Who gets to be patriotic?

A couple of years ago singer Lilly Allen proclaimed that she was “ashamed to be British” because of Britain’s slow processing of visas for Afghani minors trying to enter the country without parents. Ms. Allen stated, 

“It just seems that at three different intervals in this young boy’s life, the English in particular have put you in danger.

“Bombed your country, put you in the hands of the Taliban and now we’re putting you at risk, risking your life to get into our country. I apologise on behalf of my country. I’m sorry for what we’ve put you through.”

Now, we’re not going to talk about the fact that Ms. Allen is mistaken on two counts and probably unfair in her assessment of her third accusation. (British troops have not been bombing Afghanistan indiscriminately and, in fact, British troops were risking lives to bait terrorists to fire on them in order to fight them because the rules of engagement would not allow them to fire on known terrorists unless under fire themselves. Also, the British had nothing to do with the Taliban taking over Afghanistan. And Britain and France are trying to provide safety to children from a war torn country despite the mountain of bureaucratic hassle that accompanies refugee children entering the country without parents. But then a bleeding heart and celebrity status are frequently used as substitutes for ethical reasoning and historical knowledge.) What we’re going to talk about is her willingness to condemn her country for a single problem… in order to make herself look better.

Condemning one’s country has become en Vogue for celebrities (actress Carey Mulligan has also joined in as well.) Those who were alive during the Vietnam War likely remember Jane Fonda’s trip to Vietnam wherein she condemned American soldiers who were being tortured for years in North Vietnamese prison camps as “war criminals” and made pals with the  North Vietnamese army that had committed such atrocities as the Dak Son and Hue Massacres. Concurrent with this is the implication that being patriotic means ignoring all the bad things about your country.

But that brings me to my point: Who gets to be patriotic? By Ms. Allen’s, Ms. Mulligan’s and Ms. Fonda’s (former) reckoning, it seems we should hang our heads in shame over the Vietnam War and Britain’s immigration bureaucracy. Ms. Allen and Ms. Mulligan seem ready to throw out the fact that their nation outlawed slavery before the US and saved thousands children from the gas chambers and fire pits of the Holocaust with the Kindertransport. And while there were serious fundamental problems with the American engagement in Vietnam, the United States provided a home for millions of people fleeing oppression and has been a nation free from tyranny and with strong rule of law.

So who gets to be patriotic and proud of their country? Afghanistan? Well, Afghanistan was governed by the brutal and backward Taliban for years, so they have atrocities in their history. How about Vietnam? Well no matter which way you slice that country, crimes against humanity we’re committed and both the North and South Vietnamese took part. And if you dig through any other nation’s history, you’ll find violence and abuse. And you’ll also find great things too. Afghanistan has a long and rich history and culture and has been at the crossroads of many great civilizations.  Vietnam has a culture that is over 2,000 years old with beautiful art and music. Those are things that the people of those countries should be and are proud of, but they still want to make their countries better. And we should be no different. Patriotism does not mean living in an illusion about your nation’s past or present. It means celebrating the good things, addressing the bad things and improving them.

 

 

 

 

Imperialism— You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Vizzini: HE DIDN’T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE. 

Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

I hear people describing America’s involvement in different conflicts from 1965 on as “American imperialism”.

That’s not imperialism.

Imperialism is defined as: 

“the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.”

This was a policy in America- under Teddy Roosevelt. The US tried to make the Philippines a territory/colony of the US. (Before WWII the plan had been to get the Philippines independent, but then the Japanese Imperial army invaded the Philippines. The ill-equipped American military tried to defend it with Filipino help, but failed. The Americans got the Philippines back during a long fight. After WWII the Philippines gained independence. )

In Vietnam, the objective was to strengthen the South Vietnamese military to fight takeover by the Communist North Vietnamese army and keep the existing democratic government in place.

During the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein ordered an invasion of Kuwait. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Middle Eastern nations appealed to the United Nations for help in getting Iraq out of Kuwait. When Saddam Hussein refused to leave Kuwait by the UN deadline, international forces led by the US intervened to force Iraq out.

In Somalia, the objective was to capture trade routes so that UN food shipments would actually reach the people of Somalia instead of being hijacked by Aidid’s forces to force support or punish dissenters. The UN orders stressed restoring law and order and helping the Somali people set up a democratic government of their own. 

