Do you agree?

Well, I'll try this again.

I would ask if any of you agree with any of the following statements:

1. "A more closely integrated Europe is no longer an unqualified American interest."

2. "We should start a debate within Europe over the French ambition to build the European Union into an anti-American counterweight."

3. "We should calibrate the nature and extent of our cooperation with France to reflect French behavior."

4. "We should seek a defense partnership with Japan, Australia, and other willing Asian democracies as intimate and enduring as the NATO alliance."

5. "We should maintain a credible military guarantee for Taiwan."

6. "We should promote an Asian regional defense system against ballistic missiles."

7. "We should seek greater South Korean responsibility for its own defense."

8. "We should accept India and Pakistan's nuclear weapons as an unwelcome but unalterable fact and drop all remaining sanctions against them."

9. "We should promote peace by promoting subcontinental economic integration."

10. "Our claims to world leadership rest not just on our power and wealth but on our moral authority."

11. "The UN must commit itself to the proposition that harboring, supporting, or financing terrorists in itself constitutes an Article 51 act of aggression against the country those terrorists target. If not, we should formally reject the UN's authority over our war on terror."

12. "We should never be too proud to appeal for help and to be grateful when we receive it, but we should not make the mistake of relying on it."

 

Hardsheller,

I placed number nine right after the India/Pakistan quote because it refers to that subcontinent. It suggests that we can possibly help to defuse that situation by fostering trade between them.

As to four, five, and six, the purpose being to contain China's push to expand its influence and power in the region and to push us out. They also rest on the proposition that American presence is not ipso facto imperialism but helps to promote stability and protect sea lanes in the region.

I can certainly understand disagreement over number eight. That situation is especially prickly and dangerous.

As to number ten, it seems to me self-evident that America tries to do the right, honorable, and fair thing for the most part, including helping to expand freedom. I certainly understand and welcome the debate over the practicality and efficacy of using our power, but I think that our efforts are from generally good motives.

I hope that helps. At least as clear as muddy water?