Egypt versus Isolationism

Egypt versus Isolationism

Glenn Beck had a great idea: Why don’t we become Switzerland and finally listen to the words of George Washington who warned us in his Farewell Address to “beware of foreign entanglements” ?

Washington knew enough about foreigners, especially Europeans, to realize they were a sorry bunch whose favorite outdoor sport was engaging in wars and that to intermix our affairs with theirs would lead us down that same bloody road.

The Father of Our Country has been proven right, time and again, but, to our national regret, we never learned that lesson. Times are different today, we’re told, and the nations of the world are now so intertwined in every way from commerce to militaries that going it alone is out of the question. It’s naive and impractical and as doomed to failure as was Fortress America’s isolationism in the 1930′s.

As for Europe, they’re trying a new tack to save themselves from future conflicts and devastation: inextricably aligning themselves with the United Nations, subjecting themselves to the tender mercies of 191 other nations whose societies and goals are as different from Europe’s as Nairobi is from London. That surrender of sovereignty has as much chance of long-term success and accomplishment as did the Treaty of Versailles.

The world is now confronted with another crisis, one of potentially epic proportions. The Arab Republic of Egypt, “a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean region, the Middle East and the Islamic world,” according to Wikipedia, is in turmoil. Not inconsequential to that turmoil is the fact that Egypt is home to that marvel of 19th century enginnering, the Suez Canal, the 101 mile French-built waterway which connects the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean and Red Sea and the rest of the planet. The Suez is almost indispensable to European maritime commerce.

Today, Egypt and even the heavily guarded Suez are in imminent danger of collapse.

The debate rages: Carter lost our ally Iran and Obama is in process of losing our ally Egypt. We might just as well debate whether Wilson caused the Second World War, whether FDR maneuvered us into that war, whether Truman lost China, whether JFK lost Viet Nam. It all matters not whit at the moment, even though all of the above are probably true.

What matters, since in any crisis the U.N. is the generous equivalent of teats on an aging bull, is what do we, the United States, do about Egypt.

Egypt might be a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. In fact, I wouldn’t want to visit, either, especially now when Egypt is not very hospitable to man or beast. Seeing King Tut’s ancient artifacts in New York a few months ago was more than sufficient to satisfy any curiosity I may have had. The Sphinx and the pyramids I can see in pictures. The angry mobs rioting against 30-year dictator, Hosni Mubarak, are much like any other raging mobs.

Any dangers for the Suez Canal are much more the concern of Europe than they are concerning to America, which is not to say we won’t get entangled. After all, we’re not Fortress America, we’re not isolationist, and we absolutely cherish foreign entanglements.

The bungling Iranification of Egypt by the Obama administration may not have begun with America’s resident boob. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=3535)