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You know, Mattis’s letter of resignation, that you quoted, when he talked about his four decades of engagement with these matters, is very telling. He represents the establishment’s perspective, that has evolved over the course of those four decades. And for anyone who says—who looks at U.S. policy over the past four decades, particularly in the Middle East, and says, “Yeah, it’s really gone well,” then I would think that they would view Mattis’s resignation as a disappointment. …………. That said, what they seem to not focus on is that the course that Mattis represented—that is to say, the continuation of U.S. wars in the Middle East that have produced nothing positive—that that supposed wisdom was not going to, and has not and would not, produce anything positive, no matter how long we persist. …………… You know, the fundamental question, it seems to me, is: Does the continuation of these wars contribute—are they politically purposeful? Do they contribute to some outcome that is either—that either advances U.S. interests or is consistent with our ostensible moral values? And the answer, of course, is no. But again, it’s not as if Secretary Mattis, this supposed font of wisdom, was offering any alternative, any course of action that would bring a rationale to our policy in the Middle East that would cause these wars to make strategic sense. Basically, he—and so much of the national security establishment—wants to continue these wars, because, the truth is, they can’t think of any alternative other than to, you know, press on. https://www.democracynow.org/2018/12/21/andrew_bacevich_on_mattis_why_we _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
