It's almost impossible to keep sane in the US at this point. Whatever faults
the Clinton and earlier administrations had, the dismantling of this country is
proceeding at unprecedented speeds. Not only are we relatively hated around the
world; we're internally torn apart, with poverty, prisons, lack of health care,
etc. all on the increase. It's absolutely shameful and we don't seem to be able
to do anything about it - without the institution of a speaker for the
opposition etc., the Democrats do nothing but tread water. Bush can - literally
- hardly put a sentence together, and he's never called on this. The country
isn't behind him at this point - he's shockingly low in the polls for an
incumbent - and it makes no difference at all - for one thing, he's not up for
re-election. In my dreams, I'd have him tortured at Abu Gharayb, bombed out of
Iraq, sitting in New Orleans with his home gone. But these people - the rich -
are increasingly enclaved as Mike Davis and others pointed out long ago;
there's no touching them. Anyway, read on, join the despair -
- Alan
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 04:12:32 -0400
From: "Gurstein, Michael" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [stuff-it] FW: [SPAM] [PubInt] George W. Bush's suicidal statecraft
A sensible article (now that he is out of office) from Zbig...
M
-----Original Message-----
From: G.H. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: October 14, 2005 8:33 AM
To: Public Intelligence Group
Subject: [SPAM] [PubInt] George W. Bush's suicidal statecraft
George W. Bush's suicidal statecraft
By Zbigniew Brzezinski Tribune Media Services International
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2005
WASHINGTON Demagoguery
Sixty years ago, Arnold Toynbee concluded, in his monumental "A Study of
History," that the ultimate cause of imperial collapse was "suicidal
statecraft." Sadly for President George W. Bush's place in history but - much
more important - ominously for America's future, it has lately seemed as if
that adroit phrase might be applicable to the policies pursued by the United
States since the cataclysm of 9/11.
Though there have been some hints lately that the administration may be
beginning to reassess the goals, so far defined largely by slogans, of its
unsuccessful military intervention in Iraq, Bush's speech of Oct. 6 was a
throwback to the more demagogic formulations that he employed during the
presidential campaign of 2004 to justify the war that he himself started.
That war, advocated by a narrow circle of decision makers for motives still not
fully exposed, propagated publicly by demagogic rhetoric reliant on false
assertions, has turned out to be much more costly in blood and money than
anticipated.
It has precipitated worldwide criticism, while in the Middle East it has
stamped the United States as the successor to British imperialism and as a
partner of Israel in the military repression of the Arabs. Fair or not, that
perception has become widespread in the world of Islam as a whole.
More than a reformulation of U.S. goals in Iraq is now needed, however. The
persistent reluctance of the administration to confront the political
background of the terrorist menace has reinforced public sympathy among Muslims
for the terrorists.
It is a self-delusion for Americans to be told that the terrorists are
motivated mainly by an abstract "hatred of freedom" and that their acts are a
reflection of a profound cultural hostility. If that were so, Stockholm or Rio
de Janeiro would be as much at risk as New York.
Yet in addition to New Yorkers, the principal victims of serious terrorist
attacks have been Australians in Bali, Spaniards in Madrid, Israelis in Tel
Aviv, Egyptians in the Sinai and Britons in London. There is an obvious
political thread connecting these events: The targets are America's allies and
client states in the deepening U.S. military intervention in the Middle East.
Terrorists are not born but shaped by events, experiences, impressions,
hatreds, ethnic myths, historical memories, religious fanaticism and deliberate
brainwashing. They are also shaped by images of what they see on television,
and especially by their feelings of outrage at what they perceive to be a
brutalizing denigration of their religious kin's dignity by heavily armed
foreigners. An intense political hatred for America, Britain and Israel is
drawing recruits for terrorism not only from the Middle East but from as far
away as Ethiopia, Morocco, Pakistan, Indonesia and even the Caribbean.
America's ability to cope with nuclear nonproliferation has also suffered. The
contrast between the attack on the militarily weak Iraq and America's
forbearance of the nuclear-armed North Korea has strengthened the conviction of
the Iranians that their security can only be enhanced by nuclear weapons.
