I recently came across this “report card” on the U.S. War on Terrorism published by the Patriots for the Defense of America.
Patriots assigned the Administration an average grade of “D+” for its failure to execute a war against the most pressing foreign threats. The categories graded are as follows:1. The “Hot War” (Iraq and Afghanistan): Iraq posed a real threat to the U.S., but not as great as that posed by nations like Iran and North Korea. Each of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were fought in a shameful manner, sacrificing American troops to unjustifiably restrictive “rules of engagement.”
Grade: C
2. The “Cold War” (Iran and North Korea): Two out of three members of the “axis of evil” have gone unpunished, despite the overwhelming terrorist and/or nuclear threats they pose. Even worse, the U.S. has appeased them, encouraging further aggression.
Grade: D-
3. The “Breeding Grounds” (Saudi Arabia and Pakistan): These governments claim to be allies in the war against militant Islamic terrorism, but fail to suppress terrorists in their own midst. Bush has failed to issue an ultimatum demanding their cooperation.
Grade: C-
4. Israel and the Palestinians: The American “road map” for peace has forced Israel to negotiate with Palestinian terrorists, requiring Israel to abdicate its right to self-defense. This policy is self-defeating for America, since Israel is a natural ally in the war against militant Islam.
Grade: F
5. Military Deployment and Readiness: Despite massive new defense spending, the Bush administration has failed to use its military power—especially the threat of its nuclear arsenal—in a way that minimizes risks to American troops, and maximizes the American ability to destroy the enemy.
Grade: C
6. International Law and Diplomacy: While American policy is widely criticized as too “unilateral,” in reality the Bush administration has demonstrated an undue, self-abasing deference to international opinion and the U.N.—resulting in pointless delays and setbacks in the war.
Grade: D+
If you are interested, please check out the entire 19-page report as supplied by the link above.
Since I am a very busy college student, and therefore do not have much time to discuss everything about our foreign policy, I put forth this report card published by the Patriots for the Defense of America as demonstrating my views on U.S. foreign policy. While this report leaves out my views on minor aspects of foreign policy such as our relations with certain Latin American and European countries, this report demonstrates my essential and most important views regarding U.S. foreign policy, specifically, on our “war on terror.”
As a side note, when I have time, I will be publishing guidelines for commenting on my blog. In the past week or so, I have received a surge of popularity and comments that I have never seen before on this blog. While I appreciate this surge of interest, the majority of the comments posted have been hostile, irrational, and sometimes down right personal attacks. Such comments will not be tolerated. The purpose of this blog is to discuss my views and opinions, and to engage in rational dialogue with whomever is interested (whether or not they agree or disagree with my views). However, irrational name-calling and irrationality as such will not be tolerated. (Keep in mind that two people can be perfectly rational and disagree on a particular subject, so rationality does not entail agreement with my view on a particular subject). I have no problem banning particular individuals who do not follow this policy, however, no banning will take place until official guidelines are posted on my part.
