a foreign policy of fools

That's the title of this piece by Doug Bandow, his first of hopefully many columns to come at antiwar.com. It's long but worth reading; I'll just quote the conclusion.

Washington waves its sword at Iran. Officials mull putting troops in Sudan. The U.S. mumbles threats against North Korea. Ambiguous warnings are made to China over Taiwan. The military constructs permanent bases in Iraq while administration officials promise eventual withdrawal. The vice president tells Russia how to run its affairs. Washington orders Mexico's president to block his administration's own legislation to decriminalize drugs. American officials seek to organize Latin American states against the pathetic crackpot Hugo Chavez. Washington fusses over the results of the latest Ukrainian elections. Nowhere in the world does a hair go unnumbered by an American policymaker nor a sparrow fall without a lecture from an American official.

This is a foreign policy of fools. It is expensive and dangerous. And it will continue until the American people displace the American elite in making foreign policy.