U.S. needs to get out of the business of nation building
Letter to the editor
To the Editor:
Let’s take a walk down our recent foreign policy history:
Presidents H.W. Bush, Clinton, W. Bush and Obama all brought NATO to Russia’s doorstep after the U.S. promised not to expand the alliance further eastward during the German unification negotiations in 1990. Russia’s response? Nothing.
In 2003, we overthrew Saddam Hussain, who never attacked the U.S. or threatened any of our vital interests. This resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians, forced Christians to flee the country, strengthened Iran and destabilized the entire region without a clear exit strategy. Russia’s response? Nothing.
In 2011, the U.S. helped overthrow a pro-American Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, who was replaced by Islamic extremists eventually leading to a military takeover of the country, causing even more Middle East chaos. Russia’s response? Nothing.
Also in 2011, after several years prior doing whatever America demanded, we still forced the ouster and death of Muammar Gaddafi. This created further unrest, regional instability and a humanitarian nightmare that escalated well beyond Libya’s borders and continues to be a problem. Russia’s response? Nothing.
In 2014, strong evidence suggests that the U.S. assisted in the toppling of a constitutional and democratically elected president in the Ukraine because we felt the administration was too pro-Russia. Talk about “influencing” elections! Russia’s response? They annexed the region of Crimea, after over 95 percent of those citizens voted to become part of Russia. The U.S. response? We put sanctions on Russia.
In 2015, NATO member Turkey shoots down a Russian jet that may have barely veered out of Syrian airspace for a moment, killing the Russian crew. Russia’s response? Nothing outside a verbal condemnation for Turkey, avoiding a potential war that could have engulfed the U.S. as well due to our World War II era commitments that we still honor.
In 2016, it was proven that the Democratic National Committee rigged their primary to ensure the nomination of Hillary Clinton. The U.S. response? Nothing.
Also in 2016, a non-government Russian citizen met with members of Donald Trump’s campaign team with a promise to share compromising material on Hillary Clinton. This meeting resulted in zero information and absolutely no influence on the American presidential election. The U.S. response? Put more sanctions on Russia!
Seriously people? We’re supposed to be the good guys.
Let’s pray that President Trump stops this madness we’ve been pursuing for almost three decades. The U.S. needs to get out of the business of nation building, which has been ending up as nation destroying, only engage militarily where our national vital interests are and realize that Russia is no longer the Soviet Union.
Bill Haney
Brunswick
Let’s take a walk down our recent foreign policy history:
Presidents H.W. Bush, Clinton, W. Bush and Obama all brought NATO to Russia’s doorstep after the U.S. promised not to expand the alliance further eastward during the German unification negotiations in 1990. Russia’s response? Nothing.
In 2003, we overthrew Saddam Hussain, who never attacked the U.S. or threatened any of our vital interests. This resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians, forced Christians to flee the country, strengthened Iran and destabilized the entire region without a clear exit strategy. Russia’s response? Nothing.
In 2011, the U.S. helped overthrow a pro-American Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, who was replaced by Islamic extremists eventually leading to a military takeover of the country, causing even more Middle East chaos. Russia’s response? Nothing.
Also in 2011, after several years prior doing whatever America demanded, we still forced the ouster and death of Muammar Gaddafi. This created further unrest, regional instability and a humanitarian nightmare that escalated well beyond Libya’s borders and continues to be a problem. Russia’s response? Nothing.
In 2014, strong evidence suggests that the U.S. assisted in the toppling of a constitutional and democratically elected president in the Ukraine because we felt the administration was too pro-Russia. Talk about “influencing” elections! Russia’s response? They annexed the region of Crimea, after over 95 percent of those citizens voted to become part of Russia. The U.S. response? We put sanctions on Russia.
In 2015, NATO member Turkey shoots down a Russian jet that may have barely veered out of Syrian airspace for a moment, killing the Russian crew. Russia’s response? Nothing outside a verbal condemnation for Turkey, avoiding a potential war that could have engulfed the U.S. as well due to our World War II era commitments that we still honor.
In 2016, it was proven that the Democratic National Committee rigged their primary to ensure the nomination of Hillary Clinton. The U.S. response? Nothing.
Also in 2016, a non-government Russian citizen met with members of Donald Trump’s campaign team with a promise to share compromising material on Hillary Clinton. This meeting resulted in zero information and absolutely no influence on the American presidential election. The U.S. response? Put more sanctions on Russia!
Seriously people? We’re supposed to be the good guys.
Let’s pray that President Trump stops this madness we’ve been pursuing for almost three decades. The U.S. needs to get out of the business of nation building, which has been ending up as nation destroying, only engage militarily where our national vital interests are and realize that Russia is no longer the Soviet Union.
Bill Haney
Brunswick
