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WHY DOES AMERICA DEFEND THE WEAK AND SMALL?
By Victor Davis Hanson
Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/18/4063594/victor-davis-hanson-why-does-america.html
Nov 18 2011
CA
Recently, an open mic caught French President Nicolas Sarkozy and
American President Barack Obama jointly trashing Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu. Sarkozy scoffed, "I cannot stand him.
He's a liar." Obama trumped that with, "You're fed up with him,
but I have to deal with him every day." In one of the most bizarre
op-eds published by the New York Times in recent memory, Paul Kane
suggested that the United States could literally sell out its support
for democratic Taiwan for about a $1 trillion. He argued that the
Chinese might be so thankful to us for letting them get their hands
on the island that they might forgive much of what we owe them.
So why does the United States take risks in guaranteeing the security
of countries such as Israel and Taiwan? Surely the smart money -
and most of the world - bets on its richer enemies. The Arab Middle
East has oil, hundreds of millions of people and lots of dangerous
radical Islamic terrorists. China is more than 1 billion strong,
with the fastest-growing economy in the world.
But President Obama should remember that America does not think solely
in terms of national advantage. In fact, only the United States seems
to have an affinity for protecting tiny, vulnerable countries. In two
wars, and more than 12 years of no-fly zones in Iraq, America saved
the Kurds from a genocidal Saddam Hussein.
Greece today has few friends. Its northern European creditors are
furious with its profligacy and duplicity. Nearby, an ascendant Turkey
is flexing its muscles over occupied Cyprus and new finds of gas and
oil in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean. In short, a bankrupt
Greece of only 11 million people, residing in one of history's most
dangerous neighborhoods, has few strong friends other than the United
States. The same is true of Christian Armenia, which likewise is
relatively small and near to historical enemies in Turkey and Russia.
All of these people - Israelis, anti-communist Chinese, Kurds, Greeks
and Armenians - have a few things in common. They have relatively
small - and often shrinking - populations, aggressive neighbors, few
strong allies, many expatriates and refugees in the United States,
and a tragic history of persecution and genocide.
Half the world's Jews were lost to the Holocaust. Had Mao Zedong - the
most prolific mass murderer in history - gotten his way, the entire
anti-communist Chinese population who fled in terror to Taiwan would
have been wiped out. In the early 1920s, nearly a million Greeks
perished in Asia Minor - ethnically cleansed by a Turkey that had
at one time conquered and occupied Greece for more than 350 years. A
million Armenians perished during the breakup of the Ottoman Empire
during World War I. The stateless Kurds have often been persecuted
by Arabs, Iranians and Turks.
We should remember that Greece and Taiwan would have disappeared
in the late 1940s as free, independent countries without American
military support and guarantees. Armenia did not exist as a free
nation until America helped to force the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Kurdistan emerged as an autonomous province only when America deposed
Saddam Hussein. Israel might have vanished during the 1973 Yom Kippur
War without massive American military aid.
Of course, these historically persecuted peoples can at times be
testy allies and even sound anti-American. Their national characters
- reflecting centuries of oppression - understandably can seem prone
to collective paranoia and conspiracy theories. Yet Israel, Taiwan,
Kurdistan, Greece and Armenia are democratic, with rich histories
that survived against all odds.
In the next few years, as never before, our small friends will be
tested. Iran has promised to wipe out Israel and may soon get the bomb
to do it. We are withdrawing all troops at the end of the year from
Iraq, and Kurdistan will then be entirely on its own. Russia often
talks about reconstituting its former Soviet client states into some
sort of new imperial federation. China thinks it is only a matter of
time before Taiwan can be absorbed. The new Turkey is beginning to
look a lot like the old imperial Ottoman Sultanate.
Yet if protecting these small states is risky, our concern also
reflects positively upon the singular values of the United States. The
United Nations has neither the will nor the capability to ensure the
security of these countries. The eroding European Union talks grandly
of international values but rarely risks its blood or treasure to
defend them.
