America's good deeds are overlooked elsewhere

Date posted online: Thursday, December 13, 2007
Guest Commentary by Yahya Kamalipour
By Yahya Kamalipour
"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Some simple tenets by which we all live garner too much attention, others none at all. Most people around the world just want to survive, work, raise families and live in a relative state of peace and harmony. The balance of "bad eggs" out there seems to predominate lately, and that aberration can be minimized through a well-conceived and comprehensive global plan

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America is not perceived as positively as before 9/11 by the rest of the world. In my frequent travels to other countries, I have learned that America has lost its earlier magnetism as the "land of free" or "land of opportunity." But it is incumbent of me to say America has done many good deeds which have been overlooked or buried in the ill-defined and convoluted war on terrorism.

Has it been wrong of America to give billions of well-intentioned dollars to needy countries? Has it been wrong for America to welcome migrants (including myself) from throughout the world? Has it been wrong for America to attract some of the brightest minds in the world? Obviously not, but think of the disproportionate government spending on warfare and the astonishing salaries of greedy corporate CEOs vis-à-vis money for social welfare, charitable purposes and promotion of peace.

Admittedly, I am measuring in dollars, but when a nation is oceans away from others, we aren't going to help anybody simply by wishing the best for them.

Giving money, food, clothing, services and time isn't bad, but it's not recognized favorably by the rest of the world because too often people in high places grab such aid before it can find its way to the intended recipients (the poor).

Regardless of the simplicity, complexity or ramifications of the American foreign affairs, principle must always prevail. Unfortunately, the good America does in the world is overwhelmed by the Middle East quagmire, our complicity in the Iraq war, our lack of resolve to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and too many invasions elsewhere in the name of world policeman and in quest for global domination.

We know now that from the beginning the Iraq war was not only founded on a lie, but occurred without any sustained attempt at public diplomacy and strategic communication -- the missing elements that might have prevented the war in Iraq.

If utilized, these elements can prevent America from entangling itself in yet another prolonged and disastrous war with Iran.

The reality is that very few nations of the world are solidly grounded or even highly principled at the highest levels. The mitigating element is and should be "the people." Principles for success have already been established over the centuries, in many forms, and should be reapplied in every social, political, and economic sphere. At the root of it all is the Golden Rule, and it should be the most unshakeable of principles.