Editorial

US Foreign Policy myopia – a case of physician heal thyself

October 1, 2011   ·   239652 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fsomalilandpress.com%2Fus-foreign-policy-myopia-%25e2%2580%2593-a-case-of-physician-heal-thyself-23965US+Foreign+Policy+myopia+%E2%80%93+a+case+of+physician+heal+thyself2011-10-01+12%3A52%3A57Frazer+Michaelhttp%3A%2F%2Fsomalilandpress.com%2F%3Fp%3D23965

To the optimists, the hopeful and the PR men and women of the Democrat Party the election of President Barrack Obama in 2008 was suppose to usher in a new era. At the time it was hard not to get wrapped up in the euphoria, the First Black President (well actually he is mixed race) entering the White House, a man intent on a more pacific and conciliatory approach to foreign policy, an advocate of engagement committed to closing the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay. Four years later much of the hope and expectation has evaporated. US foreign policy continues to plough the same furrow that it did in the days of George W Bush and Dick Chaney, dividing the world into the good guys and the bad guys, and metering out its own rough justice with impunity because for the time at least it still can. It is tragic indeed that policy makers in the State Department and the Pentagon seem incapable of tackling problems anew. Rather than making the world more receptive to so-called American values, the opposite is true, countries and people feel driven to find new ideologues and creeds that potentially polarise nations and are in danger of developing into the very uncertain world that America most fears.

Having had its own way for years leading players in Washington are finding it utterly beyond their comprehension that they should have to adjust to a world that does not genuflect or do obeisance before them. Effectively bankrolling the United Nations and the majority of its agencies has been one of the ways in which the US had sought to control and manipulate. A case in point is the Special Court for Sierra Leone (http://www.sc-sl.org), when this was established in 1996 under the joint auspices of the Government of Sierra Leone and the UN it was funded by the US Government on the strict understanding that no US citizens be indicted and put on trial for war crimes in the West African state. Such behaviour and a ‘do as I say, rather than do as I do’ mentality has been the American modus operandi for years and yet with the emergence of new powers such a strategy, some might call it bullying, is proving less and less effective. China and Russia refuse to be lectured to by a country that has constantly interfered in Central and South America, and has propped up despotic regimes in the Middle East and elsewhere. Emerging powers such as Brazil, India and South Africa prefer to pursue their own policies and overtime will surely question the existing anachronistic structures of the UN that has enshrined power and influence in the hands of a five countries that have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

Whilst in many ways the US still has the capacity to be a force for good in the world, it is unfortunate that it remains so utterly partisan on issues such as Palestine. There is certainly no hope of the 44th President of the United States seeking to endorse Palestinian statehood for both he and the Democrat Party dare not risk the wrath and revenge of financial backers, the media and even those who bankroll film industry in Hollywood. According to The Independent (01/10/2011) “Congress makes Palestinians pay for seeking UN recognition… The United States Congress has blocked nearly $200m in aid for the Palestinians, threatening projects such as food aid, health care, and support for efforts to build a functioning state.”. The Arab Spring has thrown into sharp relief the challenges faced by the US and its traditional allies. For years morally repugnant regimes such as the House of Saud have been propped up. Now as Arab peoples cry out for freedom from Bahrain to Syria policy makers in the US are left as a loss as how to proceed. Preoccupied by states such as Iran over which they have no influence they fear the fall of despots for what might emerge in their wake. To listen to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s pronouncements concerning Bahrain and Syria gives a fascinating insight into US impotence and the Pandora’s Box that it believes has been opened.

For all the triumphalism over the extra-judicial killing of Osama bin Laden in April 2011, it would appear that few if any lessons have been learned. The quagmire that is Western Policy in relation to Pakistan and Afghanistan continues to sap will and trust, whilst Yemen and Somalia have become the new fixations. With these newer theatres of operation so-called intelligence and new technology are meant to deliver the knock out blows that Washington demands. The CIA and unmanned drones are now the order of the day. Cynics and critics of US policy would claim that that the US has a vested interest in keeping the war going in Somalia, as regional instability and the issue of maritime piracy that has accompanied it provides the perfect excuse to keep military hardware, surveillance equipment and security operatives in the region. Attacks on Islamic militant groups have been stepped up with both French and US helicopter attacks launched in the region of the southern Somalia port city of Kismayu on 23rd June 2011. Djibouti – a virtual Franco-American colony has become the regional base for US drones. There have been increasing reports of drone activity with a drone attack taking place at Kismayu on 15th September 2011. Less than a fortnight later Reuters (26/09/2011) reported that a drone crashed near Kismayu airport. As well as operating out of Djibouti heavily armed drones will now be deployed from the Seychelles. Increased drone activity rather than demonstrating resolve reveals a complete lack of imagination and strategy to address the problem of Somalia. Flawed intelligence will result in increased numbers of civilian casualties and rather than reducing the power and influence of al-Shabaab and similar hard-line Islamic insurgents such as Hizbul Islam they are more likely to act as an effective recruiting tool.

For over a decade now the US foreign policy myopia has been largely caused by a fixation with the ‘War on Terror’. Successive administrations have conveniently overlooked the genesis of that they deem terror. Ironically for years many Americans funded groups such as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who used US dollars to purchase armaments from the Gaddafi regime in order to perpetrate acts of terror. Such is the absurdity of what is really going on behind the scenes that it is often hard to comprehend how crass and duplicitous are those who claim to speak words of togetherness yet conspire to divide and exploit. Those who seek to demonise the US and other Western powers are equally in error. No one is advocating that the US return to era of isolationism, yet it certainly needs revise the Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt Corollary that has often resulted in so much unnecessary and misguiding meddling in the affairs of others. With a wealth of ills on its own doorstep, ranging from an economic malaise to increased mental illness and homelessness, maybe it is about time the US, the self appointed physician of the world’s ills should seek to heal itself.

Mark T Jones

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By Frazer Michael

Tags: Al shabaab, drones, Hizbul Islam, Somalia, USA