The withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq is only the latest example of the United States’ interventionism, which is the process of taking it upon ourselves to get involved in other countries’ problems.
It is also the latest example of the U.S. creating more of a problem than the one meant to be fixed, this time at the cost of more than 4,000 American lives.
Looking back at the last century, one can see several different instances of the U.S. intervening in other countries’ affairs under the guise of national defense. Whether it be wars between countries like Iraq and Iran, other countries’ civil wars like Korea, Vietnam and Russia, or simply our involvement in post-war affairs, it usually leaves us worse for the wear.
Additionally, do we really want to sacrifice our men and women for nothing?
Let’s begin with Iraq. Most of you should know this is not the first time we have met the country in battle. In early 1991, we lost 294 military personnel while getting Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm.
This is the same Iraq we decided to help during its war with Iran in the mid-1980s. However, it seems the good ol’ Red, White and Blue isn’t too picky, because Iran also received arms from us in the same conflict.
It’s a good thing our relationship with Iran is so peachy now — right?
Don’t let this fool you, though; the Middle East isn’t the only place we have tried to improve. Europe and Asia have also been under America’s loving care, which is most evident in the recent resurfacing of problems in North and South Korea.
As tension between these countries slowly starts to rise, we really have to ask ourselves if intervening in their civil war did the world any good. Was losing 36,000 American lives really worth holding the faux-Communist North Korea back under the policy of containment?
Speaking of the blunder that was the containment policy, who could forget about Vietnam?
America invaded Vietnam as an attempt to curb the spread of Soviet Communism, and we lost more than 58,000 members of the military in this failed endeavor. While I admire these Americans for their brave sacrifices, it seems pretty evident these were unnecessary, as Vietnam being a single-party socialist state has not ended the world.
While I do not understand the communist scare at all, I do know its spread was perceived as a danger to the U.S., much like some countries are seen today. However, the only real risk many of these “threats to national defense” pose is the possibility of our country’s intervention.
Our involvement in how post-World War I Europe worked (specifically President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points) was one of the reasons why World War II was inevitable.
Of Wilson’s Fourteen Points, one of the most interesting was his belief that Russia should have been able to develop politically however it wanted. Judging by our involvement in the Russian Civil War, however, he must have meant they could do so as long as it was to our liking.
One of the reasons fanatical groups hate us is we are perceived as an imperialist force, invading other countries to make them behave the way we see fit. Looking at our history, can we really blame anyone for looking at us like this?
What we need to do as a country is stop believing it is our right or responsibility to step into the affairs of other countries, whether it is through direct military might or the backing of sides with equipment.
In the last century, it has only proven itself to be a policy which comes back to bite us in the ass.
This is not to say America shouldn’t respond to legitimate attacks. Should we, or any of our allies, come under attack by another nation, of course we should respond in kind. If we continue to go along with these changing policies of intervention, we will only serve to antagonize the rest of the world and cause more Americans to sacrifice their lives unnecessarily.
We need to realize the world is not ours to force our will upon, and the harder we try to, the harder the rest of the world will push back.
Zachary Davis is a 19-year-old history sophomore from Warsaw, Poland. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_zdavis.
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Contact Zachary Davis at [email protected]