As a last blog for the month of August, I thought I would discuss some of the current issues that seem to contribute to the creation of a "new" America. Depending on how you interpret the situation, you could say that it is a new "softer and gentler" America or a an "indecisive, weak" America. In either case, it seems to be undisciplined and directionless. Take your choice!
I am not alone in saying that America has slipped in its standing in the world. It is no longer considered by some to be the preeminent power, no longer the leading nation in military and economic strength, and certainly not a leader in the political arena! There have been a number of occurrences in the past several years to have led to this new standing for America. All of these could have been avoided with more decisive responses, stronger stands on America's part. However, our government chose to not respond or respond weakly with the "passive-reactive" policy which I have discussed in previous blogs. Now, we have literally become "patsies" for everyone, including those that are supposed to be our "friends!" Let's take a look at some of the more recent occurrences that continue to contribute to this "new" standing for America!
A few days ago, the EU announced that it is imposing an astronomical $15 billion fine on Apple in Ireland. Never mind the explanations for the reasons behind this historical fine. The bottom line is that EU, that is made up of European countries that are supposed to be our friends, is essentially trying to extract a huge amount of money from an American company. It seems they are taking a page out of others who have succeeded in getting rich off of us, Iran being the most obvious example. White House made noises of protestation over this preposterous fine, but chances are that is as far as our government will go and Apple will be forced to deal with this problem on their own. Any loss of money by Apple will essentially translate into cost for American consumers, I don't need to explain that part!
Why shouldn't EU take advantage of a situation and try to make a bunch of money. EU hasn't been doing too well lately and Great Britain took its marbles and left. It isn't difficult to see that America appears to be a cash cow that can easily be squeezed to give out money. Iran has done well by us without even trying to be nice! Most recently Iranian gun boats harassed US destroyers in international waters, and what did we do? Nothing! Incredibly enough, White House gave some amazingly stupid explanation or non-explanation to the whole affair. No doubt Iran feels that as long as they continue to misbehave, we will continue to give them money hoping that they will "behave." That seems to be our policy, just "love them to death!"
China has repeatedly arrested and detained and imprisoned American citizens for espionage and other trumped up charges. Our government has done very little if anything to help those unfortunate Americans. A Texas businesswoman of Vietnamese descent, Sandy Phan-Gillis, was arrested 18 months ago and held without charges. She was recently charged with espionage! Phan-Gillis and her husband had appealed to the White House for help, but it is doubtful if anything will happen. China has become a very important trading partner and it is unlikely that we will do anything to upset that partnership. If there is any development in prisoner release, i.e., if Phan-Gillis and other wrongfully accused and imprisoned individuals are released, no doubt it will cost us a bundle, if not in cash, then in trade concessions! That's how our government has been operating, the "passive-reactive" policy method!
Yesterday the White House proudly announced that Obama has commuted the sentences of 111 federal prisoners. So far, Obama has commuted sentences of 562 prisoners, more than the combined total of commuted sentences of the past nine presidents, going back to JFK! According to the White House spokesman, Obama isn't finished yet. After all, he will still be in the office for another four months! Now I am sure that some of those sentences were deservedly shortened or commuted. The justice system isn't perfect, we all know that. But, at the same time, there are no doubt those that really got on the list because they had connections and political ties! Our criminal justice system is in need of overhauling, that's for sure, but this massive commutation of sentences is not the answer. All it does is create a very "loose" atmosphere which encourages everyone to push the envelop. Make no mistake about it. The current controversy surrounding the NFL multi millionaire quarterback who refuses to stand for the national anthem, is a direct result of this recent trend and which seemingly the White House promotes!
In Syria, the Syrian rebels that we finance and train apparently take orders from the Turks and turn their guns on the Kurds, who are our allies and who we train and finance! Nobody listens to us, not the Turks or the Syrian rebels. We just give money to all of them! Turkey, by the way, is heavily financed by us by way of economic aid and commercial investments. There are numerous companies in Turkey that are joint venture set ups with American investments. I won't mention Iraq, since I've talked about that country a lot in the past blogs.
Is it really surprising then that Putin is acting up as he is? Mark my word, Putin is only quiet now because he is just waiting to see who will occupy the White House next and if the policies will change. If it is Hillary, then it will be business as usual for Putin. If it is Trump, he will have to wait and see if there will be a change in American policy, and if so, in what direction. Whatever the case, Putin is not finished with his Stalin-like antics.
America needs to have a definite policy with a strong stand, not a wishy-washy, wait and see, passive-reactive policy that we have had for the past eight years. We need to maintain a stronger policy regardless of who is in the White House. But of course that will never happen. Our policies keep changing with new administrations that come and go. But there has never been such a drastic shift or I should say, a lack of any policy, as there has been the past eight years. We have been in a vacuum when it comes to foreign policy and our position on the international scene during this period. This has cost us in more ways than just the money that we paid out to Iran. Other than having someone completely different from Hillary or Trump in the White House with a completely different group of bodies in the cabinet, there won't be much change, if any! God help us all!
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