Moreover, the recent U.S. decision to assist India's nuclear program, driven
largely by the desire for India's support for the war in Iraq and as a hedge
against China, has made the United States look like a selective promoter of
nuclear weapons proliferation. This double standard will complicate the quest
for a constructive resolution of the Iranian nuclear problem.
Compounding U.S. political dilemmas is the degradation of America's moral
standing in the world. The country that has for decades stood tall in
opposition to political repression, torture and other violations of human
rights has been exposed as sanctioning practices that hardly qualify as respect
for human dignity.
Even more reprehensible is the fact that the shameful abuse and/or torture in
Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib was exposed not by an outraged administration but by
the U.S. news media. In response, the administration confined itself to
punishing a few low-level perpetrators; none of the top civilian and military
decision-makers in the Department of Defense and the National Security Council
who sanctioned "stress interrogations" (torture, in other words) was forced to
resign, nor to face public disgrace and prosecution. The administration's
opposition to the International Criminal Court retroactively now seems quite
self-serving.
Finally, complicating the sorry foreign policy record are war-related economic
trends, with spending on defense and security escalating dramatically. The
budgets for the Department of Defense and for the Department of Homeland
Security are now larger than the total budgets of most nations, and they are
likely to continue escalating even as the growing budget and trade deficits are
transforming America into the world's no. 1 debtor nation.
At the same time, the direct and indirect costs of the war in Iraq are
mounting, even beyond the pessimistic prognoses of the war's early opponents,
making a mockery of the administration's initial predictions. Every dollar so
committed is a dollar not spent on investment, on scientific innovation or on
education, all fundamentally relevant to America's long-term economic primacy
in a highly competitive world.
It should be a source of special concern for thoughtful Americans that even
nations known for their traditional affection for America have become openly
critical of American policy. As a result, large swathes of the world - be it
East Asia, or Europe, or Latin America - have been quietly exploring ways of
shaping closer regional associations tied less to the notions of trans-Pacific,
or trans-Atlantic, or hemispheric cooperation with the United States.
Geopolitical alienation from America could become a lasting and menacing
reality.
That trend would especially benefit America's historic ill-wishers or future
rivals. Sitting on the sidelines and sneering at America's ineptitude are
Russia and China: Russia, because it is delighted to see Muslim hostility
diverted from itself toward America, despite its own crimes in Afghanistan and
Chechnya, and is eager to entice America into an anti-Islamic alliance; China,
because it patiently follows the advice of its ancient strategic guru, Sun Tzu,
who taught that the best way to win is to let your rival defeat himself.
In a very real sense, during the last four years, the Bush team has thus been
dangerously undercutting America's seemingly secure perch on top of the global
totem pole by transforming a manageable, though serious, challenge largely of
regional origin into an international debacle.
To be sure, since America is extraordinarily powerful and rich, it can afford,
yet for a while, even a policy articulated with rhetorical excess and pursued
with historical blindness. But in the process America is likely to become
isolated in a hostile world, increasingly vulnerable to terrorist acts and less
and less able to exercise a constructive global influence.
Flaying away with a stick at a hornets' nest while loudly proclaiming "I will
stay the course" is an exercise in catastrophic leadership.
But it need not be so. A real course correction is still possible, and it could
start soon with a modest and common-sense initiative by the president to engage
the Democratic congressional leadership in a serious effort to shape a
bipartisan foreign policy for an increasingly divided and troubled nation.
In a bipartisan setting, it would be easier not only to scale down the
definition of success in Iraq but actually to get out - perhaps even as early
as next year. And the sooner the United States leaves, the sooner the Shiites,
Kurds and Sunnis will either reach a political arrangement on their own or some
combination of them will forcibly prevail.
With a foreign policy based on bipartisanship and with Iraq behind us, it would
also be easier to shape a wider regional policy that constructively focuses on
Iran and on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process while restoring the
legitimacy of America's global role.
(Zbigniew Brzezinski was national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter.
This Global Viewpoint article was distributed by Tribune Media Services
International.)
****
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