The perpetual problem.. Which bully to back.. [View all]
Most struggles are between bullies. Bully A wants to control/defeat Bully B.
The US stands aside while choosing which Bully to back.. A or B?..B or A?....or perhaps Bully C, who's just waiting in the wings to jump into the fight.
No matter WHICH one we choose to back, the end result is usually the same.
Whichever Bully "wins", will just be "winning" the right to "kill the peasants", and then to spit in our faces because we don't really want them to kill the peasants.
We have NEVER been able to successfully impose "democracy" on a country. We have only been able to prop up dictators here and there, for a while, and then "buy" their compliance for as long as they survive in office.
Bullets, bombs & bullies do NOT change hearts and minds or philosophies of people being stifled.
Tribal/religious beliefs ALWAYS "win out" when they can achieve power through force.
Imposed boundaries and suppressed beliefs are only effective for a while, and bully-choosers cannot overcome them.. (see : Iran-Iraq-Afghanistan-Yugoslavia-VietNam, etc).
Where we are willing to maintain a bellicose military presence, we can hold the lid on (Korea)... are we willing to do that anymore? (N.Korea is somewhat of a paper-tiger, not religious zealots willing to blow up people in buses)
Foreign policy, as we have practiced, needs to change...and change big-time.