The death of the late Secretary of State Henry Kissinger did not go unnoticed, as it coincided with the simultaneous reflections of the late US ambassador to the Soviet Union on the course of North America, both at home and abroad. The flashback to the vision, is a fact.
The former ambassador to the Soviet Union in the years 1987-1991 made clear reports on the foreign policy - mainly - of the USA. Jack Matlock, who by profession and by subject knows Russian-American relations in depth. With great experience due to the Cuban Missile Crisis in `80, but also advising President Clinton in `97 on NATO expansion plans, these days, the politician looked back on the vision of the US, on the role they had promised to play out in the world, and in the position in which they ultimately arrived.
Freedom of Speech and Opinion
Loyal to the American political line, Matlock now comes, after the latest events in which the US has been involved, such as Israel's invasion of Palestine and the war in Ukraine before, to give a comprehensive review of what has happened, since, as he himself very scathingly says, "our society can only be successful if everyone has the right to express opinions freely."
He sees in US politics, however, "organizing groups to promote their views", and does not distinguish that there is freedom of speech and expression, if e.g. some university student, or some senator even, decided to speak in favor of Palestine.
Respect to nations
Several years earlier, in the early 80s, Matlock had declared that American foreign policy was "a world in which human diversity will be protected", and that "negotiation will replace violence as a means of resolving disputes".
Today, as Matlock says, he sees that this has not been observed at all, citing as strong examples Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and elsewhere.
Observing the events unfolding in Palestine, he remembers his words in 1982: "While we do not hide our deep admiration for those brave peoples who seek only what Americans consider their birthright."
Now, he sees that the US does not act this way.
Peace and War
In 1982, Matlock's vision and faith in American foreign policy led him to see that "we live at peace with the world and that not one American soldier has ever fought anywhere in the world," although he was concerned about the tendency of some states to settle their differences even with weapons.
In the case of Afghanistan, from which the Soviet Union had withdrawn, Matlock sees the US doing the exact opposite: “After 11/20, the US invaded and stayed for XNUMX years without being able to create a democratic society. A subsequent invasion of Iraq, under false pretenses, ousted the Iraqi government and gave the Islamic State a boost. Then the US, without a declaration of war, invaded Syria and tried unsuccessfully to overthrow its government (which we recognized) and also to fight the Islamic State, which had been created as a result of the US invasion of Iraq."
In more than 80 countries around the world there are now American soldiers, as the former American ambassador writes with fiery words in his text.
"We were making peace and now we have an army in 80 states. (…) We filled the world with weapons."
Money for the wars
"We spend more on weapons than all other budgets on reckless spending, and now the Biden administration is waging war against Russia, a nuclear power." (…) “However, since the late 1990s the US seemed to be motivated by a false and simplistic doctrine that the world was destined to become like the US and the US was justified in using its economic and military power to transform the rest world to conform to their self-image (was the position of the neo-conservatives)'.
Jack Matlock's speech is addressed to the ears of the politicians and the people of the USA, with bitterness and with a mood of awakening.
"The US is sending 100 'super-bombs' to drop on Gaza. BLU-109 "bunker busters," weighing 2.000 pounds each, penetrate underground concrete shelters where people are hiding, the Wall Street Journal reported Dec. 1. America has sent 15.000 bombs and 57.000 artillery shells to Israel since October 7, and the list includes more than 5.000 unguided or "dummy" Mk82 bombs, more than 5.400 84-pound Mk2.000 warheads, about 1.000 GBU-39 small diameter bombs and about 3.000 JDAMs, the paper said. The news comes in stark contrast to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's statements that avoiding civilian casualties is a top priority for the US."
And in his text, Matlock also refers to the repeated appeals of the UN, that is, in the voice of various countries of the world, for a ceasefire. But military spending is a dominant share of US discretionary spending, and military personnel are also the majority of government personnel. C17 planes carry weapons on US-Israeli flights.
And for the US interior…
In his 1982 pride speech, Matlock also spoke about the relationship between citizens and government. As he argued then, citizens should exercise control over government, but today he wonders if there is any way to do that anymore.
“Twice in this century we have installed presidents who received millions of votes less than the president we voted for. The Supreme Court has invalidated rights supported by the overwhelming majority of our citizens. It takes many more votes to elect a senator in a populous state than in one with fewer citizens, so the US Senate can be controlled by a minority of the nation's voters. Corporations and individuals are virtually unlimited in the amount they can spend to promote or discredit candidates and lobby Congress for favorable tax and regulatory treatment. The Supreme Court, in effect, ruled that corporations are citizens too!"
"Isn't that more like oligarchy than democracy?"
Matlock bitterly concludes that - despite the challenges of the past - the people of the USA had managed to preserve the rights of citizens to choose their governments, which he now sees does not continue with the same clarity.
“Since when have we seen an open debate and accommodation of competing interests in the work of Congress? When in this century has there been a debate about foreign policy? Why has Congress repeatedly authorized violence, which is normally only legal in a state of war, without voting to declare war as the Constitution requires?».
The US foreign policy politician, long a champion of the US vision at the time, and ambassador to the Soviet Union, concludes his text with a frank outburst:
"My God, what happened to my country?"
Source https://in.gr
Picture https://mediamax.am/
