La Costa, CA
October 5, 2015
The Evils of ‘Beneficent’ Internationalism
by Rich Scheck
The killing of over 20 members of Doctors Without Borders during a U.S.
airstrike in Afghanistan underscores the danger inherent in our foreign
policy endorsed by both political parties that promotes the reliance on
the widespread use of military force.
Fires burn in part of a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz after it was hit by a U.S. airstrike.
So called humanitarian interventions, based on some abstract notion of
the right to protect citizens of other countries that America decides needs
our help, are exactly the kind of foreign entanglements our Founders
warned us to avoid over two centuries ago.
As Justin Raimondo brilliantly discusses in his recent essay, the turmoil
and chaos generated by these kinds of events, dubbed collateral damage
by its perpetrators and war crimes by its victims, represents the evil of
‘beneficent’ internationalism as practiced by the neoconservative hawks
who fill the ranks of our political decision-makers.
Role Reversal in the New Cold War
Styled Pax Americana by some, US Imperialism by others and the New World Order by Daddy Bush himself, this policy of unending intervention in the internal affairs of other countries has been an outright failure across the planet.
Raimondo goes so far as to suggest that we have taken over the role of the former Soviet Empire in our quest for global hegemony.
Millions have died since 9/11, trillions have been spent, as countless
Americans have loyally fought for their country’s misadventures. And,
yet, our world-wide reputation has disintegrated under the barrage of
bullets and lies we have unleashed on the innocent and not-so-innocent
who are our targets.
The national security state that emerged in the wake of the Cold War is
currently triumphant in the form of the Military-Industrial Complex that
now completely dominates our political life.
Until and unless this trend can be reversed, the soul of our once great
Republic will remain in serious jeopardy. As we continue to embrace the
evils of ‘beneficent’ internationalism, without responsibility or account-
ability to ourselves or the world-at-large, America’s role as global
policeman has already been seriously re-evaluated.
Although some like Lawrence Wilkerson see the American Empire on the
verge of collapse, we need to restore our Republic now before further harm
is done, as well as to preserve whatever is left of our liberties.
“The American ‘Empire’ Is In Deep, Deep Trouble”
Putin’s decision to take on ISIS and save the Assad regime is providing us
a golden opportunity during this presidential campaign season to address
this issue on a deep level.
It is to be hoped that the candidates can move beyond the stale rhetoric of
imperialism and American Exceptionalism and will elevate the discussion
to the level of seriousness it deserves.