BY NORM ROURKE

Think about this: What other country do you know that sticks its nose in every other country’s business? Does Germany, Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France, Spain, England, and Ireland? The list that includes most democratic free countries can go on and on.

Other than their membership in NATO or some other world group, most democratic countries on the planet pretty well mind their own business. They may not agree with or approve of the actions of others, but they don’t go poking their noses in where they aren’t wanted.

But not us. Noooo, we’ve got to tell everyone how to live, govern, what to think and even get involved in their cultures and lifestyle. Well, we’ve seen how that has worked out in the past decade haven’t we?

Who says we have to be the world’s police force? Who says we have to be the bank for every two-bit Third World rat hole? Who says we have to tell others with culture differences we don’t understand what they should do?

Would we want to be told how to live and be governed?

This obsession with sticking our nose in everyone’s business is what has cost us thousands of lives and billions of dollars. This obsession with trying to turn places like the Middle East into little democracies [which ain’t gonna happen no matter how much money and weaponry we pour into the region] has done nothing but made enemies.

Why can’t we just mind our own business? Why can’t we accept the fact that everyone isn’t like us … and never will be, and most likely doesn’t want to be? The Middle East is a collection of tribal peoples who don’t subscribe to the idea of democracy. It has been so for thousands of years and will continue to be so for thousands of years to come.

It’s not our business to change other people’s culture that is part of their life based on their religious beliefs.

As a generous people, we should always be willing to offer aid to anyone during disasters, epidemics and other such calamities. We should always be willing to assist in raising their standard of living, improving their environment and saving their children.

But only if asked to do so.

We have no right to go charging in telling other people they’re wrong and shouldn’t be doing things the way they’ve been doing them for centuries.

This is why we’re hated by more people in the world than ever before.

We don’t have to like their way of life and it may not be one we would choose for ourselves. We chose more than 200 years ago not to be ruled by a king. But that doesn’t mean Britain and others that have such rulers are wrong and should be forced to change their culture just because we say so.

We’ve barely removed most of our forces from Iraq and already the two religious sects are beginning to kill each other. Did we really expect it not to happen? So what did we accomplish other than losing a lot of good young Americans and spending billions of taxpayer money? It’s Vietnam déjà vu … another place where we didn’t learn a darned thing.

So here’s the deal you know-it-alls in Washington: Why don’t you back off from making us the Big Bad Imperialists [the image most have of us] and quit sticking your collective noses in everyone’s business? Why don’t you cut out the foreign aid – especially to the likes of Afghanistan and Pakistan – and let these people live the way they have for centuries? Why don’t you realize Americans are tired – really TIRED! – of being the world’s police force?

Don’t give us the usual clap trap about the importance of doing all this under the guise of “maintaining diplomatic relations” and assuring citizens “rights” when in fact it’s nothing more than another attempt to make you look like a bunch of big shots.

The truth is you’ve done a pretty lousy job of taking care of business at home.

– Norm Rourke lives in Beggs, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer