4 Foreign Policy Issues Americans Should be Thankful for

On this Thanksgiving Weekend, here are some foreign policy things americans should be thankful for

I really wish people would fight for peace as much as they fight for an iPad. This article isn’t about Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales that people will show their thanks over, but rather what, as a country, the United States should really be giving thanks for during this holiday.

Here are Four foreign policy issues Americans should be thankful for

4. I am thankful for Toronto. Yes, I know this has little to do with “foreign policy”. I’m just thankful the city and its mayor is keeping the focus off of us for once. Toronto might have a hit show right now featuring a cracked out mayor, but to those who remember, this is nothing more than a reboot of what the we already had in DC.

Marion Barry, for those too young to remember, was the original crack smoking mayor. He did so, while on camera with a prostitute, and continued via a post-prison re-election as mayor. That’s right, not only did the US have a crack mayor first, but we went and re-elected him afterward.

On a side note, if Toronto, arguably one of the better cities in North America, can operate with a person like Rob Ford at the helm, then I think there is hope for the US Congress. I mean, surely, they have to be collectively better than a crack head drunk, right? OK, maybe not.

3. I am thankful for the deal with Iran. Believe it or not, the United States once thought it was a good idea for Iran to have a nuclear program… under the Shah. When Iran finally took umbrage for the US installing a puppet government, the world thought it was a bad idea. 35 years after the revolution and things just might be starting to return to normal.

The deal with Iran is a step in the right direction for all nations (even you, Israel). Let’s face it, if this deal sticks, it will be our first real bridge of diplomacy since “Neither East Nor West” was declared in Iran.

For the war pigs in Congress, it obviously isn’t enough, but when you look at a foreign policy situation where everything can go deadly wrong, baby steps are important. I think this is a huge win for Obama, for Iran, and for the people of the United States.

2. I am thankful for backing away from Israel. The world sucks, but it doesn’t have to. We live in a time where we could play peace advocate to the entire planet. Instead, we spend our resources on the military of other countries. Our military budget is roughly 48% of the world’s combined military budget and yet we still don’t feel that is enough.

I recognize Israel’s right to exist. I recognize its importance. But I also recognize it is a pain in the ass for the United States. That’s putting it mildly, of course and the POTUS has gone off the record to say as much. Before I get hate mail for being against Israel, let me tell you a story (you can still send that hate mail, I promise).

I used to date a girl we’ll call “Sam”. Sam and I would be out having fun one moment and then things would go weird. Usually it involved me going to the restroom and coming back to some guy trying to get into a fight with her. The first time this happened, I had a talk with the guy and, one way or another, the issue was resolved. I mean, how dare a guy pick on a girl like that? Not to mention she was with me? Was the guy just insane?

This happened a few times before I actually caught on to what was happening. You see, when I turned my back, Sam would go over to a guy, usually a big monster of a guy—or group of guys—and start a fight with her mouth. She would time it so I would only see the result of the guy(s) getting into her face and then have me get involved either verbally or physically to dismantle the threat. Sound familiar?

I’m not saying I hated Sam, even when I found out why people wanted to fight her, I still didn’t hate her, but I sure went to the bathroom less. Israel needs to be Israel; but we also need to promote world peace for ALL not just a few

1. I am thankful a war by proxy is no longer needed. As the Vietnam War wound down, the US realized that a direct war with a country was far too costly in American lives. This of course, is a lesson we’d forget in Iraq & Afghanistan, but I digress. So, when an ideological pissing match was to be had, we, instead, used a War by Proxy.

A true War by Proxy was an event that the US and the USSR would ping off the globe like a bad game of battle checkers. Usually, it involved ideological sides that would, with our funds or guns, kill each other in whatever piece of land they occupied. The positive side of this was US casualties were nil. We would look like monsters to the rest of the world as we used developing nations for our political—and lethal—battle grounds, but those losses would be of that host country, not us.

With technology like drones it is now possible to engage the enemy (or civilian population of another country) and eliminate them without sending US troops into battle. Of course the world still sees us as monsters, we are basically invading sovereign territories and ordering military strikes on a whim, but at least we aren’t pitting entire factions within a foreign country against each other.