In the past week, we’ve seen: a Republican lawmaker vote against a resolution condemning antisemitism; Iran, once again, threaten revenge for the killing of an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) leader; and an increasing sense that certain members of the Republican party share more of their foreign policy attitude with The Squad than with the American electorate. So, let’s dive right in. Nearly Everyone Condemns Antisemitism Last week the House of Representatives advanced a resolution condemning antisemitism. The resolution comes in the wake of the recent Anti-Defamation League (ADL) annual audit of antisemitism which found 2021 to have been the worst year on record (to read more on this topic,
checkout this recent op-ed from a CUFI staffer). While we’re not necessarily huge fans of resolutions, they have their place, and it was appropriate for the House to advance the aforementioned item, which includes a call for “elected officials to condemn and combat any and all denials and distortions of the Holocaust and to promote Holocaust and antisemitism education;” among other similarly important sentiments. Despite
how non-controversial the resolution was, Rep. Thomas Massie – who never misses an opportunity to embarrass his district – was the lone “no” vote on the resolution. We’re not going to bother dignifying his explanatory tweet with a response. Rep. Massie is unfit to serve fries at McDonalds let alone serve in the U.S. Congress (apologies for any offense to McDonalds, we actually think your fries are pretty amazing…). The wayward Kentucky Congressman appears to assume that no one will notice his appalling record in Congress. He’s wrong, and the abomination that is his voting record will eventually end his tenure in Washington. Another Terrorist’s Arrival in the Afterlife is Hastened On Sunday, Col. Sayad Khodai of the IRGC’s Quds Force was killed when two individuals on a motorcycle shot him in his vehicle in Tehran. No civilians were injured, and no country or entity has taken responsibility. We do not revel in the deaths of even the most evil men – including Khodai. However, the Quds Force is Iran’s foreign terrorist arm. They are responsible for ensuring Hezbollah, Hamas and others have weapons and direction aimed at killing innocent people. So, while we won’t relish Khodai’s demise, we won’t mourn him either. He made a choice and now he’s gone. The message associated with Khodai’s death is simple: the free world can get to the purveyors of death and destruction, even deep inside enemy territory. Iran, predictably, has vowed to avenge the killing. A wiser course may be to abandon their global terror campaign, but we aren’t going to hold our breath. Until the people of Iran take their country back from the evil men who sit in their palatial estates in Tehran, those concerned with preserving freedom will be forced to act against those who deal in death. It isn’t pretty, but it is necessary. Isolationism Rearing its Ugly Head Increasingly, there is an element of the Republican party that is distancing itself from the concept of American exceptionalism. No, we’re not talking about nuanced and reasonable debates about America’s military role in the world or concepts of nation building. Rather, the isolationist wing of the GOP is going far further than arguing against conflicts like the ones we saw in Iraq and Afghanistan – they want to withdraw from the world, and let the Russians, Iranians, Chinese, and all the other forces of
evil have their way with the planet. Some think it would be nice to return to the 19th century when the oceans around us served as a mote for Fortress America. We won’t get into whether or not that was ever really the case (War of 1812 anyone?), but it certainly isn’t the case today. If one didn’t grasp that after the Cold War, they had ample opportunity to learn it after 9/11. But in Washington, memories are nothing if not short. The simple truth is that the most cost-effective way to protect the United States from being attacked, bullied or being compelled to send troops into battle is to arm and enable our allies to fight the barbarians at their gates (so they never come to our gates). U.S. support for Israel exemplifies this. Isolationists should abandon the delusion that the U.S. can sequester ourselves from the rest of the world. Despite the isolationists’ almost impressive contortion of the concept, a realist approach to foreign policy sees the world for what it is: economically interconnected and far smaller than it once was. Empower allies, project power and maximize homeland defense, and we may just be able to avoid a fight. Abandon our allies, project weakness and gut our homeland defense and we invite conflict. Such has been true for millennia and no amount of intellectual acrobatics will change it. Notice that in the above we said nothing about morality despite the fact that the Judeo-Christian worldview remains our cornerstone or that our existence as an organization is an exercise of our faith. We understand that one needs to speak
the language of those they are trying to convince, and isolationists take a sociopathic pride in being amoral. So, isolationists, see if you can wrap your heads around this one: standing with Israel is in the U.S. national security interests because Israel fights our shared enemies and wins. Enabling Israel to achieve that goal has a relatively small financial cost, and it’s nothing like the costs we would suffer – in blood and treasure – if we allow evil regimes to increase in strength. If isolationists have their way, we’ll save a few dollars today only to suffer immense consequences tomorrow.
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