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WHY BOTHER WITH THE WEAKEST OF NATIONS?
By Victor Davis Hanson
Philadelphia Inquirer
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20111117_Why_bother_with_the_weakest_of_nations_.h tml
Nov 17 2011
An open microphone recently caught French President Nicolas Sarkozy
and President Obama jointly trashing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu. Sarkozy scoffed, "I cannot stand him. He's a liar." Obama
trumped that with, "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with
him every day."
In one of the most bizarre op-eds published by the New York Times
in recent memory, Paul Kane suggested that the United States could
literally sell out its support for democratic Taiwan for about $1
trillion. He argued that the Chinese might be so thankful to us for
letting them get their hands on the island as to forgive much of what
we owe them.
So why does the United States take risks to guarantee the security
of countries such as Israel and Taiwan? Surely the smart money -
and most of the world - bets on their richer enemies. The Arab Middle
East has oil, hundreds of millions of people, and lots of dangerous
radical Islamic terrorists. China is more than one billion strong,
with the fastest-growing economy in the world.
But Obama should remember that America does not think solely in terms
of national advantage. In fact, only the United States seems to have
an affinity for protecting tiny, vulnerable countries. In two wars
and more than 12 years of no-fly zones in Iraq, America saved the
Kurds from a genocidal Saddam Hussein.
Greece's northern European creditors are furious with its profligacy
and duplicity. Nearby, an ascendant Turkey is flexing its muscles
over occupied Cyprus and new finds of gas and oil in the Aegean and
eastern Mediterranean. In short, a bankrupt Greece of only 11 million
people, residing in one of history's most dangerous neighborhoods,
has few strong friends other than the United States. The same is true
of Christian Armenia, which likewise is relatively small and near to
historical enemies in Turkey and Russia.
All of these people - Israelis, anticommunist Chinese, Kurds, Greeks,
and Armenians - have a few things in common. They have relatively
small and often shrinking populations, aggressive neighbors, few
strong allies, many expatriates and refugees in the United States,
and a tragic history of persecution and genocide.
Half the world's Jews were lost to the Holocaust. Had Mao Tse-tung -
the most prolific mass murderer in history - gotten his way, the entire
anticommunist Chinese population that fled in terror to Taiwan would
have been wiped out. In the early 1920s, nearly a million Greeks
perished in Asia Minor, ethnically cleansed by a Turkey that had
once conquered and occupied Greece for more than 350 years. A million
Armenians perished in the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World
War I. The stateless Kurds have been persecuted by Arabs, Iranians,
and Turks.
We should remember that Greece and Taiwan would have disappeared
as free, independent countries in the late 1940s without American
military support and guarantees. Armenia did not exist as a free
nation until America helped force the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Kurdistan emerged as an autonomous province only when America deposed
Saddam. Israel might have vanished during the 1973 Yom Kippur War
without massive American military aid.
Of course, these persecuted peoples can at times be testy allies
and even sound anti-American. Their national characters, reflecting
centuries of oppression, can seem prone to collective paranoia and
conspiracy theories. Yet Israel, Taiwan, Kurdistan, Greece, and Armenia
are democratic, with rich histories, having survived against all odds.
In the next few years, our small friends will be tested. Iran has
promised to wipe out Israel and may soon get the bomb to do it. We
are withdrawing all troops at the end of the year from Iraq, and
Kurdistan will be entirely on its own. Russia often talks about
reconstituting its former Soviet client states into some sort of new
imperial federation. China thinks it is only a matter of time before
Taiwan is absorbed. The new Turkey is beginning to look a lot like
the old imperial Ottoman sultanate.
Yet if protecting these small states is risky, our concern also
reflects positively on the singular values of the United States. The
United Nations has neither the will nor the capability to ensure the
security of these countries. The eroding European Union talks grandly
of international values but rarely risks its blood or treasure to
defend them.
Only America is moral and strong enough to protect the world's
historically vulnerable but culturally unique peoples. It would be a
shame if we forgot that - either out of desire for profit or because
we became fed up with the bother.
