Global Myths and Realities

President Bush, on his recent visit to London made a rather presumptuous statement at the Royal Banqueting Hall of Whitehall Palace when he said. "Your nation and mine in the past have been willing to tolerate oppression for the sake of stability......Now we are pursuing a different course, a forward strategy in the Middle East. We will now consistently challenge the enemies of reform and confront the allies of terror.

Judging from recent incursions into Afghanistan and Iraq, this may sound true, but the fact is America has not had the slightest influence in controlling oppression in a vast majority of the nations where oppression has been the order of the day. The oppression in East Timor in Indonesia, Eelam in Sri Lanka and Southern Sudan have all been local phenomena. Third world despotisms were put and kept in power, not by the U.S, but by local armies and elites. The fact is that Castro remains in power as the closest communist neighbor of the U.S. Why? Which of the middle eastern oppressors today was put in place by the U.S? The days when the Shah replaced Mossadeq as a result of a CIA-oriented covert overthrow are long gone. Now the President boasts of the right to overthrow and replace governments by brash, covert means. Have 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq changed the format? If so, how does North Korea thumb its nose at the U.S and nothing happens? How can China remain a Communist satellite supported by the U.S at the expense of Taiwan? How far can the U.S spread its all powerful military wings to fulfill its wishes? What then is the reality behind the role of the U.S today?

Taking over Iraq does not promote democracy overnight, if ever. Democracy is rooted in salutary traditions deeply embedded in the west. They involve a healthy tolerance of an opposition, not a hatred toward them. It involves a healthy regard for opposing views, not a fearful avoidance of them. It involves a powerful independent private sector with a right to be influential in economic concerns; not a condemnation of them as evil exploiters, in the intolerant and outdated Marxist tradition; it involves an articulate middle class who can express opinions free of fear at the hands of a government that claims to be democratic. How many third world nations possess these attributes? How many don't,because of U.S tolerance of despotism? None. The harsh fact is that the U.S does not have the power that the Liberals assumed it had; and should be controlled; or the conservatives now assume it has and should not be controlled. American wishes, do not - despite it awesome military power - have the ability to dominate the Universe. The British, with the world's largest Empire at that time were humiliatingly forced to recognize this by a policy of non-violent opposition, spearheaded by Gandhi.

What then should America¹s role be today? More than a touch of political pressure is the answer. One cannot replace dictatorship with democracy, but one can use the ability to excite international condemnation against a regime to make it wilt and succumb. South Africa was the perfect example. The all powerful whites were made to succumb to the powerless blacks, not because they were a majority; but because of international pressure to succumb to that deprived majority. Economic sanctions are not all powerful either; but they can be if effectively applied to squeeze a third world nation into submission. The trouble up to now has been that the World Bank, the IMF and its allies have blindly used the success of the Marshall Plan as something that was applicable to the Third non industrialized, undeveloped world. It consequently placed greater emphasis on development over governmental oppression. The sad fact is that the development has gone askew and in fact promoted oppression.

The pundits in power have used the aid given to upgrade themselves at the expense of the oppressed. It is time, President Bush and these organizations, with all their good intentions, realized where the answer really lies. It is not a bogus exercise of a legitimate exercise of power vs the challenge to it. It is, how has power been abused; and what do we or can we do about it? It is time that the democratic opposition in the United States does so, too. All they do now is either oppose the war on Iraq or criticize the approach to the aftermath of its victory.

Everyone needs to shake themselves out of their linear thinking and broaden their minds and reconsider what America is all about. Neither political party has demonstrated a readiness to be original and inspiring, like President Kennedy was in the 60's. They need to ask themselves, "What is America's role in the world, not what do I think will make me the next President." They need to broaden the American public's viewpoint of the world and America's role in that world.