Disturbing. Confusing. Mind numbing.
There are so many words to describe what is going on right now in the Middle East. What is the most troubling is that a lot of what is happening is of our own making. Well, not my making, but American policy, mostly that of Republicans and both Bush administrations.
Yes, I know. Things were going on there long before Bush Sr. got into the White House. But we weren’t fucking around there before and trying to spread “democracy” and foist our way of life upon them . It’s hard for a lot of Americans to understand that there are some countries that don’t necessarily want elections or freedom of the press like we do. We look at our history and we think that this is what everybody wants. The Middle East is a different ballgame. American democracy is not something you dangle in front of them like animals who are mesmerized by shiny objects. Our style of government is not part of their DNA. They have a different way of life and a different culture and thought process.
Look at everything going on now and all the violence and strife in areas like Iraq, Libya and Syria. These countries existed for years under oppressive rulers who kept the violence and terrorism in check. We went into Iraq and started this whole mess. Muammar Gaddafi was the leader of Libya for years, as long as I can remember. He got a little out of line in the 80’s and we had to slap him around some, but he mostly was kept in check. There was an uprising a couple years ago that was instigated by elements of the US and Gaddafi was ousted and got sticks jammed up his ass and he was killed. Now we have a situation there where every American has had to leave Libya. Everybody associated with the United States is gone, to where we had a convoy of all our US workers from consulates bussed out of Libya with fighter jets and drone escorts. What is happening in Libya wasn’t allowed to happen when Gaddafi was there. There was unrest, but Gaddafi kept these people in line. So did Saddam Hussein. He was our ally for years and then he went into Kuwait and he wasn’t. Say what you will about Saddam, but Iraq wasn’t the powder keg of chaos that it is now. He kept the chaos under control. His methods may have been harsh, but they were effective.
These people don’t want our democracy. Take a look at Afghanistan. People went to vote and election booths were blown up. Then on top of that a huge stash of weapons that we gave the Aghani government to fight the rebels were recently stolen. So now the opposition in Afghanistan will be fighting our troops with our own fucking weapons. Part of their population doesn’t want elections. The leaders who are being elected are propped up by the US government. They don’t want American involvement. Iraq’s leader Nouri al-Maliki is propped up by the United States. He is the opposite of what Saddam Hussein was. What is happening in the Ukraine now is because of American involvement in their political process. We supported the overthrow of their Russian backed president and put in one who was loyal to the US and as a result you have a huge population of the Russian population who are rebelling. Again, because the United States got involved where they should not be involved.
We need to stop funding and supporting conflicts that are none of our concern. We’ve given billions to Israel for defense. Then you have Qatar who we’ve just sold 11 billion dollars worth of military hardware, from missiles to Apache helicopters. Qatar then goes and funds Hamas and the Palestinians to fight Israel. It’s like taking three steps forward and five steps back. It doesn’t make any sense. The only thing that makes sense is to withdraw from the whole mess in the Middle East. Plain and simple. We withdraw all support from all of these regions. We don’t keep arming them. Don’t arm Afghanistan, don’t arm Iraq, don’t fund Israel. Let all of them deal with their own shit.
We have the greatest military in the world. We can strike and kill anybody on earth at a moment’s notice. We spy on everybody, that’s a fact. We know everything that’s going on everywhere. We can strike a country within minutes. So when a country gets out of line, we drop a couple of bombs and get them under control. We can sit back and allow these countries to handle shit themselves. They have to work it out themselves because they’re not like us. They don’t reach across the aisle and negotiate. They have their own way of dealing with disagreements. Our country takes each side and they say I don’t agree with you and you don’t agree with me and they do nothing. They don’t interrupt the status quo as long as the money keeps flowing. That’s really what’s it’s all about. That’s why the abortion issue and the gun debate will never get solved because there’s money to be made on both sides.
These other countries, do you know what they’re used to? Saddam Hussein sitting there and his guys come in and say they’ve got a little problem in Fallujah or whatever. They tell him they’re upset about this or that. Saddam tells them to tell the Fallujians to chill the fuck out and he’ll give them something. Saddam’s guys go to Fallujah and say here’s what the chief is offering and we recommend you take it. They say no. The guys go back to Saddam and tell him Fallujah told him to go fuck himself. Saddam says, “Gas em.” So they gas them. The rest of the country goes, “Oh fuck. We don’t wanna get gassed. We better chill out.” Then everybody’s chill. That’s all they know. Same thing in Libya, same thing in Afghanistan. It’s all they know.
Who the fuck are we to come in and say, “You can’t do that.” Why not? Can you imagine if another country ever came here and told us not to do something? What if an army from another country came here and said we don’t like you killing your own people with botched executions, so we’re gonna liberate them? We don’t want anyone coming in our backyard and telling us what to do, yet we do that all over the world. Then we wonder why everything is happening in the Middle East. It’s our fault. We condemn Israel for killing 75% of civilians in the Gaza Strip. The UN and every logical entity around the world says Israel occupies the Gaza Strip. Then out of the other side of our mouth we say they have the right to defend themselves and give them billions and fund their Iron Dome. But then we say they’re occupiers and they’re killing kids and that’s bad. What the fuck? It makes no sense.
Obama and Chuck Hagel have tried to pull back. But the Republicans say they can’t do that. That’s because there is so much money involved. The money machine is rolling in Washington and they don’t want to upset the apple cart and offend Israel and lose that ka-ching. They already got rid of their one Jew Eric Cantor. Like I’ve said, Republicans will take their money, but they don’t wanna hang with a Jew. If Israel stopped their money, Republicans would be the first ones to tell them to stick their Iron Dome up their asses. Israel is the most developed country in that region and has the strongest economy, yet we still give them billions. They like to talk about how strong their defense is but they wouldn’t be that strong if it weren’t for the US. Without us they would not take the posture that they do. We give them the balls. They talk tough and act tough because we have their back.
What is going on in the Middle East is because of us. We need to pull back and let these people work out their own shit. As much as a liberal Democrat as I am, the things Rand Paul are saying are starting to make a lot of sense. Being an isolationist and getting out of all of these situations unless we have to go there. If you are the leader of a country and you aren’t able to defend it without America’s help, then you shouldn’t be the leader of that country. If you’re a leader who can’t keep order, then you don’t deserve to be that leader. At the end of the day, the house of cards needs to fall down, because the United States can’t be the bandaid for every wound in the world. These wounds need stitches and they need to heal.
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