When you are up to your ass in alligators, the original brainchild idea to drain the swamp no longer seems so brilliant. What does this old business maxim have to do with Taiwan's vibrant democracy and the US' strategic plans for it and the world? Please follow.
The US' founding principles support the ideal of democracy for itself and other nations. This is supposedly one of the reasons why the US entered Iraq -- to free that nation of its president Saddam Hussein.
Keep this ideal in mind as we look back over the past seven years and the long-term situation for Taiwan. For Americans who have lived in Taiwan for more than that time, the one droning and constant complaint and fear expressed by the US State Department has been that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will announce the de facto reality that Taiwan is a viable democratic nation and as such belongs to no one. Supposedly, the announcement of this de facto reality will upset the delicate balance of the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait.
Meanwhile, everyone else has been tipping the scales this way and that. China has ignored the "status quo," and continues to pile up missiles aimed at Taiwan, but Taiwan is the only one to merit chastisement.
Perspective Point One: From Chen's first inauguration, the US State Department has let it be known that it does not want Chen to publicly acknowledge that Taiwan is a viable democratic nation. Has Chen done so? Has the sky fallen on Chicken Little? No, yet for seven years -- despite the fact that Chen has said nothing in this regard -- the US State Department has droned on and on like a broken record.
Perspective Point Two: What has happened in these past seven years? Well, the US went to war in Iraq to destroy its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and make the world safe for democracy. You can judge for yourself how successful that plan was and whether WMDs were found. China has continued to increase its military capabilities to threaten Taiwan's democracy. The US has sanctioned China's becoming the manufacturing center and polluter of the world and supports the anti-democratic dictatorship that governs it. The US dollar has fallen way behind the euro.
Perspective Point Three: Some will counter that the reason the US is worried about Chen's actions is because the US has a grand strategy for the world and democracy and any statements or actions by Chen would upset that plan or its timing.
This bears examination. Does the US have valid strategic plans? And what is their success ratio? For example, can anyone explain what the US' strategy was to protect New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, and then during Hurricane Katrina, and finally after Hurricane Katrina? Were any of these successful?
Let us turn to Iraq. What was the basis for the US' grand strategy as it went in to root out WMD? While the initial military victory was swift, what was the grand strategy for peaceful rule after the initial military victory?
When you are up to your ass in alligators....
What is the US' grand strategy for engaging China? China's military is growing more powerful. The US is being deluged with poisonous, defective products from the Chinese manufacturing monster the US created. The US is greatly in debt to China. China has not really helped the US vis-a-vis North Korea. China continues to violate human rights and in many ways dictate US foreign policy. Is this plan working?
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