A Personal Message for President Bush
A Personal Message for President Bush
(First off, let me apologize to anyone who may take offense to this month's column. I mean no offense, but I truly believe this is a unique way of looking at the upcoming war with Iraq. If it does offend, I guess I'll pull it and write anther column)
First off, a personal story: Some time ago, I had several friends with whom I hung out a lot. However, it always seemed like I was doing more than my share to stay friends with these individuals. I bought them stuff on vacation, Christmas presents, drove more than my share on trips, and virtually always let them pick the movies we went to go see. These friends were always at my house-eating, playing video games, etc.- I never minded because it was fun. Eventually, they began complaining that I was too "cheap"- in other words, I would not buy the then-20 y/o people alcohol. A few weeks after that, my friends and I became involved in an argument, and I found out that they had actually treated me as though they were doing charity work by hanging out with me. And at that moment, I realized how things really were- and it explained why they disappeared whenever my car broke down or my house was unavailable for them to hang out. Throughout all those years, they had been motivated by their own self-interests.
Now back to America and the point of this column: It's funny how America is always there. Whenever a country is having problems or down, there we are offering food and monetary aid. I read somewhere that the U.S. gives more money to other countries in the form of aid than any other counry does. And now that we've allowed ourselves to be pushed around for years by these countries, we come to a crisis in Iraq where we could use a little bit of support. And where has everyone gone?
We look to the French whom we bailed out of WWII (enter your own joke here)- and we get criticism. We look to Turkey, one of our main allies- and they turn their backs by refusing to let us use their country and the bases WE BUILT. The Germans whom we rebuilt after WWII and whom we defended against communism- and give us the cold shoulder. All of our old friends have abandoned us, have disowned us- and we find out that all the times of goodwill were perpetuated only by their self-interest. It's a stunning realization, but one we probably should have seen decades ago.
The only alternative, Mr. Bush, is to go it alone. Don't take "the safe route" which only leads to danger later (a la Bill Clinton). Do not waver in the face of peace movements who criticize you now (and will definitely criticize you if you do not act and terror is again brought onto our shores). There's a time and a place for alliances, but this is not one of them. At some point in our lives we have to come to terms with reality, realize we can't hold onto things which have ended, and stand up for ourselves. If things with our allies are to straighten themselves out, then they eventually will. But for now, we must act-even if it's alone. The safety of this country and its people demands it.