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Forever wars
America has been in retreat for a long time. Long before Afghanistan. Long before last week. The US doesn’t want to be the bulwark of liberal democracy anymore. It hasn’t wanted to do this for some time. This makes the world a more dangerous place.
Not since the years after the Second World War have Americans viewed the business of protecting vulnerable people outside their borders as a moral duty. They have been pushed into action only when their leaders persuade them the threat is imminent or inevitable. They can be motivated by revenge. But long ago, they concluded that the abuse, repression, and violence inflicted upon folks elsewhere isn’t their problem.
Intellectual leaders tell them they can’t win, so they shouldn’t try. That it is arrogant to think otherwise. Religious leaders tell them they are different from these folk—who are not worthy of their generous spirit. Government institutions follow the lead.
So they erect walls. Physical. Technological. Economic. They do so with the belief they can keep the other out. Time and conflict will sort out the horror they choose not to look at. Or not. It does not matter. (Even this notion seems quaint given that their former president recently attempted an insurrection.)
But walls fail. As walls always do. Israel knows walls. Their elaborate ramparts are buttressed by the Iron Dome—a technology that works rather well at shielding its residents from rocket attacks. So far in 2021, however, 269 people have died in that country in its conflict with Palestinians. This toll includes 69 children. More than 2,000 injured. A more thorough reporter would observe that Palestinians are suffering many more losses than Israelis. That this conflict is complicated and seemingly intractable. This columnist, having consumed a steady diet of reports from this region over the past 40 years, long ago lost interest in who is right and who is wrong. The only remaining salient fact is that 69 children have died so far this year in this conflict. They had no ideology or stake in the fight. Walls didn’t save them.
Even if you can overlook this senseless carnage, how long will Israel’s walls endure as the US shrinks into evermore wobbly insularity? Indulge me one what-if: when Joe Biden squeaks out a narrow presidential win in 2024 but loses both the House and Senate as current polling suggests is likely, will the fractured American people accept the result? Or will this nation rupture further? Become more insular.
It matters far more than the fate of one nation. Liberal democracy is not the natural state of human politics. It was created and modified by men and women as a means to ensure freedom from tyranny. The decadence of a prosperous nation has blinded many of us from the fact that liberal democracies require work. It needs participation, education, and debate. Sometimes it requires a fight.
Imagine waking up in Taiwan this morning. Or Ukraine. Or Tel Aviv. Unsure what horror may visit your home today.
Perhaps we can persuade ourselves it isn’t our business. While sad, we will tell ourselves there is nothing we can do.
Except it won’t stop there. Every despot, would-be dictator and manic general with an army or store of nuclear weapons is emboldened today by a shrinking America. Their ambitions are becoming plans.
World leaders will meet, wring their hands and despair at their declining influence. Sanctions will starve the innocent. Negotiations will yield worthless agreements.
At some point, even the US will be unable to look away. The conflagration no American wanted will become unavoidable. At a much higher cost.
The images last week of desperate Afghans clinging to the exterior of the US military plane, falling to their death as the aircraft ascended, will surely be a defining metaphor for this moment. Among them was Zaki Anwari. He was an athlete, a member of Afghanistan’s youth football team. A sports federation official said Anwari believed all his hopes and dreams would end with the arrival of the Taliban.
Shrinking is a short-term response. Looking away is untenable. We must nurture liberal democracy wherever it gains a foothold. Or we will fight for it with blood and treasure when we can stand the alternative no more. Or we won’t.
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