Quote Originally Posted by selil View Post
The United States Navy has been involved in substantial missions to our southern neighbors with the primary goal being medical care to communities that have none or very little. The mission "Operation Comfort" is a very soft power mission, from what the LACC communities have said it is very successful. The same ships that have medical facilities are escorted by ships that could topple regimes in seconds.
Providing medical care is not building or re-building. This activity as part of diplomacy makes sense and always has. - but it should not be part of operations or an element of your combat and security strategy. "Soft Power" is for use against those who support you or want to. Soft Power is an instrument of diplomacy.

If it wasn't for the cold war Israel would never have gotten the support it got, same for the Shah of Iran, Norriega, and any of dozens of other regimes.
If you want to throw in every member of NATO, as well, I'd absolutely agree with you.