Has the U.S. lost its credibility asset part 2

POST COLD WAR DID NOT RESULT IN PEACE BUT ENDLESS WAR

UNBRIDLED USE OF POWER DOES NOT MAKE MANY FRIENDS

After the dismemberment of the Soviet Union there seemed to be a void and a lack of challenges for U.S. foreign policy, a period of hope for world peace and the economic benefits of the end of the cold war. For a short period there was attention given to making the southern drug cartels the the next focus of our foreign policy, but after intervention in Panama and Columbia is seemed to not be enough of a challenge or maybe it was more lucrative to not destroy the source of so much money or to look to other places.

After the first gulf war, the United States became a permanent presence in the middle east. We were supposed to be there to protect the world from war. The presence of permanent U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia was opposed by many of the ruling class in the country.  Many who supported  the war against the Soviet Union equally wanted the U.S. out of the middle east. They supported the Sunni militants who had been instrumental in convincing the Soviet Union to withdraw from Afghanistan and then focused their attention on the United States and their European allies. Afghanistan was taken over by the militants who had descended on the country during the Russian conflict.This escalated until the attack on the United States in September of 2001.

This began the next phase of the U.S. intervention into the middle east. The attack on Afghanistan was immediate and had the support of the much of the world including the Russian federation. The quest to disable the Taliban who ruled Afghanistan and to decimate Al Qaeda and other militants gained the uneasy support of many in the middle east.

With the breakup of the Soviet Union, there was little opposition to the power of the United States. It was openly voiced by some in power at the time that we were  now the only super power and should use that power to reshape the world.  While at one time that goal was freedom, independence and democracy it now seemed to become submit to being part of this world alliance or you will be crushed economically and if necessary militarily.   

Saddam Hussein was a typical mid east dictator, while he at times would ally with the west he was independent of any real alliance. There was a plan hatched that if Iraq became a democratic country it would spread in the area and lead to democratic governments in the region.  The propaganda mill went into motion claiming that Saddam was aiding Al Qaeda and was building nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction that would threaten the world. There were many who disputed this fact, including UN inspectors. As for Al Qaeda it was common knowledge in the middle east that they were executed on site if found in the country. Nonetheless, after a period of a propaganda campaign and the enlistment of other partners in Europe, Iraq was invaded, Saddam deposed and eventually executed, and an ensuing period of war and destruction that has yet to be resolved. This war was from 2003 to 2011, reignited in 2014 and we still have troops in the country.

This war became an example to others in the region and the world to be very careful when dealing with the United States. You may be expendable if you are not part of the U.S. plan. Bush 2's famous speech declaring the axis of evil of Iraq, Iran and North Korea set off a rush by the other 2 countries to build a nuclear weapons arsenal, fearing that after Iraq, they would be next. There was a propaganda campaign to build support for the invasion of Iran that seemed to be eventually squashed, either by a reluctant Bush or just the enormity of the undertaking.

The Iraq war resulted in the death of 100s of thousands, the destabilizing of a counter to Iran and the displacement and migration of millions of refuges into Europe that is still continuing. It was only the beginning of the U.S. goal to reshape the world.

To be continued.