In Afghanistan, the objective was to work with anti-Taliban allies in the Middle Easy to oust the Taliban (which had attacked the US) and help the Aghanis install their own democratic government and train the Afghan army and police to combat insurgents on their own.

In Iraq, the objective was to catch Saddam Hussein, try him for war crimes and execute him if found guilty, then help the Iraqis establish a democratic government and to train their police and military to defend themselves against insurgents.

Why don’t these countries just fend for themselves? They’re impoverished. They don’t have the resources that US does to train and arm their police and military like the US does. We are fortunate to live in a nation that is so abundant.

None of these examples fit the definition of imperialism.

So why does this fashionable use of “American imperialism” persist?

Because it allows for a very comforting illusion: 

That the US government and military is the main source of evil in the world. Since protests and votes have the potential to influence the use of the US military forces, the concept of “American imperialism” supports the belief that evil can be contained and doesn’t truly exist on a massive scale in the world. If left to themselves, people will treat each other kindly is the wish that the myth of “American imperialism” is built on. Ironically, people who are upset about “American imperialism” typically claim that they care about human rights, yet they ignore murder, rape and torture and that takes place when the US fails to intervene. We have seen that a lack of US intervention as nations invaded other nations led to World War II and to civil conflicts like the Bosnian War, the Rawndan genocide, and the rise of ISIS.

Truthfully, the people who say they are against “American imperialism” fit the definition of isolationists.

Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan: A Side-by-Side Comparison

Outcome of Vietnam*

• Despite training with American forces for years, the South Vietnamese military never gets to a point where they can actually fight the North Vietnamese.
• After the My Lai massacre the ringleader is put under house arrest for a year. Americans are appalled that he is being punished so harshly.
• North Vietnamese communist forces take over South Vietnam
• The economy of Vietnam implodes
• Free speech is outlawed 
• The population of Vietnam is decimated
• Re-education camps are implemented for those who dissent

Outcome of the War On Terror in Afghanistan

• Osama bin Laden is captured and executed 
• Constitutional government is implemented, while political power plays and enforcement of laws is still problematic, Afghanistan’s government is considered one of the most democratic governments in the Islamic world.
• Since 2015, the economy has stagnated because of the withdrawal of American troops who were feeding the economy. However, Afghanistan’s economy has still improved substantially since 2002. Afghanistan still relies heavily on foreign aid. Even with the stagnation though, the economy of Afghanistan has improved over what it was under the Taliban. Opium is major export- which the US is fighting.
• Though instability, poverty and a lack of female teachers still keep 2/3 of Afghani girls out of school, millions more girls attend school now than under the Taliban.
•  Legal protection for journalists is in place, though enforcement remains weak. However, Afghanistan is the only country in the world with a committee for the safety of journalists.
•  Afghanis develop their own version of the TV show “Pop Idol”- complete with singing women, jeans and accusations of corrupting youth. (People said the same thing about Elvis.)
• The population of Afghanistan has grown substantially.
• Access to clean water is still very limited, but has expanded.

Outcome of Iraq After the Second Gulf War 

• Saddam Hussein is captured and executed.
• Constitutional government is implemented. Corruption and nepotism remain problems, though government integrity is increasing.
• The ringleader of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal and several other soldiers involved are jailed for a few years in the Navy brig. The American Public is outraged that the soldiers are receiving such a light punishment.
•  The Iraqi people get cell phones, something that was illegal under Saddam Hussein.
•  The number of private TV stations has increased dramatically since 2003.
• Iraq was gaining greater stability during the American occupation, but the withdrawal of American forces opened up Iraq to ISIS and subsequently caused more setbacks to Iraq’s recovery efforts.
• Economy is growing, though ISIS continues to hamper recovery.
• Iraqi army starts to fight ISIS, taking Ramadi back from ISIS.
• The Prime Minister has enacted reforms to increase rule of law, though enforcement remains a problem.
•  Iraq is having a baby boom. 39% of the population has been born since 2003.
•  Access to clean water has improved for 86.6% of the population of Iraq.

*If you haven’t seen Ken Burns’ documentary on the Vietnam War, I highly recommend it. It will give you the best understanding of how it all went down, including the aftermath.