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Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

In the United States we have had a long tradition of using various methods of foreign policy. From complete isolationism to being the world’s police force we’ve tried almost everything imaginable. Not all have worked and there are more than a few times where our own policy has come back years later to bite this country in the back side. However, as the most powerful free nation in the world (with even the free part starting to be debatable), we owe the rest of the world and to humanity to at least step up to the plate with at the very least dedicated leaders who can sit down with both sides and try to find common ground.

After the first and second world wars, the world knew that there needed to be a place, a common group of nations where disputes and arguments could be brought before the world for discussion and resolution. The failed League of Nations and later successfully formed United Nations should now serve as the leadership arm to the world, however it tends to be more of a place where its bark is much worse than its bite depending on how completely handcuffed the Secretary General is.

A few years ago, this nation went to war in the middle east, and regardless of how each of us may view that decision, we sent young men and women into Iraq and later Afghanistan to spread the basic formula of freedom, and when this country sends soldiers into harms way, not all come home. For every young person who gave their life on foreign soil, not one should have died in vain and for no reason. Every amount of American blood spilled should have been a seed for democracy and freedom, in nations where everyone should be allowed to have the same chance at what we Americans hold most sacred, the basic liberties afforded to us as free citizens.

When the current administration started talking to Iraq, which if we are completely honest really started because American fans of wrestling reached out to the Iraq governmental leaders to bond together over the sport they both hold dear to keep it from being removed from the Olympic games. They found common ground, something they could talk about, and standing next to each other shook hands, not seeing enemies or infidels but seeing other humans who shared just as much passion and pride as the other side.

But now Putin is rolling into the Ukraine ignoring the world and doing as he pleases, not unlike another world leader in the 1930s, while the rest of the world turns a blind eye. The current President of the United States, who spent so much time espousing hope and change, worked hard to get American troops out of Iraq, which in many opinions was beyond due, but without thinking down the road left the country to figure out things themselves. That move has left the country in a state of civil war as it is being called, with yet another fringe group moving through the country taking control of government buildings and executing soldiers of the government. While this has gone on, the United States government and namely this administration has been out playing politics. Unfortunately by the time you read this I would not be surprised if we have not seen on the national news networks a replay of the retreat and surrendering of Saigon, only this time it being in Baghdad.

Now before all the crazies start sending me emails and letters, I’m not saying that we need to walk back into these places militarily and set the table so that it suits the “oil” needs of this country, but what I am saying is we desperately need in this country leaders who can lead, leaders who can stand up and say no more, leaders who can bring people together over a common bond and find a solution to the issues that are killing innocent people and will set that portion of the world up for yet another century of unrest and tension. Maybe we as voters are being neglect in our duties, to not actually take into account what kind of leadership potential the candidates before us hold, but it seems to me that going forward it may just be the most important thing our leaders will need. And in the meantime we should all continue to pray for peace, not only at home, but around the world.

See you next week. Remember, we’re all in this together.