TEHRAN – Describing U.S. foreign policy as “incompetent”, American writer Charles Ortel tells the Tehran Times that “whoever has been in charge of America's foreign policies should hang heads in shame.”

Ortel says, “Perhaps we all should have listened far more closely to America's founders who warned, ‘beware foreign entanglements’ at a time when America was insulated by two vast oceans.”

“Under both established political parties we have not only squandered precious lives and trillions of dollars, but we have also eroded trust in the basic decency of our people by tolerating if not enabling grievous errors in our foreign policies from Baghdad, to Benghazi and more recently Kabul to pick just three cases,” notes Ortel, also an investor who is interested in lasting peace.

Following is the text of the interview:

Q: Do you expect Donald Trump to run again for president in the 2024 election? What will be its ramifications if he runs for the post?

A: Donald Trump will play a significant role in the 2022 and 2024 election season trying to eject country club globalists from the Republican Party, promoting conservative economic policies and candidates, reaching out to moderate Democrats and trying to attract support from independents.

On the one hand, Trump might relish returning to the White House as President to undo Joe Biden's already disastrous missteps and "policies". But given his age and the range of his business interests, opportunities and family obligations, he may ultimately choose to play kingmaker and decide to remain a potent power behind the throne.

Either way, Donald Trump will remain a strong force with which domestic and foreign interests must reckon.

Q: Many political observers believe Republican measures under Trump's leadership will put U.S. democracy at risk. What is your comment?

A: The United States is, in fact, a republic and not a democracy. In 2020, if we are to believe reported results, millions more voted than in any prior election, so there is scant evidence that is credible to suggest that potential voters were denied voices then.
If anything, the biggest threats to freedom inside the United States emanate from overreach by our gargantuan government that is left unchecked by captured corporate media, academia and multinational corporations who are each enthralled with unchecked, crony globalism.

Q: Don't you think the current division in the U.S. is dangerous to its future? 

A: The biggest danger inside the United States is that our education bureaucracy puts blinders on students who are, sadly, encouraged not to learn from the mistakes and triumphs seen in history inside and outside our country.
The division you speak of is a false contest, designed to distract attention from issues that affect all of us across the political spectrum. These include assaults against private-sector workers and incomes, overreach by our surveillance apparatus, and addiction to foreign meddling and military actions.

In truth, a sweeping trend that gathers force now is a rejection of both established political parties and growing belief that independents can work together, as we certainly must, to solve vexing problems at home not simply wallow in misery asking for more and more resources but never checking to see how effectively these sums are spent.

Q: How do you describe U.S. foreign policy in recent decades? Cooperative or militant? 

A: In a word, incompetent.

In 1992, the United States was the sole superpower with a national debt and annual government deficit that both were trending downward.

Q: It seems people in street don't care about U.S. foreign policy. However, who are the main foreign policy decision-makers? Hawkish politicians or lobbyists?  

A: The perpetual and vast bureaucracies in our State and Defense Departments, and in our National Security complexes seem impervious to regulation or control. Its actions are cheered on by media, academia and think tanks, and supported by the donor class who all too frequently benefit in material ways by choices to intervene and/or to stand down.

Until conflict erupts, you are correct to say that most Americans are much more preoccupied providing for their own families here at home.

Perhaps we all should have listened far more closely to America's founders who warned, ‘beware foreign entanglements’ at a time when America was insulated by two vast oceans.

Whoever has been in charge of America's foreign policies should hang heads in shame.