RA(NA)TIONAL U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

Playing Tug of Warfare with Our Foreign Policy

In a recent statement made last week, the U.S. State Department detailed its pledge of 115 million to the people of Syria, an amount that culminates to 385 million in humanitarian assistance when added to our previous "non-lethal" support.  Secretary of State Kerry and our State Department spokesperson staunchly declared that our purpose in this aid is to "assist the local opposition council (Syria's Opposition Coalition or SOC) and civil societies in providing essential services to extend the rule of law and enhance stability inside liberated areas of Syria" (Fact Sheet).  This diplomatic support, though honorable, pits our nation (once again) as the rope in a political tug of war, a game of war that draws on the United States to un-receivably intervene in worldly affairs while at the same time, cautiously leaning towards a strict focus on domestic affairs, especially at the rebuke of a Syrian regime that urges the U.S. to bud out of its domestic issues.  Other foreign powers like Iran and Venezuela have likewise followed Syria President Bashar Al-Assad's suit, even triggering late Venezuelan President Chavez's mocking jab at U.S foreign policy when he questioned (before his passing people), "how can any aid be non-lethal?"  This "one foot in one foot out" strategy by our U.S. government is the quintessential problem to being a global power house!

As a typical American civil servant who reads about Biden's praises of courage and leadership for SOC's president Al-Khatib in accelerating dialogue to end the distressing conflict in Syria, I cannot help but think that we are playing a very dangerous game of tug of war with U.S. diplomacy and foreign affairs that will consequently see our country's diplomatic efforts severed down the middle where we have one hand in supplementing Syria with "non-lethal" aid while the other hand, dipped in our own fickle domestic matters, crushes whatever credibility the U.S. government has maintained with the U.S. people.  Several questions come to mind: (please mind my ignorance in the allocation of funds from our treasury department and share your comments if you know more! ....) First, where is all this aid money coming from?  Since the onset of the Syrian crisis, the U.S. has pledged a total of 500 million dollars in aid and humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people, and though I fully support our urgency in mindfully tracking aid to refugees and displaced persons in Syria, don't we have a current sequester problem that demands our attention and ability to balance the budget?  A sequester in which federal workers in the public sector and in the military are being threatened to be furloughed?

I mainly write as a concerned citizen who is troubled by both the well-being of the now 1 million displaced Syrian people (State Department Fact Sheet), but also concerned with our buckling knees thrusting our money and military into biting international waters every time pressured by the international community to do more.  In an earlier statement, SOC President Al-Khatib denounced the United States as "slowly moving" to  arm the Syrians to oust Assad, a move that our U.S. government has carefully, and by my personal assessment thoughtfully, shied away from.  Al-Khatib and other members of his camp have even gone as far as to accuse the United States and other international powers of "turning a blind eye to the brutal conflict in Syria" (Fact Sheet).  I praise our government for committing to money, our efforts in working with the UN and NGOs, even in working closely with host groups like the SOC in finding a response to the crisis in Syria.  Nonetheless, I cannot help but think, "why does this game of tug of warfare seem all too familiar..." 

Citations:
(Fact Sheet)
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/03/205623.htm 
(Fact Sheet)
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/02/203962.htm