By Victor Davis Hanson
Philadelphia Inquirer
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20111117_Why_bother_with_the_weakest_of_nations_.h tml
Nov 17 2011
An open microphone recently caught French President Nicolas Sarkozy
and President Obama jointly trashing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu. Sarkozy scoffed, "I cannot stand him. He's a liar." Obama
trumped that with, "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with
him every day."
In one of the most bizarre op-eds published by the New York Times
in recent memory, Paul Kane suggested that the United States could
literally sell out its support for democratic Taiwan for about $1
trillion. He argued that the Chinese might be so thankful to us for
letting them get their hands on the island as to forgive much of what
we owe them.
So why does the United States take risks to guarantee the security
of countries such as Israel and Taiwan? Surely the smart money -
and most of the world - bets on their richer enemies. The Arab Middle
East has oil, hundreds of millions of people, and lots of dangerous
radical Islamic terrorists. China is more than one billion strong,
with the fastest-growing economy in the world.
But Obama should remember that America does not think solely in terms
of national advantage. In fact, only the United States seems to have
an affinity for protecting tiny, vulnerable countries. In two wars
and more than 12 years of no-fly zones in Iraq, America saved the
Kurds from a genocidal Saddam Hussein.
Greece's northern European creditors are furious with its profligacy
and duplicity. Nearby, an ascendant Turkey is flexing its muscles
over occupied Cyprus and new finds of gas and oil in the Aegean and
eastern Mediterranean. In short, a bankrupt Greece of only 11 million
people, residing in one of history's most dangerous neighborhoods,
has few strong friends other than the United States. The same is true
of Christian Armenia, which likewise is relatively small and near to
historical enemies in Turkey and Russia.
All of these people - Israelis, anticommunist Chinese, Kurds, Greeks,
and Armenians - have a few things in common. They have relatively
small and often shrinking populations, aggressive neighbors, few
strong allies, many expatriates and refugees in the United States,
and a tragic history of persecution and genocide.
Half the world's Jews were lost to the Holocaust. Had Mao Tse-tung -
the most prolific mass murderer in history - gotten his way, the entire
anticommunist Chinese population that fled in terror to Taiwan would
have been wiped out. In the early 1920s, nearly a million Greeks
perished in Asia Minor, ethnically cleansed by a Turkey that had
once conquered and occupied Greece for more than 350 years. A million
Armenians perished in the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World
War I. The stateless Kurds have been persecuted by Arabs, Iranians,
and Turks.
We should remember that Greece and Taiwan would have disappeared
as free, independent countries in the late 1940s without American
military support and guarantees. Armenia did not exist as a free
nation until America helped force the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Kurdistan emerged as an autonomous province only when America deposed
Saddam. Israel might have vanished during the 1973 Yom Kippur War
without massive American military aid.
Of course, these persecuted peoples can at times be testy allies
and even sound anti-American. Their national characters, reflecting
centuries of oppression, can seem prone to collective paranoia and
conspiracy theories. Yet Israel, Taiwan, Kurdistan, Greece, and Armenia
are democratic, with rich histories, having survived against all odds.
In the next few years, our small friends will be tested. Iran has
promised to wipe out Israel and may soon get the bomb to do it. We
are withdrawing all troops at the end of the year from Iraq, and
Kurdistan will be entirely on its own. Russia often talks about
reconstituting its former Soviet client states into some sort of new
imperial federation. China thinks it is only a matter of time before
Taiwan is absorbed. The new Turkey is beginning to look a lot like
the old imperial Ottoman sultanate.
Yet if protecting these small states is risky, our concern also
reflects positively on the singular values of the United States. The
United Nations has neither the will nor the capability to ensure the
security of these countries. The eroding European Union talks grandly
of international values but rarely risks its blood or treasure to
defend them.
Only America is moral and strong enough to protect the world's
historically vulnerable but culturally unique peoples. It would be a
shame if we forgot that - either out of desire for profit or because
we became fed up with the bother.