The Promise

America's promise is freedom and democracy, liberty and inalienable rights. The country has always had a hard time fulfilling that promise for itself, and in recent decades, many European countries, liberated by our 18th Century example and resurrected by our military victory in World War II, have surpassed us in both freedom and democracy.

But it's not a contest, and there's no reason we can't start living up to our hype. Moreover, I propose that we make a new promise, a promise of peace. America has learned a valuable lesson in the last half century, and we could easily promise not to invade another country except in a direct effort to defend ourselves.

America could unilaterally swear to withdraw its military thrusts into other people's sovereign lands and further vow to limit our efforts to defense and consequence. We have always said that people have the right of self-determination, and it's not our business to affect that.

America is best suited for air war, and our overpowering superiority in the air should serve as a deterrent for any country that has evil intent toward us. Attack America, or support terrorist units that attack us, and we will rain hell upon your country. We will bomb all of your military installations, your government buildings and your centers of industry. If you are a civic official with a role in the attack upon us, you will die a fiery death. We promise.

We extend this promise in defense of our allies - other countries that have decided to behave responsibly toward their own citizens and the rest of the world. If you attack a democratic nation minding its own business, we will help that nation defend itself by sending our best and brightest pilots and missiles into your military units. Your soldiers and generals will die, your weapons will be silenced by our big deadly bombs.

It saddens us when dictators and corrupt governments wreak atrocities against their own citizens. When you do that sort of thing, we will stop trading with you. We may even move our navy into position to stop you from making money off your immoral pursuits and prevent you from getting the weapons and resources to conduct such unholy campaigns. We may drop bombs on your military bases to eliminate your capability to commit genocide.

Otherwise, America promises not to invade. We're not really interested in losing ground forces in someone else's civil war, and we don't really need to invade to effect regime change. We can destroy regimes that misbehave toward us or our allies with our bombs - we know that civilians and innocents get killed in these raids, and we would rather not be forced to take such action. Maintain peace and security with your neighbors, allow global trade to proceed in fair markets, and we will not bomb you, embargo you or otherwise interfere with your business.

Above all, countries of the world, know that America promises to defend itself. If we have evidence that you are preparing to attack us or our allies, we will act and we will act decisively. You will have plenty of notice - we will try diplomacy, we will try sanctions, we will do our best to warn you not to mess with us. However, if you attack America, you will experience hell on earth.

We have decided that our national security depends on nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. We understand that it may not seem fair that we have enough atomic weapons to destroy the planet, yet we are unwilling to permit other nations from obtaining nuclear capability. However, it scares us when other countries work to arm themselves with weapons of mass destruction. We didn't even like it when India got the bomb (followed closely by Pakistan), and India is a traditional ally. There are far too many nuclear weapons on the planet already, and we don't trust anyone with the capability to wreak mass destruction. Remember that America is willing to use all of its resources - military and economic - to prevent nuclear proliferation. And if you get the bomb and use it, we will kill you. We promise.

Play nice, and we will help you prosper. Eventually, we hope to live in a world of countries cooperating to nurture the environment and bring the blessings of freedom and democracy to all of the people. We respect any religion, any government, any community movement that promotes good will.

Despite our bravado, we are a nation of peace-loving people. We wish all of the people of the world love, freedom and prosperity. Don't mess with us, and live in peace. We promise.