Presidency of the United States of America makes fundamentally little difference

From the point of view of someone not living in the USA, the choice of a Republican or a Democrat to the Presidency makes fundamentally little difference ... at least when it comes to foreign policy. An example of this can be found by comparing the words of former president Lyndon B. Johnson to those of George W. Bush.

On March 31, 1968, then president Lyndon B. Johnson made an address to the nation in which he declared that, after 4½ years as President, he would not seek re-election for another term. In a quiet and somber tone he painfully explained to the American people the awesome duties of the presidency and the graveness and difficulties of making decisions that directly affect peoples lives.

It was the time of the Vietnam war ... a war which burdened him greatly and of which there seemed no easy way out. Yet today, listening to that speech again 36 years later, Johnson's description and defense of the war has great similarities to what Americans are now being told by their government with respect to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Then as now, the same phrases are being used: "We don't want this war but we are fighting for the protection and security of the American people, for democracy and freedom, for liberty and for building a peaceful world."

And. in describing the situation in Vietnam, Johnson again spoke the same language as George W. Bush now speaks about Iraq and Afghanistan. The communist 'invaders' in Vietnam are now the Iraqi 'insurgents,' the South Vietnamese army, which was being 'built and strengthened' is now replaced by the Afghan army and Iraqi police that are recruited by the US and 'becoming stronger,' and as always the US determination and resolve to deny victory to the enemy is beyond question, regardless of its human and financial costs. We shall not fail!

By now, 1968 lies far behind us and the outcome of the Vietnam war has long been determined. Peace has indeed returned to Vietnam, but not until US troops were withdrawn from that country and the north and south became one unified nation. In the end the dire consequences that were predicted from such a result never materialized. Hundreds of thousands of people died needlessly in that war and the effects of the use of chemical weapons and the unexploded munitions left behind are still being felt there to this day.

The Clinton administration too, with its bombing of Yugoslavia and Iraq and the economic sanctions against Iraq which condemned hundreds of thousands of children to an early grave, has much blood on its hands. Unfortunately, the lessons of Vietnam have not only been ignored by previous and current US administrations, but, in blind pursuit of what it considers the US interests abroad, the mistakes have been repeated under similar types of pretexts.

Besides the use of military force abroad, the US uses aggressive economic strategies to force countries to adopt the 'free market' policies of the USA, whether they like it or not. Those governments who do not comply and who oppose such policies as not being in the best interests of their people are threatened with embargoes, boycotts and other forms of retaliation, including the undermining and overthrow of democratically elected governments (e.g. Chile, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Haiti). Is it any wonder then that under these circumstances the popularity of America in the world has diminished to what today is likely its lowest level ever?

My country, Canada, shares a 5000 mile long border with the USA. We are neighbors who (mostly) speak the same language, share a similar culture and have a huge cross-border trade. Many people have family and relatives living on either side of the border. Yet the number of Canadians who today support the aggressive US foreign policies of George W. Bush has fallen to about 15% of the population. The same pattern holds true for Europe and most other countries that traditionally have friendly relations with the USA.

Today, there is virtually no country in the world whose government does not look over its shoulder to see if its policies are approved or disapproved of by the United States. In effect, we, the people outside the USA who elect our own governments to govern us, are subjected to another lands' president to ensure that what we are doing is acceptable to him. We are subjected to the power and influence of a President we did not elect and cannot vote for.

Sometimes we get the impression that Americans don't care about this.

Or perhaps many don't know that this is the result of their government's policies. Canada is a peaceful nation that poses no threat to the United States. Most of our conflicts are resolved through negotiations. But this is not always the case in other parts of the world and when negotiations fail, people will resort to other methods to defend their independence, culture, religion and way of life. Nowadays this is frequently called 'terrorism,' but there is a fine line between terrorism and fighting for the independence of ones homeland. Such battles are almost always long and protracted but in the end are won by those fighting on their home turf.

As American voters go to the polls next November they have an awesome responsibility, not only to themselves, but to the world. But whichever person they elect to the presidency, the real task they face is much greater than either the Presidency or the Congress.

I cannot believe that the American people want their nation to behave in the world community like the bully in the schoolyard.

You have seen the results of the latter already far too often and the horror and suffering it creates is surely as repulsive to Americans as it is to anyone else. Yet, such bullyish behavior by the government on a world scale creates retaliation and terror far greater than a school shooting, as you have already experienced and are well aware of. In a democracy the control of political parties, the Congress and the Presidency belongs to the common people of the land.

I believe Americans have lost that control and let it slip into the hands of special interests who care for little but themselves and their own narrow visions and objectives.
The real task ahead is for the American people to regain that control, for only then can we begin to build a world of peace, security and prosperity ... not only for Americans but for all the people on our planet Earth.

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