America's Wars: On Good Intentions

There always seems to be a perfectly good reason for everything. Perhaps every act of interference on the affairs of other governments has been rationalized and justified by doing what is best for them. In the name of good intentions wars have been started, pain inflicted and once bubbling economies laid to waste. As unfounded as our claim to know the best decisions and operations for others as we arrogantly take actions, what is perhaps more surprising is the pompous nature of each successive government in the various foreign interventionist pursuits.

Every new administration promises change and frowns on our ‘World Police’ status, only to be caught up in the same game of playing god. Since each administration feels the need to take the lead in maintaining World peace, there should be some measure of assessment to see how much peace has actually been achieved.
I have written in the past how countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and Yemen would be so much better without all our ‘goodwill arms and ammunitions’. As a matter of fact, the uproar over allegations of interference by the Russians during the elections sounds extremely hypocritical when you consider that for the most part we openly interfere with the leadership of other countries. Outspoken Veterans like Adam Kokesh have questioned the motives behind interventions as they have not led to any actual stability, and taking a good look at the current state of a lot of Countries affected by interventionism explains why. So why then are we failing despite our best intentions?

One explanation is that interventions may not be based on good intentions for the most part. In the politics of the World, a nation only looks after her interests and how best to enhance it. Actions and inactions are taken on what best benefits these interests. When we look at things from that perspective, it is actually a lot simpler to explain and rationalize some outrageous actions taken in the name of interventions. It explains why some countries are ignored with little or no concern for them while others given the stick; it explains why double standards in the judgment of World affairs persist. I think it is a lot better to be honest with our assessment of the truth as far as interventions go – We are not making things better.