Is Russia, China and Iran Really Enemies of America?

My father was a strong anti-Communist and I attended anti-Communist rallies with him in the 1960’s.  I remember how the enemies of America were the Russians and Cubans.  At that time I viewed every Russian as an enemy.  That was until a Russian family was introduced to our family and later became good friends.  It was hard to see them as the enemy.  They were much like our family except they had an accent that sometimes made it hard to understand them.  This family changed my whole thinking about Russians.  

I still am not a fan of communism.  Nor can I accept a totalitarian government in which the state holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life whenever necessary.  (Sort of like what is happening in America.)  Neither am I a believer in socialism.  I believe the founding fathers of America in their great experiment of freedom and liberties were on the right track. However, I have with age come to understand that those who have lived under a government different from ours may still be good people and not our enemies.   I can still have friends who are either Republican or Democrat and like them for who they are but may never understand how they can accept the progressive ideas of the liberal or the neoconservatives who are ready to bomb anyone who looks at us the wrong way.  Which brings me to how can we call a country an ally and an enemy at the same time?  If we are friends why must we spy on our friends and then lie about not spying.

Over the years I have watched the face of our enemies change.  Being born after World War II I did not experience the hatred of the German and Japanese.  However, the Cold War gave us the hated Russians, Cubans, and North Koreans along with the Red Chinese.  Our government manipulated the American people to hate these “vile enemies.”  

Actually, what happened was we were subjected to war propaganda.  The Public Relations division of the great American war machine was devoted to manipulating people's attitude toward our “enemies.”  They created the boogeyman to scare us into supporting their wars.

We built an economy on war.   The Americans were feed a constant diet of “hatred” for the enemy.  This means that the news media was part of the propaganda machine.  They were on board with the government using their media to manipulate the general public.  The media saw nothing wrong with lies, misdirection, loaded vocabulary, staged events, and fallacious demagoguery, all of which they justified/rationalized by a 'good' cause, whether patriotic or idealistic.  For the government to be effective and cultivate hatred for the enemy requires the compliance of the news media and its willingness to no longer be the watchdog of the government.  It also requires the entertainment industry to support the hatred by the type of movies made.

During the Cold War, Russians were the “bad guys”, during the Viet Nam war it was the “evil Viet Cong”   with Missing in Action and Missing in Action 2 & 3, along with Rambo.  When the War on Drugs started we had the “evil drug lords” to fight and on the big screen we have- Clear and Present Danger.  As the face of America’s enemy changed so did the antagonist in our movies.  Movies about terrorist changed when America became engaged in the Islamic Wars.  If you ever wonder who the next new face of our enemy is, just watch the movies-- they are great predictors of who America will be fighting next. 

So here is where I am today—Russia, China and Iran are our enemies.  The question is why are they our enemies?  Is it because we are financially in debt to China to the tune of $1.1 trillion dollars? Is it because we rely on the imports and cheap products from China?  Is it because we are afraid of what they have and could use against us? If so?  Why, do we borrow from our enemies?  Why, do we depend upon their products?  If they are the enemy why do we keep giving them money and technology?  

How can we say Russia is an enemy when the Russian President has lectured our President on privacy? In an interview Putin said, “. . . you can’t just listen to the phone call in Russia; you need a special [court] order.  This is how this should be done in civilized world. If it is in the framework of the law, then it’s OK. If not it is unacceptable.” Is Russia the enemy because the Russian President is telling our President he is wrong in the way he deals with collecting data on Americas’ phone call, emails, and our Internet use?  Is Russia the enemy because they refuse to hand over Edward Snowden?  Is the Russians the enemy because they have lectured our President on the way he is dealing with the Muslim issues?  I for one think our President would do well to listen to the voice of experience.  Putin has experience with the Muslim wars and understands what is happening.  Does it make him an enemy because he has offered advice?

Then there is the issue of Iran.  This is one big mess.  America gets involved with Iran and puts a puppet ruler in power but then we back away from him and he is overthrown.  Iran is the last Shia Muslim country, when Iran falls to the Sunni Muslims the entire Muslim world will be controlled by Sunnis.  The Sunnis are the jihadists that have been backed by the Muslim Brotherhood.  The same Muslim’s Putin lectured Obama about.  Are we enemies of Iran because they are supported by Russia and China?  Or, are we enemies because they are a threat to our national security?   To say that we must protect Israel from the Muslim threat means we should not been supporting any Muslim group.  However, we are supporting the Sunni faction of the Muslim Wars which will soon control all Muslims countries and will be united against Israel.  I am confused as who is the enemy of America? 

 

I have not seen a Russian, Chinese or even an Iranian sneaking around in my backyard or attacking my family, state or even America.  However, there have been Sunni terrorists who are responsible for over 70% of all terrorist acts in the world.  Here is what our support of the Sunnis has given us: in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia-9/11; in Chechnya the Boston bombers; in Libya attacks on our embassies and murder of four Americans; in Egypt the persecution of Christians and Jews; in Syria—who knows what we will pay for supporting the rebels?

Again, who are our real enemies?