Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission.
Yesterday, in her remarks before the Munich Security Conference, Vice President Kamala Harris made some remarkable claims while speaking a bold truth about what U.S. foreign policy is all about.
First, let’s turn to the bold truth:
And please do understand, [Vice President Harris said,] our approach is not based on the virtues of charity. We pursue our approach because it is in our strategic interest.
I strongly believe America’s role of global leadership is to the direct benefit of the American people. Our leadership keeps our homeland safe, supports American jobs, secures supply chains, and opens new markets for American goods.
I bolded the key phrase: America’s approach to the rest of the world isn’t charitable in any way. It’s about jobs, supply chains, and new markets. It’s about dominance and profits and “the homeland.” End of story.
It put me to mind of a passage in the Bible (Corinthians) about the inestimable value of charity:
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. (KJV; 1 Corinthians 13:2)
The U.S. can certainly move (or remove) mountains with its nuclear weapons; it certainly thinks it has a gift of prophecy with all its surveillance and spy agencies; but unless it has charity toward those less fortunate, it is nothing. It’s good to hear the Vice President avow so clearly that the U.S. approach to the world isn’t in any way charitable or even well-meaning.
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The remarkable claims came as Harris attacked the Republicans and Trump but without specifically naming them. Here’s what she said about them:
However, there are some in the United States who disagree. They suggest it is in the best interest of the American people to isolate ourselves from the world, to flout common understandings among nations, to embrace dictators and adopt their repressive tactics, and abandon commitments to our allies in favor of unilateral action.
Let me be clear: That worldview is dangerous, destabilizing, and indeed short-sighted. That view would weaken America and would undermine global stability and undermine global prosperity.
President Biden and I, therefore, reject that view.
Are Trump and his followers arguing that America should isolate itself from the world? That America should embrace dictators? That America should betray its allies? That America should be a repressive autocracy? This is a misleading and disturbing caricature of Republicans as it accuses them of treason to the U.S. Constitution.
Perhaps some believe that Trump and MAGA truly are this malevolent. But should these accusations be made before foreign leaders at a summit in Munich, Germany?
Something is seriously wrong with America’s leadership. Without charity, they are nothing.
William J. Astore is a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF). He taught history for fifteen years at military and civilian schools. He writes at Bracing Views.
Justice is governed by self interests in all governments and all men and women. Once you start from that premise you can figure out the person position sitting across the negotiating table. Finally Kamala Harris a politician who dares to speak the truth. Let no man make the mistake that Kamala Harris isn’t capable. She knows full well why she and Biden were elected. What their duty to the nation is and why we should continue to support them.
She was selected as Biden’s VP to gather up the Black vote.
He had other, better options for that. Being a black woman was absolutely and completely all that Harris brought to the show. She wasn’t popular among Democrats nationwide. Hell, she wasn’t even especially popular among Democratic voters in California. She just climbed her way up the party machine and got elected by being the party’s preferred nominee in races the party’s preferred nominee couldn’t lose. And California was in no danger of not voting Democratic for president.
If he had really wanted a black woman who might have given him some momentum in a swing state, he could have gone with Val Demings of Florida. Former police chief, two-term congresswoman. Florida only went Republican by about 100k votes in 2016. A southern veep candidate might have flipped the state, or at least threatened to. Instead, it went the other way — Republican by nearly 400k votes. Having her on the ticket would have likely increased his margin in Georgia and quite possibly have flipped North Carolina.
I always thought America’s Foreign Policy was about PEACE, good to know that it’s really about dominance, profits and the “homeland”. So why is the USA 34 trillion in debt, who pocketed all the profits from our great Foreign Policies?
Both the Democrats and the Republicans are malevolent. In Harris’ speech, she should have said it’s the US’s approach to do what’s in Israel’s and AIPAC’s interests.
It’s the US’s goal to be the biggest warmongering, meddlesome, trouble making nation in the world.
The American People should wake up and smell the coffee and know we are taught the fable in school that America only spreads goodwill and sunshine around the country and around the globe.
Absolute crapola. We do what we do to dominate the world. Any country that seeks its own agenda suffers the wrath we lay on it.
“Our” strategic interests?? Who is “our”?? MICCT? Goldman Sachs, et al?? Since when are resources under the ground in other counties “our” resources?