Only America is moral and strong enough to protect the world's
historically vulnerable but culturally unique peoples. It would be a
shame if we forgot that - either out of desire for profit or because
we became fed up with the bother.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
By Victor Davis Hanson
Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/18/4063594/victor-davis-hanson-why-does-america.html
Nov 18 2011
CA
Recently, an open mic caught French President Nicolas Sarkozy and
American President Barack Obama jointly trashing Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu. Sarkozy scoffed, "I cannot stand him.
He's a liar." Obama trumped that with, "You're fed up with him,
but I have to deal with him every day." In one of the most bizarre
op-eds published by the New York Times in recent memory, Paul Kane
suggested that the United States could literally sell out its support
for democratic Taiwan for about a $1 trillion. He argued that the
Chinese might be so thankful to us for letting them get their hands
on the island that they might forgive much of what we owe them.
So why does the United States take risks in guaranteeing the security
of countries such as Israel and Taiwan? Surely the smart money -
and most of the world - bets on its richer enemies. The Arab Middle
East has oil, hundreds of millions of people and lots of dangerous
radical Islamic terrorists. China is more than 1 billion strong,
with the fastest-growing economy in the world.
But President Obama should remember that America does not think solely
in terms of national advantage. In fact, only the United States seems
to have an affinity for protecting tiny, vulnerable countries. In two
wars, and more than 12 years of no-fly zones in Iraq, America saved
the Kurds from a genocidal Saddam Hussein.
Greece today has few friends. Its northern European creditors are
furious with its profligacy and duplicity. Nearby, an ascendant Turkey
is flexing its muscles over occupied Cyprus and new finds of gas and
oil in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean. In short, a bankrupt
Greece of only 11 million people, residing in one of history's most
dangerous neighborhoods, has few strong friends other than the United
States. The same is true of Christian Armenia, which likewise is
relatively small and near to historical enemies in Turkey and Russia.
All of these people - Israelis, anti-communist Chinese, Kurds, Greeks
and Armenians - have a few things in common. They have relatively
small - and often shrinking - populations, aggressive neighbors, few
strong allies, many expatriates and refugees in the United States,
and a tragic history of persecution and genocide.
Half the world's Jews were lost to the Holocaust. Had Mao Zedong - the
most prolific mass murderer in history - gotten his way, the entire
anti-communist Chinese population who fled in terror to Taiwan would
have been wiped out. In the early 1920s, nearly a million Greeks
perished in Asia Minor - ethnically cleansed by a Turkey that had
at one time conquered and occupied Greece for more than 350 years. A
million Armenians perished during the breakup of the Ottoman Empire
during World War I. The stateless Kurds have often been persecuted
by Arabs, Iranians and Turks.
We should remember that Greece and Taiwan would have disappeared
in the late 1940s as free, independent countries without American
military support and guarantees. Armenia did not exist as a free
nation until America helped to force the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Kurdistan emerged as an autonomous province only when America deposed
Saddam Hussein. Israel might have vanished during the 1973 Yom Kippur
War without massive American military aid.
Of course, these historically persecuted peoples can at times be
testy allies and even sound anti-American. Their national characters
- reflecting centuries of oppression - understandably can seem prone
to collective paranoia and conspiracy theories. Yet Israel, Taiwan,
Kurdistan, Greece and Armenia are democratic, with rich histories
that survived against all odds.
In the next few years, as never before, our small friends will be
tested. Iran has promised to wipe out Israel and may soon get the bomb
to do it. We are withdrawing all troops at the end of the year from
Iraq, and Kurdistan will then be entirely on its own. Russia often
talks about reconstituting its former Soviet client states into some
sort of new imperial federation. China thinks it is only a matter of
time before Taiwan can be absorbed. The new Turkey is beginning to
look a lot like the old imperial Ottoman Sultanate.
Yet if protecting these small states is risky, our concern also
reflects positively upon the singular values of the United States. The
United Nations has neither the will nor the capability to ensure the
security of these countries. The eroding European Union talks grandly
of international values but rarely risks its blood or treasure to
defend them.
Only America is moral and strong enough to protect the world's
historically vulnerable but culturally unique peoples. It would be a
shame if we forgot that - either out of desire for profit or because
we became fed up with the bother.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress