The overseas thing

I find it hard to stop talking about how we waste money overseas. Partly that's because voters react positively to that message, but more, it just shocks me how much we waste and how stupid it seems.

I'm addicted to a few publications -- The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and Capitol Confidential (at the Times Union). I was rudely awakened by our 17-month-old daughter tonight (either she does not respect a candidate's need for sleep, or she is trying to sabotage my campaign because I'm a Republican).

So I was reading the Economist about North Korea, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and nuclear weapons.

I want to see if I've got all this straight. We're defending South Korea from North Korea, costing us roughly $50 billion a year. South Korea's economy is roughly 40 times the size of North Korea's economy. North Korea is developing nuclear weapons and missiles. Along with Japan, we are pushing for aggressive sanctions to stop North Korea.

Meanwhile, North Korea's nearest neighbors, China and South Korea, are pushing for a softer line. Reality check: North Korea poses a far greater threat to China and South Korea than it poses to the US. I say we let them deal with the problem. In the meantime we can save billions of dollars by bringing our troops home from South Korea.

Then we have a similar situation in Iran. Iran is developing nuclear weapons. We are taking a hard line, and there are even rumors we're preparing for yet another war. Other "great powers" like France, Germany and Russia want a softer line. They're closer. If Iran does go nuclear, that's a greater threat to Russia and Europe than it is to the US (kinda like Iraq). Douglas Adams would call this "somebody else's problem." Somehow we make everything our problem, and it costs an awful lot of money.

And don't forget Pakistan and Afghanistan. I don't know how much we're spending in Afghanistan, but apparently that's not going well either. And our support for Pakistan is looking more and more like a bad idea.

There are plenty of powerful countries closer to all of these problems. Let them handle their own problems and let's stop wasting our money. If what we were doing was working, then maybe I could see it. But our approach is failing. I keep hearing about the concept of "exit strategy" regarding Iraq. I'm waiting to hear the exit strategy for Europe, Japan and South Korea, but also for Afghanistan. And while we're at it, I'd love to see a clear statement as to what would mean we've won the war on terror (or for that matter the war on drugs, the war on poverty, etc.).

I have been called an isolationist. In a military sense, I am. The purpose of the US military should be to defend our borders. We may celebrate George Washington, but we sure don't listen to his advice.