Pedal to the Mettle

As some of us, if not most of us, are grateful that our troops have returned home now that Obama has honored his pledge to pull out of Iraq, we still wonder why our men and women were there in the first place and if we have made progress in the nine year battle. Our courageous troops have risked their lives and watched their colleagues in addition to innocent civilians lost their lives. When the trusted authority decides to get in the middle of foreign matter, what is the criteria? Why does the U.S. focus on the Middle East over all the other countries.

Sanctions have been slapped on Iran since the mid-90s in which the reason goes beyond its anti-democratic leader. The threat of a nuclear attack surely regards a preemptive move though our friendship with Iran hollowed many years earlier somewhere in the late 70s which could be due to the overthrow of, actually democratically elected, Mohammed Mosaddegh. Iraq and Afghanistan can be added to the list of coup de etat successes. These kinds of secret missions are here and there all over the world, but very seldom in Asia and Africa where there are also authoritarian governments in comparison with the Middle East and also Latin America. From the border below, regime operations orchestrated by the U.S. can be traced to Panama, Venezuela, Chile, Brazil, to name a few. But perhaps the resistance combined with the solidarity of Latin America has pushed away the United States. From the north end, Hugo Chavez paved the road for a revolution that called for economic autonomy which trickled all the way throughout the country. South America has been quite effective in preventing the States from taking control and bullying them whereas the Muslim-dominated lands east of us has had a tough time chasing the U.S. away since its interests are heavily invested in the economy, particularly in oil.

The inhumane treatment of civilians by its government can be found in Somalia, Sudan, Congo, Burundi, CAR, Guinea, Cote d'Irvoire, this list goes on. The inhumane treatment of civilians by it's government can be found in China, North Korea, Tibet, Vietnam, Cambodia. The inhuman treatment of civilians by its government can even be found right below us, Mexico. So why don't we wage war against these leaders. Why pick on some and not others?

The obvious answer would be what would be us more money in the long run. Even more detailed than that would be what would strategically put us in the best possible position to be imperial and monopolize as much as we can. If that's not a valid analysis, then it must be a matter of spinning the bottle. There is corruption and violence throughout the world, even our backyards, yet we're willing to send thousands of troops to fight a war the American public does not wholeheartedly supports.

If the United States intends to save lives, improve the quality of lives, and demonstrate a bravery to what are basic rights - the actions and choices of our country does not appear as so, and that message is lost.