Take a brief look at the map to your left. I’d like you to take particular notice to the relationship of time and distance between the counties of North Africa and the Middle East that are undergoing political turmoil and attempt to transition from autocratic governments to some of form of a democratic system (not necessarily toward becoming democratic republics). The countries of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain and to some extent Iran are all experiencing a swell and a strong expression of long repressed yearnings within their citizens for a greater chance at a life with opportunity and promise of better days.

All of these nations are ruled by autocrats who decide what is best for each citizen and who control most aspects of a person’s day-to-day life. In addition to political repression, the majority of people in these countries live below the poverty line with little to no opportunity to improve their lot in life.

In Egypt, for instance, 18% of the population and 50% of rural dwellers live below the poverty level according to the World Bank. Former International Monetary Fund chief economist and current Bloomberg News contributor calls Egypt and example of “trickle-down economics without the trickle.” Egypt is handicapped by many taxes, uncertain contract enforcement, and insufficient skilled labor. As an example, Bloomberg Businessweek.com points to how Nike buys shoes and clothing from 42 Vietnamese manufacturers that employ more than 198,000 workers, while in Egypt, there are just 5 companies that employ a mere 5,129 people to produce the same products for Nike to purchase.

In Tunisia, the economy is very closely linked to Europe. France is her biggest trading partner, along with the European Union. Tunisia has only recently become partially liberalized, but not nearly enough to meet the needs of common citizens in terms of jobs, opportunity and financial liberty.

According to Al Jazeera, the economy in Tunisia is no better:

“Violent demonstrations are extremely rare in the North African country where public dissent is not tolerated. But the protesters say they have been pushed to the brink by the high levels of unemployment in Tunisia.

The recent protests have exposed a side of Tunisia that the country has long tried to hide, like poverty in the countryside, unemployment and the lack of opportunities for the highly educated, but also and a seething resentment at the government of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the country’s president, who has ruled Tunisia since 1987.”

Libyans suffer under an average long-term sustained unemployment rate of 30%. Libya’s largest trading partner is Italy along with the EU.

By a large margin, the European Union is Syria’s largest trading partner. It is also a large trading partner for Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. From Syria Today:

In recent weeks, protesters have been demanding major changes in economic and political aspects of everyday life in Syria, including removing Emergency Law constitutional restrictions that have been in effect since 1962, lifting licensing restrictions on political parties, a cut in the personal tax rates along with an increase in public sector job wages, more freedom for the press, and efforts to reduce unemployment and corruption. Some are also calling for regime change and the removal of Assad from the presidency.

In Yemen, the main trading partners are: Japan, Saudi Arabia, China, Italy, the UK, Iran, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Thailand, Australia and the former USSR. Unemployment in Yemen is around 40%

Jordan has a 12.5% unemployment rate that has joined recently with rising prices of goods, in particular, food and fuel; and this has been a major reason for protests in Jordan regarding the government and a demand for immediate change. Jordan’s largest trading partner is Saudi, but for decades, it was by far the European Union.

With this information on the table, can anyone tell me why the United States should be spending money and putting American blood at risk in Libya, or for that matter, any other country in that region when it is clear that the economic, political and military interests in that region impact the European Union more so than they do the United States? It was Italy along with the United Arab League that pressed President Obama into establishing a no-fly zone for humanitarian reasons. It was they who got week kneed and tried to back out when the United States acted without the strong economic and political ties associated with the UAL and the EU. Was entering into yet another un-Constitutional war and committing the United States to possibly an unending commitment in blood and treasure really in the long-term interest of the United States? It’s been my impression that safeguarding “humanitarian interest” was a key reason for creating and supporting the United Nations. Humanitarian interest is also an interest best served by churches and volunteer organizations – not individual governments such as the United States.

In my view, American exceptionalism stems from a history of the United States minding it’s own business, until it is pushed to look up and pay fierce attention to those who would dare challenge her. American exceptionalism was born from a Constitution and the want to live under the rule of law that has served us well for over 230 years – and not under the dictates of a king or the whim of those in power at any given time. American exceptionalism stemmed from the invioble rights of people to live freely in pursuit of their own happiness and the promise that they had a right to keep the property they created or earned in exchange for paying for the essential government services of protection from abroad and from within by paying for a military, a judiciary and supporting both a federal government and local governments with enough power to use minimal force to execute those responsibilities delineated within the U.S. Constitution.

Being the world’s policeman and using force against another nation that has not waged war on America, be it Iraq, Afghanistan or Vietnam, is not American exceptionalism; it is just the opposite. It is common thuggery that we would not accept as proper behavior from any other nation. We’ve been in this forsaken region of the world far too long. It’s past time to bring our troops home and wage war on those forces that are wreaking havoc on our economy and way of life. The United States has enough resources and power to destroy the world or any element within it many times over – we need not fear any nation or act like a bully for any reason other than a justified retaliation to an unjust force from an enemy, domestic or foreign as proscribed by the Constitution. This last was one of the reasons a rattlesnake was chosen to decorate the Gadson Flag – if disturbed, a rattler first warns those that would threaten it. If that warning goes unheaded, it strikes with deadly, uncomproming and unsympathetic results.