The Enemy of My Enemy May Still Be My Enemy - Admission/Application Essay Example

The Enemy of My Enemy May Still Be My Enemy My grandfather's favorite football team was the Dallas Cowboys and anybody that was playing the Washington Redskins. The enemy of the enemy always has a magnetically obscene attraction. In sports they are called spoilers. In politics it's called cutthroat. In international affairs it's antiseptically called forming an alliance. The proverb states, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". The opportunity to weaken our competition through no effort of our own is an ages old tactic that creates betrayal, suspicion, and very strange bedfellows.

A common enemy can easily make its way to the top of the priority list as all other attributes and considerations are cast aside. When World War II started, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill allied themselves closely to Stalin, though they were well aware he had murdered and imprisoned millions of people long before Hitler exterminated his first Jew (Margolis). Yet in the oddly ethical equation called mass murder, only Hitler was guilty. In the machinery of killing, Stalin was far more adept than Hitler was.

Yet, Roosevelt would refer to him lovingly as "Uncle Joe." Strange bedfellows indeed. After the war, our "friends" became our bitter rivals for the next 6 decades and remain so today.Still stranger factions that are sleeping together can be found in some ultra extremist groups. On a normal day it would be difficult to imagine the Ku Klux Klan and anti-Christians working together. However, in 1985 200 Klansmen donated cash and support to Louis Farrakhan after their leader, Tom Metzger, heard a speech from the Nation of Islam leader in Los Angeles (Lee).

Art Jones, a neo-Nazi militant from Chicago explained, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I salute Louis Farrakhan and anyone else who stands up against the Jews" (Lee). The bond of hatred had kindled a friendship. These "friends" are as weak as weak as water and are only a temporary convenience. Given too much credence they can sabotage your own credibility. The United States supported the mujahideen in Afghanistan against our old friends, now rivals, the Russians. Beginning in 1985, the CIA supplied the mujahideen rebels with C4 plastic explosives, long-range sniper rifles, mortars, anti-tank missiles, and other equipment (Gasper).

In fighting our common enemy we armed what would later become Al-Quida (Gasper). We underestimated the folly in the ages old proverb. We were not using them to defeat our enemy the Russians, they were using us to defeat their enemy and betray their supposed 'friend'.The enemy of your enemy is not your friend. They are just another warring faction. Friendship requires respect, common bonds, history, and understanding. The convenience of a quick tactical advantage gained by using your enemy's enemy for your own ends is absurd.

It may give you an edge. It may weaken your opponent. But it is no sign of friendship and those that place any value on such a relationship is doomed to forever fight the curse of gaining a new enemy while defeating another. Works CitedGasper, Phil. "Afghanistan, the CIA, bin Laden." International Socialist Review (2001). 18 Jan. 2007 .Lee, Martin A. "Strange Bedfellows." Intelligence Report. 2001. Southern Poverty Law Center. 18 Jan. 2007 .Margolis, Eric. "Stalin and the Ukranian Massacre." .

Catholic Apologetics International. 18 Jan. 2007 .