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How Independent Are We?
Paul Weyrich
July 3, 2000 Tomorrow is what we call Independence Day. We celebrate our
victory over the British and the birth of a New Nation. But as we begin this
new century, it might be well to ask ourselves just how independent we still
are.
First, thanks to a host of presidents and compliant Congresses over the past
half-century, we are tangled up with the United Nations and a host of other
international organizations. It is not entirely clear how much independence we
even have to defend ourselves if necessary. Do we need the UN's permission? The
merits of the Gulf War are open to debate but one thing is for sure - then-
President George Bush set a terrible precedent by seeking the okay of the UN
before we put the coalition together against Saddam.
And when it comes to energy, it is clear we are not independent at all. The
OPEC boys are laughing all the way to the bank as we approach them on bended-
knee to ask them to increase production. There was a moment, during the oil
crisis of 1973 and '74 that we might have taken the road toward independence.
President Gerald Ford isn't noted for much, but that was an initiative he tried
to take. We had the resources at the time to handle our energy needs internally
if we were willing to develop some of the sources now tied up in wilderness
areas, and if we had been willing to pursue oil shale. But instead we took the
easy road and became more and more dependent on foreign sources. Those sources
could shut this country down cold if they ever wanted to.
Meanwhile, the federal government keeps locking up not only additional oil and
gas sources, but it continues to make it increasingly difficult to mine coal as
well. There seems to be a deliberate strategy on the part of policy makers to
continue to keep us dependent.
And what of our defense? We have poured nearly $60 billion into the strategic
defense initiative. So far we have almost nothing to show it.
America right now cannot be defended. That doesn't suggest to me that we are
very independent. Strategic defense is absolutely the right way to go, but we
have not had people in charge of the project who really believed in it for a
long, long time. There may come a time very soon when the question will be
academic.
And, of course, there is the globalization of the economy. Many argue that it
is a good thing that we are all becoming so interdependent on one another. You
can scarcely name a product or appliance that is totally produced and assembled
in this country anymore. Perhaps there is, as many suggest, nothing we could
have done to stop this trend. All I know is that I felt a lot more secure
knowing that this country could produce whatever it needed to for whatever
reason whenever it wanted to. Now everything from strategic minerals to various
parts of everything from weapons to washing machines are in the hands of
someone else. And if that someone else decides for whatever reason they don't
want us to have what they possess or make, we can well be up a creek.
The more visible third party candidates, Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader, have no
chance to be elected, and many of their views don't make sense in the current
world. But they can do their nation one enormous service. They can raise this
question of independence. They can make Vice-President Al Gore and Texas
Governor George W. Bush answer some questions and face up to the issue of what
they would do about our situation if elected.
By the grace of God we have survived the presidents and policies we have had
inflicted upon us over these past decades. But we can't hide our heads in the
sand forever. It is high time we look at just how independent we really are and
if there is still time, take steps to get back down the road toward genuine
independence.
Happy Fourth of July!
Paul Weyrich is president of the FreeCongress.org
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