The View From the Top:
Speak Softly When You Carry a Big Stick

6 July 2003

by O. Max Gardner III

With the United States representing nearly half of the world's total military expenditures, no countervailing coalition can create a traditional military balance of power.  Not since the days of the ancient Roman Empire has one nation loomed so large above all of the others both collectively and individually.  Many have argued that the lack of another Super Power has made the World a much more dangerous place.  Whether they are right or wrong, there is no disagreement that the World today is a much more dangerous place than it was before September 11, 2001.  And the fear of suicide bombers is not limited to the state of Israel; just ask the Mayors and Chiefs of Police of any major American city. 

In 1992, when Bill Clinton ran for President, he won many votes by proclaiming that the Cold War was over and Japan had won.  It was all about the economy, stupid.  Today, it is not all about the money, but it's all about the need for security and more security.  We may have won the Second Gulf War, but at what price?  September 11, 2001, was like a flash of lighting on a summer evening that displayed an altered landscape, leaving us all groping in the dark, still wondering how to understand and how to respond. 

George W. Bush entered office committed to his campaign pledge to discard "nation building" in failed states of the less developed world.  We would no longer send U.S. troops to places like Bosnia and Serbia, said President Bush, but would focus on dealing with the great powers such as China and Russia.  But in September of 2002 the Bush administration did an "about face" and issued a new foreign policy security strategy, declaring that "we are menaced less by fleets and armies than by catastrophic technologies falling into the hands of the embittered few."  In short, the so-called "Weapons of Mass Destruction" was the new enemy of the State.  Indeed, the justification for the Second Gulf War was based on keeping these weapons out of the hands of the Osama bin Ladens and the various Jihad terrorist groups. 

The new search and destroy mission for the WMD's also formed the justification for a basic change in American foreign policy-the right to launch a preemptive first strike rather than striking only in self-defense.  Iraq was the first test of this new policy.  Our inability to find any such weapons after almost three months of intensive searching has created a major credibility gap both at home and abroad.  Moreover, the Bush administration is currently faced with another dangerous dictator who is months rather than years way from having nuclear weapons.  North Korea may well prove to be the real first test of this new policy.  Deterrence has worked so far, although in this case it was North Korea's conventional ability to wreak havoc on 50,000 American troops and on Seoul in the event of a conventional war that actually deterred U.S. military action.

Although Bush declared the War in Iraq was over about two months ago, it is clear from the daily American and British casualty reports that the real war has just begun.  And Bush's response to this situation has been the typical big bully reaction of "bring 'em on!"  This trumpeting of American power is extremely dangerous and only gives the Osamas of the terrorist world more fuel for their fires of American hatred.  Perhaps Mr. Bush should take some advice from another Republican President, Teddy Roosevelt, who implored our leaders to speak softly when you carry a big stick.