When I was a kid, there was a bully in our neighborhood. He never picked on kids his own size and certainly not on anyone larger. Rather, he punched, pushed and kicked kids smaller and weaker than himself, especially those who refused to respond to his threats. Stirred by his adversaries’ impotent responses, the bully felt free to slug anyone he fancied. Most kids tried to avoid him, thinking their demonstration of weakness might protect them from being hit. It never did. Having set themselves up as easy targets, the bully went after these kids first.
This lesson learned early in life has served me well as a citizen of the United States. It is why some choose to arm themselves, install alarm systems on their homes, own large dogs and learn self-defense. During the Reagan years, in matters of foreign policy, self-defense was known as “peace through strength.” And it worked. America’s strength and the assurance held by much the world that we were willing to use our muscle against threats served to deter those who might have wanted a piece of us.
Now we are faced with an administration that believes pandering, appeasement (as Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty bravely called it) and negotiation can change the nature of dictators with dark souls. That “strategy” will be on display again this week when President Obama speaks to the United Nations and talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Bullies like Abbas, and the people he represents, love to negotiate with the West because it weakens us and bolsters their spirit. We give and they take without giving anything in return. The Middle East is a textbook example of failed negotiations between unequals.
In the days of Al Capone, individuals and businesses bought “protection” from the mob. Today, no public or private insurance policy is available to protect us from predatory nations or terrorist organizations. A punch in the nose — or the threat of one — still deters bullies far better than signed agreements, which they have no intention of honoring.
Why have the world’s bullies suddenly become more galvanized against the West, especially the United States? It’s because they believe President Obama’s loftiness about talking to despots instead of standing up to them demonstrates weakness. So we’re going to talk (again) to North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il about dismantling his nuclear weapons program when he has refused to honor previous promises to cease and desist. With his track record, why would we believe any agreement he signs the next time?
When tyrants like Iran’s Ahmadinejad, Venezuela’s Chavez, Cuba’s Castro and, increasingly, Russia’s Putin, see a foreign affairs novice like President Obama they may believe his pocket can be picked. History — and human nature — has shown that appeasing evil begets more evil. Does the President believe that he has something of a divine gift? Will the sound of his voice and his steely glare compel the tyrannical lion to lie down with the peace-loving and docile American lamb?
If our foreign adversaries believe America will not respond to aggression, we’ll get more aggression.
In 1956, Hungarian freedom fighters believed the United States would come to their aid against the occupying Soviets. When we didn’t the tanks rolled in and many were killed. When President Kennedy met Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna in 1961, Khrushchev concluded that Kennedy was weak. This conclusion precipitated the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which nearly led to nuclear war. Then there was Vietnam, which some still believe America abandoned before it finished the job. Osama bin Laden believes this. He has cited Vietnam as his main reason for believing he can outlast the U.S. in the terrorist war.
There was a time when America was feared. That time has passed. Either we restore it or we’ll live — or die — to regret it.
Columns
War through weakness
- Columns
-
-
Health Care fund may hit zero
A new Republican governor and new Republican legislative leadership now face the same task that has confounded their Democratic colleagues when they had the reins of state government — finding a way to pay for Mississippi’s massive Medicaid program.
-
Komen backlash wrongheaded
To hear much of the American media tell it, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the breast-cancer charity that recently cut its ties with Planned Parenthood before (sort of) backing down, should simply be no more.
-
Voting rights attack is un-American
When this country was founded, only white men owning property could vote. Since then, the franchise has gradually expanded to include blacks and women, the poor and the young. Poll taxes and literacy tests have been abolished. A firm national principle has been established: Every vote should count, and count equally. Until now.
-
Size of Universe is unimaginable
I stumbled across an interesting video on YouTube produced by Tony Darnell, entitled "The Hubble Deep Field: The Most Important Picture Ever Taken." It is, to say the least, a very thought-provoking video and has to do with our place in the Universe.
-
Numbers suggest priorities
By Sid Salter/Syndicated columnist
As the new Republican majority controlling state government claimed victory by passing the Children’s Protection Act with ease in the House, it’s clear that even more fundamental — and more politically difficult — challenges loom down the public policy road. -
Romney has Massachusetts problem
By Byron York/Syndicated columnist
Mitt Romney was born and raised in Michigan and has ties to Utah. Yet he chose to make his career, both in business and politics, in Massachusetts. Nearly every political problem Romney has today, at least those involving his policy positions, stems from that one decision. -
Woman escaped killing machine
By Nat Hentoff/Syndicated columnist
A survivor of Robert Mugabe’s relentlessly brutal dictatorship in Zimbabwe, Patience Mhlanga would like you to know what it was like to grow up in grinding fear there. She escaped, but her story tells what so many others are still undergoing in that hellhole that the rest of the world allows to continue:
“Growing up in Zimbabwe, I learned the meaning of persecution early. My father was a strong supporter of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and the supporters of Robert Mugabe threatened to kill our family for my father’s views. -
Restored restaurant signals renewal
By Bill Crawford/Meridian Star columnist
Choctaw tribal chief Phyliss Anderson restored and reopened Phillip M’s at the Pearl River Resort last week. She also signaled her intent to renew the economic policies so successfully implemented by the restaurant’s namesake. -
Woman escaped killing machine
A survivor of Robert Mugabe’s relentlessly brutal dictatorship in Zimbabwe, Patience Mhlanga would like you to know what it was like to grow up in grinding fear there. She escaped, but her story tells what so many others are still undergoing in that hellhole that the rest of the world allows to continue:
-
Restored restaurant signals renewal
Choctaw tribal chief Phyliss Anderson restored and reopened Phillip M’s at the Pearl River Resort last week. She also signaled her intent to renew the economic policies so successfully implemented by the restaurant’s namesake.
- More Columns Headlines
-
Health Care fund may hit zero






