Just wondering what changes our foreign policy has wrought to this world of ours in the last five years:
Iraq - this country has had more than three national elections since the fall of the tyrant. People have voted who never before could and they were given choices unthinkable six years ago. It is easy for people who sit in comfortable chairs and live a life protected from the harsh realities of the world to dismiss this and point instead to the thousands dead. Saddam would kill a few thousand each weekend to fill up his spare time - lions, wood chippers, firing squads, strangulation, rape. The people of Iraq have chosen and that path does not include Saddam, it does not include toleration for al qaida.
Kuwait - 2.1 million people live in Kuwait. Only 1 million are citizens and only about 120,000 of those were permitted to vote. No women. In 2008, women have been granted the right to vote in Kuwait (as well as most of the other countries) and, more that than, women have been appointed Ministers of Cabinet-level Departments.
The response from naysayers would be - what does Kuwait and its franchise have to do with US foreign policy actions. Well, if you get to criticize and point out how we have alienated everyone 9which is vague and without foundation), I get to proffer the following: as a direct result of US actions in and around Kuwait, the freedom fought and killed for in Iraq, that idea spread around the region. Every watchful - the Kuwaitis recognized they needed to be more inclusive or risk wide backlash within their country and so, they embraced the franchise - as did several other ME countries.
Libya - In 2003, as we were taking Baghdad, Qaddafi called up Bush and asked him to send the US forces in to his country to take away all his WMD. He was requesting the US relieve him of his WMDs, which we promptly did. We have since begun normalization of relations with Libya .
Syria - the Syrian intelligence services worked actively with US intelligence services after 2001. Something they had never done before.
Iran - Iranian intelligence services assisted US intelligence services to some degree.
Two governments of two countries the US does not speak to, but their intelligence services cooperate with the US. Never happened in the 90s.
Somalia - the renegades in this former European colonial outpost, hateful as they were, with very bad memories for the US under Clinton when Blackhawk Down occurred, since 2001, have been very willing to assist the US in every way possible. US forces are in Somalia and have been. We arm the Somalis and have reestablished a less public relationship with Somalia.
Russia - our relationship with Russia is stronger today than it was in 1997 and Russia has far fewer nuclear weapons since 2001, thanks in large part to the resumption of payment to the Russians for the dismantling of their nuclear stockpile.
Canada - we have a better relationship today than we did in 2000.
France - we are in a better position today with France than we have in thirty years. US policy, unrelenting as it has been, alienated many but brought back our allies and reestablished our relationships when they realized we were serious about our commitments this time.
Germany - better relationship with Germany than we had in 1998.
Italy - our relationship with Italy is better than it was during the 1990s.
Britain and Australia - the same, no better, no worse.
I am at a loss who we have so deeply offended and why the above are not regarded as positive changes.
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