Washington Warned Against Such Entanglements, Yet We Have Them

   As I read John Bolton's book tonight, I thought of George Washington in his farewell address, where he warned against foreign entanglements.
   "It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.
   "Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies."
    In his book, Bolton tells how he was successful in extracting the U.S. from an arms agreement with Russia, an agreement that Russia wasn't living up to, and yet the U.S. was obligated to, an agreement that had been affected by the passage of time and coming of greater technology.
   Bolton then listed a number of other treaties he thought should be done away with.
   The phrase, "foreign entanglements,"  came to my mind, and I looked up Washington's speech.
    As I read from the speech, I think I understand what Washington meant when he says, "honesty is always the best policy." He was perhaps suggesting that we always just treat our foreign-nation friends honesty and fairly, without need of contract.
   And, note how he allows for "temporary alliances." If the hour calls for a treaty, bring it on, but do not let it be long-lived.
   I also thought on how a labyrinth of agreements can be hard to keep track of, requiring a lawyer just to keep you abreast of all the things you've agreed to do. I thought of the workload and bureaucracy brought on by these foreign entanglements.
    I thought of how the day comes, when there is a need to operate in a way the alliance does not allow. Yet you cannot because you are bound by that alliance.
    And, I thought on how hard it can be to verify that the other side is fulfilling their part. I thought of the Iran nuclear deal, and the North Korea nuclear deal. Lines in the sand? Sometimes the agreements are just words in the sand. And, sand will always blow away.
    So, bless that George Washington, for giving us wise advice, advice that we should hail back to in this age when treaties and alliances are the stuff with which governments are made of. I even wonder at these entanglements in terms not just of our defense agreements, but also of our trade agreements.