Police Force? No Way.

I wasn’t even going to mention this, but then I discovered there are still people who think like this.

“I still believe we need to fight for our liberty and the liberty of others, because its in everyone’s self interest.” - http://docweasel.wordpress.com/

“I DO believe we need a strong military presence in that part of the world and I'd much rather fight on their soil rather than our own.” - http://www.myopenforum.com/forum

“I believe America should remain a dominant force in the world, and that we are number one and we need to stay number one. I do believe in government intervention when it comes to protecting its citizens. I support the war in Iraq and anywhere else that we need to be for our own good.” - http://bargainprofessor.wordpress.com

The United States should not be the world's police force. The United States is a country that esteems democracy as the only plausible, the only successful, the only acceptable form of government for the world. We believe all nations should be democracies, and any other form of government would be unjust. Other types of governments are labeled as tyrannical, dictating, and oppressive. So, it would be completely hypocritical for the United States to appoint itself the world’s police force. Who are we to shove ourselves down the throats of unwilling people everywhere? What gives us this authority? We are not a parent with the rest of the world as our children. As an independent nation with our own goals and desires, we are not capable of acting in the world’s best interest.

We do not always know what the best thing to do is. We do not always know the best way to mediate a conflict. This can be seen in our history of wars, all of which involved multitudes of deaths, military and civilian, on both sides. Also, our attempts at peace have often been similarly unsuccessful and show our incapability to act as an international police force. For example, our idea that all nations should be democracies is only accepted when it goes our way. We wanted democracy for Palestine, but not when the Palestinians democratically elected a party we disagree with.

We have made misjudgments in the past and will continue to do so, and we have no right to gamble with the stakes of another country. Unless the world unanimously chooses the United States to be its police force, which it hasn’t, we must not appoint ourselves as such.