The World's Policeman

Last night, I heard a quote by Senator McCain to the effect that Americans had to realize that the price of being the sole superpower was that America had to be the policeman for the world.

This quote succinctly captures a key issue which has received little attention in the presidential campaign so far, but is very important for Americans to understand and consider. This seems to be a central point of the Republican world-view, and has resulted in the invasion of Iraq and all its negative consequences. It is behind the current talk of war with Iran. The assumption that it is up to America, alone if necessary, to enforce something on a world-wide basis. Exactly what law or principle is to be enforced is not clear.

But what is clear is that America has great military power, and should feel positively inclined to use it to "enforce" its beliefs on others. In effect, America becomes the sole and ultimate judge, jury and executioner….of something.

Let's consider the case of Iran, and its reported nuclear ambitions. Certainly, for Iran to have nuclear weapons is not a positive thing for most of the rest of the world. But, the same could be said about almost any other country, including America. Is it the sole responsibility of America to prevent this from happening? To listen to much of the rhetoric, this is the assumption. But, there are several large, powerful nations that are much closer to Iran than is the US…China, India, and Russia come to mind. Each of these nations probably have more influence over Iran than the US at this time. And each of these nations has reason to be concerned about a nuclear Iran.

Is it up to us to "stop Iran"? I for one don't think that it is. It's time for the US to stop thinking that it should and can do all the heavy lifting. I am not interested in Americans dying in Iran, while the rest of the world stands by and watches. It's not the end of the world if one more country gets nuclear weapons. The need for nuclear disarmament is real, but it has to be done in a comprehensive way.

We Americans need to take a long, hard look at ourselves.

• Why do we have such a large military?
• Why do we spend more than all the rest of the world on our military?
• What are we doing to the rest of the world when we use our military, or its threat, to attain goals we often cloak with "altruistic" motives?

I hope the Democratic nominee will have the guts to take McCain on about this issue, and to educate Americans on it.