Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

220 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

tinepolicetoolinoccupiedterritory,andwholesalemassacresofcivilians
oftenaccompaniedGermanandJapaneseadvancesintonewterritory.
ThedeliberateexterminationofJewish,Polish,andSovietciviliansby
Germanforcesinareasundertheircontrolhasnosignificantparallelon
theAmericanside.InneithertheAtlanticnorthePacifictheaterof
WorldWarIIdidAmericantroopsperpetrateatrocitiescomparableto
thosecommittedbySovietsoldiersduringtheiradvanceintoGermany.
Thedays-longorgy(inDecember1937)ofmurder,looting,andtorture
byJapaneseforcesthathasbeencalledtheRapeofNankinghadnopar-
allelontheAmericanside.Nor, ofcourse,didAmericansengage in
atrocitiesinanywaycomparabletotheHolocaustortoJapanesemis-
treatmentofcivilians whofellundertheRisingSun.
BothGermanandJapaneseforceskilledAmericancivilianswhenthe
opportunit~presenteditself.GermanU-boatskilledbetweenfiftyand
onehundredAmericanmerchantmarinesbeforetheformaldeclaration
ofwarYIfHitler'sV-I orV-2rocketshadbeencapableofreachingthe
UnitedStates,he certainlywouldhave usedthemfor thatpurpose.
Sixty-eightciviliansdiedintheunprovokedJapaneseattackonPearl
HarborYUnabletolaunchconventionalairstrikesagainsttheAmeri-
canmainland,theJapanesesentoffrice-paperballoons,gluedtogether
byschoolgirls,thatcarriedbombsacrossthePacificonthejetstream.
SomeexplodedintheforestsofthePacificNorthwest,settingforestfires;
onekilledfivepicnickingSundayschoolstudentsandtheirteacher. 13
InthestrugglesagainstcommunistexpansionduringtheColdWar,
theevilstheAmericans opposedwerealsoworse thantheones they
inflicted.Tensofmillionsmoreinnocentciviliansincommunistnations
weremurderedbytheirowngovernmentsinpeacetimethaneverdiedas
theresultofAmericanattemptstostopcommunism'sspread.War,even
brutalwar,wasmoremercifulthancommunistrule.
Nevertheless,theAmericanwarrecordshouldmakeusthink.An
observerwhothoughtofAmericanforeignpolicyonlyintermsofthe
commercial realismofthe Hamiltonians,thecrusadingmoralism of
Wilsoniantranscendentalistsandthesupplepacifismoftheprincipled
butslipperyJeffersonianswouldbeata loss toaccountforAmerican
ruthlessnessatwar.OnemightwelllookattheAmericanmilitaryrecord
andaskWilliamBlake'squestionin"TheTiger":"Didhewhomadethe
Lambmakethee?"
Clearlysomewayofthinkingbeyondthethreeschoolswehavesofar
reviewedmustbeatwork.Wearenotsimplya peopleofmerchants,mis-
sionaries,andconstitutionallawyers.