I share the disappointment 
of the American people in the foreign policy rhetoric coming from the 
administration. The sad thing is, our foreign policy WILL change eventually, as 
Rome’s did, when all budgetary and monetary tricks to fund it are exhausted.

by Ron Paul, March 10, 2009
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22184.htm