Trump Takes the Road Less Traveled

Like many Americans, I have reluctantly accepted the premise that even though the USA should not serve as the world’s policeman, there is simply no one else standing that can do the job.  Therefore, it often falls to us to send our most precious resources to foreign lands in an attempt to both calm the global waters of conflict and to head off naked terrorism before it reaches our homeland.   We have had politicians of both ilks who have publicly proclaimed that we should stop sending our young folks overseas to do battle; that we should cease to promote democracy and human dignity through military force; that we should withdraw to home shores and allow the world to spin according to its own dynamic forces.  And most notably…we should stop spending blood and money on people (looking at you Sharia) who hate our guts and openly call for our extinction.  But through all the talk, no one in a position to actually influence this type of global military approach has ever actually gone down that road in practice.  Until now. 

President Trump’s announcement that he is withdrawing American troops from Syria and seriously drawing down our troop numbers in Afghanistan signals a dramatic and significant change in American foreign policy.  He cannot have taken this action lightly.  He must have known that he would lose former Secretary of Defense James Mattis over this policy change.  He must have known that he would also alienate many of his current military advisers.  He must have known that it might appear to be a contradiction to his public and practical approach to rebuilding our military capabilities through additional funding in the budget process.  He must have known that there were several respected people in his own party who would scream bloody murder at this change in direction.   And of course, he knew for certain that the Democrats and the Media (but I repeat myself) would find nothing but criticism and ridicule to frame this new global initiative.  So why is he going down this road?  Maybe…just maybe, he is doing what he believes is right.

I am 66 years old and did not serve in the military.  The luck of the draw did not require me to go into the jungles of Vietnam and do battle.  But during my entire life, I have watched as American soldiers of every age, sex, color, and any other demographic you wish to choose have been exported to the far reaches of the globe to fight for freedom, democracy, national security, human dignity, and many other justifications.  The precious blood of American soldiers is liberally soaked into the soils of many countries.  And the hard truth is that in most of those cases, the soils lie in places where the United States is reviled and denigrated.  There is very little appreciation or respect given in return for the monumental price paid by America to help preserve the rights of global citizens to a decent existence.  In many cases, we actually fought, and are fighting, for the rights of one party to despise us against another party who also despises us.  Whaaat? Now if this sacrifice is being made in a realistic effort to keep threats to our nation at arm’s length; to fight the battle on foreign lands so that we do not have to fight it at home…then that would seem to be a reasonable justification.  On the other hand, if we are sending our soldiers to their deaths and spending our resources to defend a political mantra that is foreign to us, has no bearing on our domestic security, and is part and parcel of a nation’s fabric that is going through the natural evolution of civilization…then that is worthy of considering cessation.

I fear that all too often, our Presidents have chosen to use the military power of our nation far too freely.  I am sure that they have done this with great forethought and trepidation.  I am equally sure that they have done this many times with regret.  Congress and the population at large are equally complicit in this grand exercise of playing the planet’s security patrol and moral adviser.  The fickle attitudes of the public have historically been up and down; driven by arbitrary and irrational motives and influences.  We easily make hard choices without considering consequences and we make easy choices difficult by getting lost in trivialities.  Like me, most of us are woefully uninformed when it comes to commenting on U.S. foreign policy.  Such is America. 

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I believe there are moral crimes against humanity that demand action by our nation; action that requires the sacrifice of blood through military conflict.  I believe there are certain situations, privy only to our intelligence sectors in government, that are worthy of U.S. intervention in a targeted and surgical fashion.  I believe that there are times when those people who fight their own governments for dignity and respect deserve our support in the material means to sustain that struggle.  I do not believe that it is an incumbent responsibility of our nation to try and preserve a government in a foreign land that is under attack.  We as a nation cannot right all of the wrongs on this planet; we cannot demand democracy for all global citizens; we cannot preserve human dignity through military might.  To a finer point…we cannot continue to send our men and women of the armed forces into foreign lands to defend the lifestyles of people who hate us.   We cannot continue to make judgments…judgments that carry the cost of human lives…about which political philosophy has merit over another.  Such decisions and such determinations are to be made by the people who inhabit those lands.  The dilemma is theirs and the solution must be reached by them. 

Now comes Donald Trump; a product of the United States corporate environment and a child of privilege; a man who was born with a silver spoon and who has somehow parlayed that position into the premier office of influence in our country.  And as he has done in business, so he is doing in the White House.  He has difficulty dealing with those who disagree with him; dismissing them with oftentimes crude and politically incorrect rhetoric.  He struggles with those who might be wiser and more experienced in certain areas when they try to counsel him.  He fails miserably to acknowledge the contributions of subordinates and consistently falls short of giving them the respect that they deserve.  He suffers fools poorly; fools in the media, fools in Congress, and fools on his staff.  He carries a monstrous ego that has been massaged and cultured by a lifetime of adulation, subservience, and entitlement and all too often, this ego is allowed to run free.  But with all of this baggage, he has brought something else to the Executive branch of our government that I have not seen in my lifetime.  He listens to his heart.  Damn the torpedoes…he goes in the direction his conviction points him.

President Trump is doing what many before him considered doing, wanted to do, and failed to do because of political and public pressure.  He is unfettered by some of the shackles borne by career politicians who have held the office before him.  I believe he is following his conviction when he pulls our ground troops from Syria and considers similar actions in Afghanistan.  I applaud him for this.  I celebrate him for this.  Too many have come home to our nation damaged in body and soul from conflicts that have absolutely no impact on them, their families, or their neighbors.  Their sacrifices…lifelong sacrifices…are insufficiently appreciated and their lives and families are saddled with an eternal debt that is not of their own volition.  Is the world a chaotic place?  Is there human suffering that can be prevented by U.S. military force?  Are there governments that mistreat and humiliate their people through abusive policies and practices?  Yes, of course there are.  But upon who does the obligation to solve these problems fall?  Is there a moral requirement for our children, our citizens, our brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers to give their lives in an effort to right these wrongs?  In some cases…yes.  In some cases the wrongs perpetrated by evil men and women in positions of authority rise to the level of the supreme sacrifice.  But in far too many other cases, the issues at hand are the product of an evolving race of flawed humans on a planet of diverse and sometimes radical ideals and lifestyles.  These issues are best left to the people that are directly involved in these matters.  Such is self-determination.  Such is the way of life and freedom.  There is a bright line between supporting worthy causes with resources to defend their ideals or sending our people into harm’s way to defend those same ideals; ideals not of our making. 

Whatever his motivation is and whatever his logic might be, I pray that President Trump has the political courage to continue what would indicate a shift in American foreign policy.  I hope he can manage to somehow find a way to bring other influential individuals along with him in support of a non-intervention policy of American military personnel.  I hope that he can illuminate the bright line I previously mentioned and serve the quest for human dignity without sacrificing innocent lives in the effort.  When chaos exists and American troops stand within the chaos, is it so wrong for us to extract ourselves even though the current chaos will continue?  Must we adhere to some orphan principle that requires us to remain immersed in the bloodshed until some unobtainable peace is reached…when there is no promise of resolution or finality?  Are we so naïve as a nation that we fail to grasp the human tragedy that is realized in an effort whose possible success is all too often futile or transient?  The globalists will take our resources and feed the planet.  The globalists will take our resources and heal the planet.  The globalists will also take our men and women and sacrifice them at the altar of their higher thinking and ideals.  Our government, our President, must decide when those ideals rise to the level of justifying that ultimate cost.  President Trump has raised the bar on that justification.  I hope he can, and will, continue.