Minoru Mochizuki writes:
I asked: Why does US act as a sort of a judge? Alan answered: > Why, you ask? I think each nation decides its own foreign policy, and is forced to make judgments on many things, including their opinion of where the fault lies in conflicts. Alan's answer is useless to me. I still wonder: who is forcing US, if someone is forcing as Alan seems to be suggesting, to make a judgment on whether US should side with Israel (to give a green light to Israel for its air raids on Gaza). If US is making a decision for its own benefits, what kind of benefits US is seeking? No, no one is forcing the US to make any judgment. I meant "forced" in the sense that the turn of events had forced the US to make a judgment about their own foreign policy in regard to the conflict. The US decides its own foreign policy and must react to events that are critical to our national interest. As to what kind of benefits there might be from such a judgment, I cannot say for sure. But presumably reiterating support for a staunch ally acting in their own self-defense carries future benefits in maintaining the strength of the alliance. Similarly, if Japan were to take some sort of military action in her own self-defense in the future, the US would again need to make a judgment about whether or not the action was justified. Or, is it making a moral judgment? Why does it feel that it has to make a moral judgment? I do not believe moral judgments have much to do with foreign policy. The crafting of foreign policy may often be based more on political expediency than moral judgments. I know that most politicians want to believe or want their constituents to believe that they are taking the "moral high road" when crafting policy, but realpolitik tends to prevail. Why not let the international community, such as UN, to make a moral judgment? Fine, the UN can make all the moral judgments they want. The US will still craft its own foreign policy to serve its own national interests. If these two judgments and interests coincide, then fine. However, I do not believe that the US will cede to the UN the right to forge its own foreign policy any time soon. But you are certainly welcome to offer your own suggestions and opinions about US foreign policy. Perhaps someone will listen to you. Regards, Alan Siegrist Orinda, CA, USA --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Persons posting messages to not_honyaku assume all responsibility for their messages. The list owner does not review messages, and accepts no responsibility for the content of messages posted. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
