In his July 27th column, Ross Nelson opines that America is an “empire” that needs “carcasses to gnaw on and enemies to justify” its imperial actions. (Imperialism: a policy or ideology of extending a nation’s rule over foreign nations.) He claims: “We became a militaristic state with the onset of World War II and have never let up since.” He calls today’s American military a consumer of “money and blood.” He repeatedly downgrades America’s role as the primary force in the world standing between freedom and actual imperialist powers like Russia and China.
Imperial actions? History tells us that following the defeat of Japan and the Nazis in World War II, America clearly did not employ its military to rule over the defeated nations. In fact, America and its Western allies worked diligently to establish peace and independence in the conquered counties. I spent time in Germany as a high school exchange student not long after the war and found that country definitely not under American control. Japan, Germany and Italy are clearly not American territories today.
Truly disturbing in Nelson’s “blame America first” opinion is his thinly veiled support for Osama bin Laden and other barbaric terrorists who maintained the reason for their 9/11 attacks was America “meddling in the Middle East.” Mr. Nelson, could you explain exactly which “meddling” justified the vicious mass murders in New York, the Pentagon, and a quiet field in Pennsylvania? Which “meddling” justified the destruction of the Twin Towers and other buildings in New York? You assert with regard to 9/11: “The neoconservatives’ modern Pearl Harbor had arrived, and now we could take democracy to all the benighted corners of the earth and bomb them into proper statehood.”
Nelson focuses on Iran as one of his “benighted corners of the earth.” He states: “all in all, Iran hasn’t attacked another country in centuries, a rare feat these days.” Does he not remember Iran took 52 American embassy employees hostage and imprisoned them for 444 days? How about recently pirating a British vessel in international waters? Former CIA Director and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has stated unequivocally that Iran has been the number one sponsor of terror in the world for many years. As for the JCPA treaty that President Obama and former Secretary of State John Kerry cooked up with Iran, it was nothing more than delaying Iran’s development of nuclear weapons. President Trump has taken the policy position that Iran must never have nuclear weapons. Keep in mind the leaders of Iran have repeatedly labeled America “the great Satan” and have never diverted from their stated goal of eradicating our ally Israel from the face of the earth.
Nelson closes with the question: “Whose sins are greater?” On one hand there is Iran’s goal of obtaining nuclear weapons and on the other hand Pompeo encouraging Iran to act like a “normal” country. Is it not America’s concern when Iran arbitrarily sponsors terrorism around the world? Is it not America’s concern when Iran threatens Israel with total destruction? Whose sins are greater?
God bless America!
Source » inforum