How does the U.S. have any credibility in foreign relations after what we did, excuse me, are doing in Iraq, especially where the United Nations is concerned?
Is the U.N. only a good thing when it is in your best interest? Of course. This makes perfect sense. The rules if a baseball game include one that says three strikes and you are out. When you get up to bat and that last swing was number three on your strike list, you too will want to disregard the rules and what another try.
Can you see the similarities between U.S. foreign affairs and baseball? Let me show you. The U.S. is at bat. We want to go into Iraq, the United Nations says, alright, explain why. Answer: Hussein is linked to Al Qaeda. Swing one. No? How about: Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Swing two. No really it is true, let us have inspectors to show you. We promise we know where they are. Swing three, all misses.
Picture a child, around eight or nine years old. Now picture the Bush Administration saying, “Wait, wait, I want a redo!” That is our wonderful country in this scenario. I never would have thought I would be making that kind of comparison, but hey when the mitt fits. The U.N. however likes to play by the rules, and says no. We go into Iraq anyway. No weapons of mass destruction have been produced, by the way. Four strikes. This is going to be a long inning.
So the U.S. has a policy of treating foreign policy as a game. Faith level in my government– plummeting. Interest in baseball–on the rise, I no longer put it on when I am trying to go to sleep.
Not only are we making a game out of international affairs, but WAR as well. Now I am just as big a Risk and Axis and Allies fan as the next geek, but if it came to real people, my strategy might change. Not Bush number two though. We are crying when, after blatantly cheating (ignoring U.N. warnings not to invade Iraq), others are not playing fair. Scott McClellan was quoted as saying, “Syria has not fully complied with the Security Council resolution and the demands of the international community.” Syria is refusing to withdraw forces from Lebanon. Mr. McClellan continues, “Syria needs to comply fully with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559, and that means getting all their intelligence operatives out of Lebanon.” Does anyone remember when the U.S. was not obeying U.N. resolutions? Syria is up at bat, and after several redoes and excuses on the U.S.’s part, McClellan is stomping his foot at Lebanon’s rule breaking?
Had we not completely removed ourselves from intelligent and rational international discussion in March of 2003, I would think of Mr. McClellan as standing up for poor Lebanon. Unfortunately the U.S. chooses its policies unilaterally, only backing those who can benefit it. Where was this crazy idea of playing fair when the U.S. was up to bat? Irritated, this is the point when all the other kids refuse to play with you ever again and walk away.
Didn’t your Mom ever tell you “Practice what you preach? It is so funny how those types of saying are annoying as a youngster, and yet so applicable as an adult. If we could only understand when we are children, many problems could be avoided. So the lessons today folks are play fair and listen to your mother.
That last paragraph about teaching kids to get along reminded me of an interview with the author of “They Don’t Like Me: Lessons on Bullying and Teasing from a Preschool Classroom.”
She said that she uses conflict resolution techniques in her preschool class that leave a lasting impact on the children she teaches, and dares to say that if everyone learned these lessons at an early age, world piece would seem more pragmatic (well she said something like that, I can’t remember exactly what she said, but it seemed like a good idea!)
Oh, here is a link to the book on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0807023213/qid=1120186668/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/103-8789958-6307800?v=glance&s=books&n=507846