Thursday morning manifesto
There's an interesting column in this morning's Washington Post from Robert Kagan, who among other things is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He traces some of the differences between European and American attitudes towards war, and seems to suggest that Europeans are in for a letdown even if Democrats re-take the Congress:
Staying the course, win or lose
To speak of the differences in American and European attitudes towards war without examining World War I and World War II is really rather shabby of Kagan. But he manages to cram in the invasion of Panama.
Such articles from the US foreign policy establishment are a precursor of the battles that will start early in the evening of Nov. 7, as the D.C. power structure tries to assimilate the incoming heathens.
It will go something like this:
A-there is no mandate
B-even if there is a mandate, the new people (Democrats) are naive morons
C-even if the new people are smart, they can't be trusted because they're libruls
And so on.
We should be under no illusions that things will magically change on Nov. 8, despite the probable victory. We've witnessed all too clearly in recent days that the media is still in the tank and will fawn over and fight for the radical neo-cons at any opportunity.
We also know that half or more of our own party will bend to the false promise of imperial splendor, despite three and one half years of disaster. It's going to be the job of the netroots to continue the good work that has been started, and to hold Democrats' feet to the fire so that this country ultimately winds up with a sane, smart and decent foreign policy.
Our adventure in Iraq cannot be salvaged. The vapid, unreasoned and unreasonable discourse in 2002-2003 has led to a policy with no strategic, tactical nor moral underpinnings in 2006. This is not Iwo Jima, nor Omaha Beach. It is, sadly, a quagmire in the sand every bit as awful as opponents of the initial invasion had feared.
Far from making us safer, the incompetence and hubris of the Republicans has made the Middle East a more dangerous place, an astounding and infamous achievement. From their uncritical encouragement of Israeli aggression in Lebanon to the ridiculous pounding of war drums regarding Iran, the Republican administration and its enablers do us great damage on the world stage. In short, as the old playground aphorism goes, it doesn't mean much if you can't back it up. The GOP can't back anything up, in part because they have hollowed out our military to a dangerous point.
Our progressive movement will continue to be attacked for pointing out the truth, but power does not answer but to power. Luckily, a relative handful of people with internet connections can influence people and policy in ways unimagined a few short years ago.
Power is passing, rather quickly in historical terms, from a few guardians of information to the many citizens who will, hopefully, wield it for the greater good. It's an uneven process, as any glance in the direction of right wing blogs will attest, but still represents a transformative possibility in our politics that is nearly unparalleled.
We must use that power wisely, deliberately and to good effect. Dissent from our views, when informed and at least marginally reasonable, is to be encouraged within our movement. But our movement must never make the mistakes of substituting wishes for fact or using dogma in lieu of critical thinking.
The value of forgiveness should not be overlooked. We all make mistakes, and if we extend an olive branch to those who sincerely wish to do better for our country, then we will all benefit.
That is not to excuse crimes by government officials, nor to suggest a specific course of action such as impeachment. If we are serious, then let the evidence and the process, conducted in good faith, lead where it may. Grave injustices have been committed, and the answer is not hysteria nor trial by public opinion, but the rule of law.
It is our opponents who wish to summarily smear and defame people in order to cling to power, and it is their downfall.
This is a revolution, albeit a peaceful and law-abiding one. Whether we prevail on Nov. 7 or not, things will not be the same. The repugnant tactics of this administration and its lackeys in Congress have been forever exposed to a cleansing sunlight, and it will be our duty to see that Democrats follow through on their Constitutional obligations.
There will be no compromise when it comes to the rule of law and basic standards of human decency.
Staying the course, win or lose
The reasons for this prolific use of military force have to do with the nation's history -- Americans have been fighting what they considered just and moral wars since the Revolution and the Civil War. And it has to do with Americans' relative power. It is no accident that the United States began to use force more frequently after the fall of the Soviet Union.I'm relatively certain Kagan intended this as a clear-eyed warning to folks in London and Paris, but it also comes across as an argument for the status quo in Iraq.
