Wednesday, November 28, 2012

How To Define Military Adventurism

By Lenore Bolton


According to the Urban Dictionary, the term 'military adventurism' is a 'Republican party euphemism for starting a war of aggression.' Some people think it is a good thing. One writer claims that is a legitimate means by which a country may protect its interests from foreign intervention or to end a conflict. She cited American activities in Iraq and Afghanistan as necessary measures to fight terrorism. Others see it as Manifest Destiny gone mad.

An emeritus professor at the University of California recently published a trilogy on political history in which he expressed the view that American military adventurism is perilously out of control. George Washington, one of the Founding Fathers and the first American President, would apparently agree. He made it clear in his final speech that having a large standing army would jeopardize not only the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances that make America unique, it would threaten freedom itself.

A little bit of digging reveals that America is not alone in its acquisitive tendencies. It is in the less than glittering company of North Korea. It is not necessary to dig too far back in time to find an example. In the face of international condemnation during the spring of 2012, North Korea conducted a rocket launch. The nation's leaders claimed that the launch was designed to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the country's founder, Kim Il-Sung, by propelling a satellite into orbit.

The rest of the world was not convinced of North Korea's benign intentions. Instead, worldwide opinion was that the launch was an ill-disguised test of banned long-range missile technology. Aimed at west of the Korean peninsula in between the Philippines and Japan, both South Korea and Japan threatened to shoot it down if it posed a threat to their respective territories. Fortunately for international relations, the rocket plunged into the sea 105 miles off the western coast of Seoul in South Korea.

Japan is another black pot. It too, was not above staging a little military adventure of its own. In the 1920s, it owned a small piece of China in the form of the South Manchurian Railway in the north. Japan arranged for a small explosion on the railway in order to justify sending in troops to occupy Manchuria in order to protect its interests. This was clearly a ruse, as the explosion caused only minor damage and trains were running within minutes of what became known as the 'Murkden Incident.'

Every time tensions heat up between Pakistan and India, governments all over the world get twitchy. Any full-scale war between these two nations that begins with conventional weapons is unlikely to end that way. Ever since India became independent in 1947, Pakistan has been constantly niggling at it in an enduring campaign of military adventurism. Many experts believe the United States is behind Pakistan's efforts.

It may be Pakistan's lawyers who have the final say. They defend their constitution, which restricts the role of the military to defending the country's borders. Any excursions into adventurism would be unconstitutional.

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones at America for its military adventurism. North Korea, Pakistan and Japan have all toyed with the notion of world domination and there are no doubt many others. Look closely enough, and there will no doubt be examples in the Bible.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment