13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Whenever I see this quote from the story of Purim recited out loud on the holiday, I am reminded that we each have an opportunity to step up to the plate and do something meaningful that may prevent great suffering and change the world for the better. But if we don't take that opportunity to embrace our full potential to do some good, someone else might. And truth be told, in real life, the opportunity that we deny ourselves other people grasp all the time... with mixed results. Sometimes we really CAN do the job better than anyone else, and sometime we might be the only one standing between whatever it is that we can do, however imperfect, and a much greater disaster.
US has sometimes regretted its seemingly undesirable role as the world's policeman. Indeed, it's not our job to interfere in every skirmish, and frankly, detrimental to our interests and to the interests of the parties involved. However, we cannot abdicate our responsibility to our own citizens and to the allies on whom we might have to rely again in the future. When we are directly asked for our help, and we are in a position to help, and the alternatives to helping are much worse than getting involved, then the logical thing to do is to help. With Saudi Arabia now pursuing Russian weapons, Turkey realigning with Iran, and the Baghdad government contesting the ownership and control of the Kurdish oil fields, particularly in areas, also contested by Turkey, we are allowing other powers with far more belligerent intentions to maintain and increase control over issues and region that have a significant impact over our own interests.
Are these the countries we really want to be the big decisionmakers over the fate of our allies? Are these states we trust to continue their geopolitical ambitions to remold the region according to their own preferences, which will likely destroy any opportunity for peace, stability, and our free ability to trade without our partners? The history of our country starts with the difficult but necessary decision of having to fight Barbary wars in order to clear our passage to vital trade routes and insure the freedom of the seas. The realignment of powers in the Middle East is about far more than the fate of any individual nation, though if Iran and Turkey assume complete control, the woeful fate of Iranian minorities will not escape Iraqi Kurds, Christians, and anyone who is not a mainstream Shi'a or Sunni in Syria, and that's just for a start. Nor is it good for our own business to stay out of an opportunity to back a much more reliable partner, who has already shown willingness to allow our companies to invest in their oil. We have both security and trade interests in keeping Iran's, Turkey's, and Russia's role in the divisions of the Middle Eat to the minimum. Russia claims to have a traditional role in Syria, but it belongs there no more than we do, and with significantly less moral restraints. It is a threat to us and our allies, and we allow it to expand its spheres of influence far beyond where the Obama adminstration's feckless and confused policies have cornered us.
Right now we have an opportunity to play a decisive role in protecting those who have called out to us, as well as standing up for our own interests, and determining whether neo-colonialist tyranny or relative stability and possibility of modernization prevail in the Middle East. THe role we decide to play may ultimately determine not just the direction of the region, but the relationship of the region to the rest of the world for generation to come. We are not the only ones understanding the importance of stepping up to the plate and assuming responsibility at a crucial moment. Israel is training Kurdish pilots.
Kurdistan WILL eventually prevail as an independent state, with or without our help. But why not share in the sweetness of righteous victory after so many decades of short-sighted policies that have doomed us to an inevitable chain of dire consequences despite our best intentions? Instead of being played off against Russia and China by minor powers while pursuing quixotic and seemingly interminable power plays, why not assert ourselves in a move that is, for once, clear, well thought out, beneficial to the "good guys", including our own interests, and moral? A move that for once, doesn't force us into choosing the lesser of evils, but actually has us firmly choosing the one constructive, forward-looking course of action where we will can assert a great deal of control rather than have to react haphazardly to the unexpected moves from our adversary? Why not help forge our own plans in conjunction with real partners, instead of merely following or falling in line or trying to disrupt the plans of everyone else?
We should learn lessons from our past and stop wasting our times about knee-jerk moves responsive to someone else's dreams and strategies. Time to build our own self-interested foreign policy based in sound considerations, strong and growing relationships, rational assessment of our capabilities and regional trends, and focused on investing in our future rather than trying to make accounting with the past and forever trailing behind. Time for once, to put America first, not Iran, Russia, Turkey, or some tinpot dictator who seeks to constrain the freedom of our actions and to cut down our own ability to grow, trade freely, and travel securily.
No comments:
Post a Comment