Biting the Hand

Did you hear the story about the sheep and the snake?

One day, a prairie fire jumped the fence heading straight for Old McDonald’s barnyard. Most of the animals had already crossed the creek to safety…all except sheep and snake.

Snake said to sheep, "Lie down, let me crawl onto your back and we can swim across to safety."

But the sheep said, "You’re a copperhead. If you get too close, you’re likely to bite me."

Snake said, "If I did that, we’d both drown."

So, sheep let the copperhead slither around his neck and started swimming across the creek. Halfway there, he felt excruciating pain as the copperhead sunk his venom-filled fangs deep into the sheep’s carotid artery.

Before he passed out, sheep said to snake, "Why’d you do that, now we’ll both drown."

Snake replied, "You knew what I was before you ever agreed to help me."

There’s a real message here for Uncle Sam and our rapidly evaporating tax surplus.

Ever since World War II, our nation has been throwing dollars around the world faster than a lonely sailor on port call. We thought we could buy a little friendship from the shadiest ladies on the block.

So why are we surprised when they turn and bite the hand that’s been feeding them?

Our most recent example is Afghanistan. No nation on earth has been providing that war-weary land more cash and food supplies than the United States. The last installment was some $119 million. Behind our backs, though, Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban elite has been carrying on an illicit affair with a temple prostitute named Osama bin Laden.

Look out, New York…those fangs are sharp.

Then there’s Egypt. Moderate Muslims to be sure. Our strong friend in the Middle East. Surely we can count on Egypt to help in our hour of need. We gave that land one billion dollars in foreign aid last year.

But wait…from the President of Egypt to the masses in the street, the only response we’ve been getting has been a single finger salute. In fact, a significant percentage of the kamikaze bombers were of either Egyptian or Saudi origin.

Speaking of Saudi Arabia…here’s a nation rolling in oil riches but poor in manpower. They had their corporate hands out to America 10 years ago when it appeared the armies of Saddam Hussein were about to invade. Our military staged Operation Desert Shield to protect the Saudis and Operation Desert Storm to liberate Kuwait.

Certainly, we could count on the Saudis to understand during our hour of need. They were honor-bound to allow US military forces the free use of our air bases to launch retaliatory strikes against Osama bin Laden. Right?

Uh…look out Washington, those fangs are sharp.

It appears that our decades of largesse have done little more than increase the Swiss bank accounts of some truly despicable little tyrants like Yassir Arafat, Boris Yeltsin and the like. By and large, the man on the street still hates America. And the only bang we’ve gotten for our buck has been the impact of a fully loaded Boeing 767.

Look out Rural Pennsylvania, those fangs are sharp.

Why do we as a nation continue to involve ourselves around the world with people who would rather see us dead? The mark of insanity is repeating the same failed policy over and over, knowing in advance it is doomed to fail.

Our founding fathers warned us about becoming involved in foreign treaties and entanglements. They knew the dangers involved. But it appears we have few students of either history or barnyard humor serving us on Capitol Hill, these days. And those huge foreign aid checks just keep on a’coming.

Look out America, those fangs are sharp.

             Return to WebToday