Those who imagine that the Iraq imbroglio may change this approach could be right, but the historical record suggests otherwise. Less than six years after the defeat in Vietnam, Americans were electing Reagan on a promise to restore American military power and engage in a concerted arms race with the Soviet Union.
Even today leading Democrats who oppose the Iraq war do not oppose the idea of war itself or its utility. They're not even denouncing a defense budget approaching $500 billion per year. While Europeans mostly reject the Bush administration's phrase "the war on terror," leading Democrats embrace it and accuse the administration of not pursuing it vigorously or intelligently enough. Nor do leading Democrats reject the premise of the United States as the world's "indispensable nation" -- a notion that most Europeans find offensive at best and dangerous at worst.
To speak of the differences in American and European attitudes towards war without examining World War I and World War II is really rather shabby of Kagan. But he manages to cram in the invasion of Panama.
Such articles from the US foreign policy establishment are a precursor of the battles that will start early in the evening of Nov. 7, as the D.C. power structure tries to assimilate the incoming heathens.
It will go something like this:
A-there is no mandate
B-even if there is a mandate, the new people (Democrats) are naive morons
C-even if the new people are smart, they can't be trusted because they're libruls
And so on.
We should be under no illusions that things will magically change on Nov. 8, despite the probable victory. We've witnessed all too clearly in recent days that the media is still in the tank and will fawn over and fight for the radical neo-cons at any opportunity.
We also know that half or more of our own party will bend to the false promise of imperial splendor, despite three and one half years of disaster. It's going to be the job of the netroots to continue the good work that has been started, and to hold Democrats' feet to the fire so that this country ultimately winds up with a sane, smart and decent foreign policy.
Our adventure in Iraq cannot be salvaged. The vapid, unreasoned and unreasonable discourse in 2002-2003 has led to a policy with no strategic, tactical nor moral underpinnings in 2006. This is not Iwo Jima, nor Omaha Beach. It is, sadly, a quagmire in the sand every bit as awful as opponents of the initial invasion had feared.
Far from making us safer, the incompetence and hubris of the Republicans has made the Middle East a more dangerous place, an astounding and infamous achievement. From their uncritical encouragement of Israeli aggression in Lebanon to the ridiculous pounding of war drums regarding Iran, the Republican administration and its enablers do us great damage on the world stage. In short, as the old playground aphorism goes, it doesn't mean much if you can't back it up. The GOP can't back anything up, in part because they have hollowed out our military to a dangerous point.
Our progressive movement will continue to be attacked for pointing out the truth, but power does not answer but to power. Luckily, a relative handful of people with internet connections can influence people and policy in ways unimagined a few short years ago.
Power is passing, rather quickly in historical terms, from a few guardians of information to the many citizens who will, hopefully, wield it for the greater good. It's an uneven process, as any glance in the direction of right wing blogs will attest, but still represents a transformative possibility in our politics that is nearly unparalleled.
We must use that power wisely, deliberately and to good effect. Dissent from our views, when informed and at least marginally reasonable, is to be encouraged within our movement. But our movement must never make the mistakes of substituting wishes for fact or using dogma in lieu of critical thinking.
The value of forgiveness should not be overlooked. We all make mistakes, and if we extend an olive branch to those who sincerely wish to do better for our country, then we will all benefit.
That is not to excuse crimes by government officials, nor to suggest a specific course of action such as impeachment. If we are serious, then let the evidence and the process, conducted in good faith, lead where it may. Grave injustices have been committed, and the answer is not hysteria nor trial by public opinion, but the rule of law.
It is our opponents who wish to summarily smear and defame people in order to cling to power, and it is their downfall.
This is a revolution, albeit a peaceful and law-abiding one. Whether we prevail on Nov. 7 or not, things will not be the same. The repugnant tactics of this administration and its lackeys in Congress have been forever exposed to a cleansing sunlight, and it will be our duty to see that Democrats follow through on their Constitutional obligations.
There will be no compromise when it comes to the rule of law and basic standards of human decency.
