What if three busloads of tourists from England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain and a bus with 45 elementary school children are hijacked in Washington DC, Wyoming, New York City, California, Florida, or any other popular vacation destination?
Who is responsible for the safe return of the foreign tourists? The intelligence services and/or military of these countries? Would the Biden administration allow armed forces from our allies to come to America to free the hostages? Or, are local and state law enforcement and federal authorities solely responsible for freeing the hostages?
Every national government and their local law enforcement organizations are responsible to free citizen hostages and visitors from other countries. No doubt, if a nation requests other nations to “consult” on the hostage situation, so be it. But to have other nations use their armed forces alongside the host country’s police and military forces, opens the proverbial Pandora’s box.
The nations whose tourists are taken hostage overseas may be the next targets of Hamas or another terrorist group.
But the above hypothetical hostage situation could be the US and its allies worst nightmare.
What if the terrorists demand that the US and its allies withdraw their military presence in the Middle East and if they do not will kill one hostage every 24 hours if naval, armed forces, special forces are not withdrawn, and all military aid is ended?
Would the Biden administration “dig in” and refuse to negotiate? If the terrorists carry out their threat and videos of dead tourists and American school children are posted on social media, would then the governments of the above referenced nations put pressure on Biden to withdraw American troops and naval vessels as well as military aid from the Middle East region? Would the American people demand the Biden administration meet the terrorists’ demands? Then what?
With American hostages still held captive by Hamas in Gaza, it is highly unlikely they will be rescued alive, especially with an Israeli invasion of Gaza “imminent.”
A noninterventionist foreign policy is not only a moral imperative, but also a practical necessity, especially in the Middle East.
A noninterventionist foreign policy and a phasing out of the welfare state would restore constitutional government in the US. Until that happens, more American citizens overseas and US troops will be killed as the warfare state takes sides in geopolitical hotspots around the globe.