America's hard line may result in harder blows

The get-tough-on-crime/war-on-drugs attitude of law enforcement and politicians in the U.S. has resulted in a multi-fold increase in the prison population, composed primarily of those least able to defend themselves and not the ones bringing the drugs into the country.

By the same token, the Bush administration�s desire to put forth a tough foreign policy face will have an impact on the country. The question is, will that impact be beneficial or detrimental?

Pres. Bush has continued beating the war drums against the usual suspects�the Iraqs of the world who pose no threat to this country, although they pose serious concerns for Israel. But Bush also has upped the level of tension with Russia and China; and the Balkans are beckoning U.S. attention again.

Not yet 100 days into his presidency, Bush faces a diplomatic situation that might further strain relations with China, even as he and Chinese President Jiang Zemin have yet to meet.

A U.S. spy plane and a Chinese jet bumped each other April 1 over waters of the South China Sea, forcing the U.S. plane to land in China and the Chinese jet to crash into the sea. At Final Call press time, the 24-member U.S. crew and the plane were still in China as the diplomatic chess game was being played out for their return and hopes that China would not board the plane and get a glimpse of the advanced spy technology.

The atmosphere was already charged between the two countries with Bush�s outwardly more skeptical approach to relations with the mainland and U.S. discussions with Taiwan regarding the sale of military hardware. Also, a high-level Chinese army colonel recently defected to the U.S. and U.S. scholars recently were detained in China. Not to mention the tensions left for Bush by the Clinton administration when NATO aircraft bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three people and causing the U.S. to pay millions of dollars in reparations.

And then there�s the tension mounting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB chief who is barking about U.S. plans to build a missile defense system in space that Bush favors. Putin is calling for NATO to build a comparable defense, while declaring that an alternative is for Russia to expand its own missile capacity.

Meanwhile, Bush is claiming to take a hands-off approach in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the efforts toward peace there, while decidedly making pro-Israel overtures. While former President Clinton took a hands-on approach and the tension and violence escalated, Bush�s hands-off stance certainly will result in accelerated violence; and the presence of Ariel Sharon, viewed justifiably as a terrorist during the founding stages of the State of Israel, is not helping the situation at all. Decidedly moderate states like Egypt and Jordan are pleading with the Bush administration to resume its role as mediator. Other Arab and Muslim states are calling for support for Iraq and a lifting or breaking of the embargo against the country of Saddam Hussein.

The foreign policy waters for the United States are mildly turbulent in the wait-and-see stage of the early days of the Bush administration. The American president should walk softly and carry a stick of just solutions as he designs his foreign policy stances toward the nations of the world.

This hard, get-tough foreign policy facade being put forth, while certainly encouraged by the military industrial complex fighting for bigger budgets for more expensive weaponry, also encourages a hard, get tough response from abroad.

If the get-tough-on-crime/war-on-drug attitude led to more prisons and more prisoners, then a militaristic attitude with no call for justice likewise will lead to one thing: war.

And revolution.