Blowback

I think Chalmers Johnson brings up a good point in his essay. His views bring to light an idea that is unseen to many Americans. Sometimes, Americans go into other countries and get into their business. We are always interfering in foreign policy and coming to the aid of other nations. Many times we have also tried to tell a nation how it should be run. While we feel this is a good idea, many of these countries are completely against it. They may put up with it for a while, but soon they will be fed up and might want to retaliate. Johnson argues that almost all terrorist attacks against the U.S. are brought up by "blowback." Blowback is an old CIA term that means the unintended consequences of an action. Obviously, when the U.S. put troops in Saudi Arabia, they didn't want bin Laden to attack us. However, Americans need to open their eyes and take into consideration how the native people will react to our intervention. Blowback is almost always unavoidable, but also I believe you cannot just stay out of all foreign affairs. It is important to be active in foreign policy, but the US just needs to know when and when to not interfere. To sum it all up, America should continue to help other countries, but we must find ways to be more considerate to their wishes rather than ours. This way, blowback could be significantly reduced.