No Matter Who

The key phrase in this piece is the beginning of the first sentence in the second paragraph. It starts, "No matter who becomes president".

This has been the subject of a number of posts to this blog over the last several months.

The most important section of this piece addresses how little difference there has been in foreign policy over the past many years, especially with respect to the Middle East. Oil has been the key to what's been going on. The power of Big Oil has been dominant. And with the top two officers of the country coming from the oil industry-----well, what did we expect?

But even with a non-oil oriented guy in the White House that industry has enormous influence in Congress with huge amounts of money used to buy the support of influential politicians who have powerful friends in the Pentagon. It's not only been the GOP neocons who have been beating the war drums for many years. This writer points out that administrations from both parties have supported our being the world's policeman. The military/industrial complex has been perhaps the most powerful coalition of all over the course of history, and not just ours.

Bottom line is I don't see a whole lot of change in foreign policy in the near term, except for the real hope that Obama can coax the rest of the world back to becoming our friends again. That will no doubt be difficult, in spite of his positive world view, because of the financial meltdown which will inhibit the US from continuing huge foreign aid commitments. Sorry to say some of those friends won't be easily wooed back without those commitments.

Follow the Money.

Undoubtedly many who discover that the writer of this piece lives and works in France, will dismiss his views as anti-American. It's just these people who preach American Exceptualism around the globe. Arrogance, hubris and condescenion are not often attitudes of those who make genuine friends easily.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper