Defence of the United States

Too many times I hear friends and people talk about how the United States is a state which controls the affairs of other countries way too much, gets way too involved, and generally, intervenes in situations which are none of its 'business.' The primary example I hear, from friends, MTV, MSNBC, the media, is the War in Iraq. The United States, this conglomerate of media believes, has an agenda in which the 'supreme authority of the United States' overrules the rights and decisions of the state/country in which they are involved in, by simply being arrogant and insisting on the 'American way' in any and all situations. They believe the United State arrogantly interferes in the affairs of countries and their situations, even crises' that it has no business in. They believe the United Nations or the country(s) involved, should simply deal with their own problems.

I completely would disagree. I don't believe the United States has been active enough in the international stage until as of recently. in August 1992, it was U.S. President George H. W. Bush who announced that U.S. military transports would support the multinational UN relief effort in Somalia to deal with the massive starvation and food issues. Meddling with international affairs other then its own? I would think not. We all know what happened from here; in 1993 the disastrous and yet heroic Battle of Mogadishu occurred, and after the dust cleared, newly elected President Bill Clinton pulled all forces from Somalian soil completely (by 1995). Under a Democratic President, the United States refused to intervene in several situations that occurred throughout the world. Too many people around the world complain and place blame on the United States for not being involved in conflicts such as the Rwandan Genocide, the mass murder of an estimated 800,000 to 1,071,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus by Hutu militia groups in Rwanda in 1994. However, if the United States had fought in Rwanda with fellow United Nations peacekeepers, chances are, after a couple years of fighting, approval ratings for the conflict would be tanking like a new TV show starring Rosie O'Donnell. Thus, we would begin to hear the whiners, arguing that the United States is greatly involved in affairs which are not peripherally related to the supreme national interests of its country. In the USA, you can't win for losing.

There is still more examples. President Clinton also refused to mobilize U.S. ground troops in fighting the Bosnian Serb Army in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995 and the Yugoslav Army in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (specifically, the province of Kosovo) in 1999. All of these conflicts which resulted in thousands and thousands of civilians deaths were basically ignored by the US, which focused less on a preemptive foreign policy active in the Third World. Yet I hear people still argue that the United States meddles way too much in affairs of way too many nations... I truly do not see the basis for this argument.
Thus when U.S. President George W. Bush retaliated after 9/11 with the invasion of Afghanistan, he was more then just 'meddling in the affairs' of other countries that had nothing to do with 9/11 (as my friends argue). He was responding directly to the attacks on the United States, and the terrorist training camps for Al-Qaeda that were being created there.

To conclude, the War in Iraq, the War in Afghanistan are just that, war. Afghanistan is a large mess, resurgence of the Taliban has been devastating to Canadian and American soldiers. However, in many parts of the country, women now no longer live under law that prevents covering their skin, and Afghani's now have the ability to live in a semi-democracy, rather then a Taliban regime. The United States is there for a reason, albeit the War in Iraq was based on false information; but essentially, they have been able to help encourage democracy and freedom in the Middle East. The fact that Saddam Hussein will no longer mass murder Kurds with gas, the ability for people of the country of Iraq to have freedoms and rights, and the fact that millions of Iraqi's can now vote democratically is simply astounding. The media which surrounds us loves to portray the War in Iraq and the sacrifices the United States has made for the sake of freedom as useless, exaggerated, and not worth the high cost. And to an extent they are right; war is the ultimate consequence. Let us not forget the extent to which we pay for our own freedoms. God Bless America and God Bless Canada.