Well said, you are definitely from the smart side of the family. Cousin REH
----- Original Message ----- From: "Karen Watters Cole" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "devorah" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2002 3:01 PM Subject: RE: Failing to make distinctions > The US has not succeeded in instituting 'freedom and democracy' in any of > the places that it / she / they have intervened. So what is this about? > I wonder about the criteria for rationality and how they are applied. - > Devorah > > The rationality that many of these decision makers are using is the > historical examples of converting Japan to a democratic republic after > defeating it in war, freeing Europe from Nazism and self-extermination, the > rebuilding of S. Korea under similar circumstances, and last but not least > the incorporation of East Berlin back into the whole of Germany (still an > expensive, ongoing reconstruction budget demand). > This is quite persuasive, especially with Americans who have not lived > overseas or befriended foreigners to hear different perspectives or who have > made it a life's work and study to know that not everything we do from > America is interpreted with the same simple good intentions that seem > prevalent here. That gullibility factor is discouraging, and to me quite > frustrating and embarrassing. I criticize my country because I want it to > be better and smarter, not because I do not love it. > But I do not believe that today's circumstances resemble those leading up to > WW2, for which they are most often compared by Bush & Co. This more > resembles the 1914 circumstances where the actions of a few radicals > dominoed to a broader, disastrous warfare between armies ill-matched both on > the field and by strategy. Unfortunately, the tools of warfare have changed > a great deal and this both simplifies the decision for some people and makes > it more dangerous to others. > I repeat that I do not believe that the majority of Americans are solidly > behind this exercise in power, or have a lust for war. There is a state of > confusion and concern, but it hasn't taken a strong voice. Perhaps we will > not learn fast enough what we need to know and act upon now. There is a > significant generational and ideological dynamic struggling beneath the > everyday surface. But unless something unexpected and dramatic happens > between now and the end of the year, I don't expect the tide to turn against > the mythmaking and megaphones at work. > Karen Watters Cole > > >
