Last week in Thlipsis, Miss Constitution posited that the only way out of the volatile situation in the Middle East is understanding how we got where we are regarding Israel, being honest about our role in where we are regarding Israel, and using this information with savvy and strength to find an acceptable international solution.  Israel bombing Hamas into the Stone Age or Iran using nuclear weapons and supersonic missiles to annihilate Israeli Jews (free Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea) may lead to a world out of control that will eventually suffocate all humanity.

How did we get where we are? Part of the explanation —

Buying into the notion of Manifest Destiny, under the guise of war, Theodore Roosevelt went West as head of an imperialist power (America) and took Hawaii and the Philippines, among other nations, as conquerors.  Teddy also secretly courted Japan and chose her to rule Korea and the Far East. Congress was left in the dark about his agreements with Japan.  His successor, William Howard Taft, true to his Oath of Office, pursued his policies within the bounds of the US Constitution, but so infuriated Teddy Roosevelt by honoring America’s Rule of Law that Teddy ran as a third-party Progressive thereby electing Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States.

Wilson, Miss Constitution contends, is the Mother of Our Current Travails.   He was intelligent but not savvy, subject to ego stroking, talked into thinking that America was ready for the intrigues of world politics, and led to believe he would be seen as its Caesar and Savior.  Instead, he was played like a violin by Great Britain who supported the Zionist Movement (a national home for the Jewish people) as a way to jump ahead of its rival France in splitting up World War I spoils in the Middle East. There would have been no British Balfour Declaration without the consent of Wilson.  In fact, the horror that was World War I would have ended but for the entrance of the United States.  At that moment, America could have come to her senses and returned to her adherence to Founding Principles and a time-honored national mission, but Wilson was not up to the task.  When he finally figured it out he surrendered to a fatal stroke.

From Wilson on the tribulations of the world have gotten heavier.  Two ardent Zionists – Weizmann and Sokolow – talked (in addition to Brandeis in America who persuaded Wilson) France, Italy, Japan, China and even Pope Benedict XV into the Balfour Declaration.  Then, having talked the allies into it, Great Britain suddenly withdrew the Declaration in 1939 and left millions of European Jews to die at the hands of the Nazis by refusing to let them emigrate to Palestine.  After World War II Britain abandoned its Palestinian Mandate and turned the whole question over to the United Nations. Israel was then born and Arabs were displaced as a result of the United Nation’s decision. Arab/Israeli Wars have followed in succession both as religious as well as political conflicts. The glimmer of hope that is the current Abraham Accords, by bypassing religious impossibilities and political blunders, is peace by economic alliances that can be shown to advance all Middle East societies, including a non-terrorist Palestinian society.

Are America’s hands “dirty” in all this?

It would be easy to say, “yes”, after Wilson’s decision to enter World War I, but Miss Constitution would say America’s hands are sometimes well-meaning but naive.  Following the logic of Ockham’s Razor (the simplest explanation is usually the best), American Presidents and Secretaries of State have felt compelled to justify past Presidential decisions so that it appears that America’s political positions have an inter-generational “moral” dimension that needs to be continued. World War I led to World War II and World War II led to the Korean War and then the Vietnam War and then led to War after War until we find ourselves today in an impossible position of what we do with a terrorist attack on the Israel we helped create that includes atrocities so horrible they cannot be shown to the public.

If America decided to use savvy and strength, what is an acceptable international solution to the current tribulation?

In American aviation protocols, the message says “Place your own oxygen mask on first before placing the mask on others.”  America returning to her appropriate mission and her proper place in international affairs is placing our nation’s oxygen mask on first.  America’s mission is to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.  To secure these Blessings the American military must be second to none. To secure these Blessings the American educational system must teach all Americans what the philosophical foundations of the Republic are and what constitutes the American Rule of Law.  To secure these Blessings American foreign policy must be based on what is in the best interests of our nation not other nations or global cabals. America returning to Securing the Blessings of Liberty will help in finding an acceptable solution to the current Middle East crisis as returning to our historic mission undergirds our strength.

The second step is America returning to her productive potential in every economic sphere.  America is weakened when she buys rather than produces the energy the nation needs.  America is weakened when other nations confess their desire to destroy America and our response is fawning and supplication.  America is weakened when foreign entities control our monetary policy.  Decisions regarding America’s finances belong in the halls of Congress not in international banking cartels.

The third step is America re-igniting her duty to God and awakening in her people the roots to a virtuous life required for Liberty to thrive.  When these three steps are taken, when America’s mask is on first, we can then influence tragic events through strength and attempt to help find the solutions to seemingly intractable international problems.  In the current crisis in Israel this might include:

Using trained extraction teams to help locate and free the hostages taken by Hamas.

Engaging in crisis diplomacy with Egypt to provide temporary civilian sanctuary and aid.

Acknowledging the incurable destructive nature of Radical Islam.

Finally, Miss Constitution would remind Americans what George Washington advised:  “A passionate attachment of one Nation for another produces a variety of evils. . excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side. . we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.”  America’s decisions to blindly follow what is in Great Britain’s interests has cost us dearly in the 20^th century.

Temporary alliances, military and naval strength, a God-fearing people, honest education, knowledge of historic context, and a willingness to turn the big ship of state around when on the wrong course represent the savvy and strength America needs to have a positive influence on the tribulations of the world.  The Bible says that thlipsis creates patience, character, and hope; but to obtain a rightful outcome in the current crisis, the world needs America to be honest, savvy, and strong.  We need to turn the American ship of state around as the last best hope for mankind.