One of the great English "ethno-centrists" of the 19^th Century, Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called "Carry the White Man’s Burden."

From the politically correct perspective of the early 21^st Century, the poem is considered racist, sexist, jingoist and just about any other negative "ist" you can add to a word, today.

But some attitudes die hard.

In those days, there was a paternalistic attitude that somehow English morals and technology were so superior that advanced civilization required their constant intervention in the affairs of the "Third World."

Today, that attitude remains…unchanged. But America has chosen to lift the standard high…and carry the burden of western civilization.

And what has this offering of ourselves, our culture, our military force, our finances brought us to?

For that answer, all we have to do is look at yesterday’s newspaper headlines.

A US destroyer is attacked in what appears to be an Arab terrorist suicide attack. 17 dead…36 injured.

Despite intense US diplomatic efforts, the Middle East is going up in smoke. Not even rumored pay-offs of billions of dollars offered to Yassir Arafat could convince him to go along with the US-brokered peace plan.

We look back a few months to Kosovo and the intense hatred the US earned for itself by entangling ourselves in the internal affairs of another sovereign state. Eventually, many of the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo turned against us, too, when our role changed from saviors to occupiers of their war-torn land.

Let’s ask ourselves how we would feel if we had Russian or Chinese troops patrolling our streets. This would be guaranteed to create long-term hatred for our occupiers.

See how our short-term commitment in Bosnia has turned that smoldering hotbed of ethnic hatred into American colonial status. There are no plans to yank the Yanks from Bosnia, anytime soon.

Then, look to Cyprus, where UN forces have kept Turks and Greeks from cutting each other’s throats for at least 50 years…with no apparent change in heart on either side. Imagine, having troops stuck as backwater policemen for half a century with US taxpayers helping to foot the bill. Think of the humiliation we suffered in Somalia when our troops were butchered by local warlords and dragged through the dusty, bloody streets in pieces. Or our less than spectacular involvement in Haiti. Wherever our well-intentioned interventions play out, the restless natives eventually come gunning for us. And the more we profess to show "care and concern" for the underdog victims, the more we alienate the very people we claim to be helping.

The list goes on and on. Over the past eight years, the Clinton Administration has allowed our military machine to become so weak through the closing of bases, lay-offs of personnel and decommissioning of materiel that we cannot now fight a two-front war. A former reservist told Congress this week that half his fellow pilots quit the Air Force Reserves rather than risk their health by taking mandatory Anthrax shots.

While Bush and Gore spout off about the need for a strong US defense in their debates, the question of our international involvement remains beyond discussion. The candidates agree. We have every reason to be in Kosovo. The term isolationist is still a dirty word. The propagandists have done their jobs well.

And the rote reporters and army intelligence interns working in the New World Order newsrooms impose their Ted Turner "I feel your pain" company line on an unsuspecting populace.

Some people still think we can "teach the world to sing in perfect harmony" as long as we can come up with enough cash to "buy the world a Coke."

And if Coke is not their "cup of tea," tough. They’ll learn to drink Coke…and like it!

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