Since George W. Bush became President of the United States, the Army has executed ground operations against Muslim âÄúterroristsâÄù in Afghanistan, Iraq and even within the borders of Pakistan, a country we consider an ally. American boots are also on the ground in Columbia, participating in counter-insurgency against a narcotic-funded Marxist guerilla army known as FARC. President Bush was once quoted as saying that there were âÄúserious consequencesâÄù to committing troops and that it is the âÄúhardest decision a president makes.âÄù Making this decision has evidently gotten easier over the past few years, because the president deployed American troops to Syria last weekend. In what was described by Syrian officials as âÄúterrorist aggressionâÄù and a âÄúwar crimeâÄù and by U.S. officials as an effort to take âÄúmatters into our own hands,âÄù the Army raided a farm, killing eight, including four children. A motive for the raid remains elusive, as no specific target was named besides the nebulous âÄúnetwork of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters.âÄù It is worth note that while this was happening, the United States was carrying out bombing in Pakistan, as well. Even in its twilight hours, it seems the Bush administrationâÄôs foreign policy still embodies the ignorance and recklessness that it so aptly demonstrated in the lead-up to the widening war in Iraq. Our policy unilateral action, regardless of collateral damage, has earned us the distrust of our allies and the contempt of the Muslim world, even as those parties try to reconcile (Israel was negotiating with Syria while our attack was happening). One can only hope that President Bush will be content to leave office having shed blood in only four Muslim nations.
The Expanding Fronts
Published October 29, 2008