recall britain's suez canal crisis - britain's powerlessness was such that it could not defend 'vital interests' without u.s. permission, circumstance led to mad, last-ditch effort to preserve shrinking influence, so-called 'suez syndrome' (convulsive invocation of power)...
now, most folks would probably say there is little parallel between above situation and current u.s. hegemony, but there may, in fact, be indications of latter's relative weakness: inability to attain goals through economic sanctions, conventional diplomatic channels, legitimate negotiations, resulting tendency towards dependence upon last resort: retreat to naked military power...
At 11:57 AM -0500 6/22/04, Carrol Cox wrote:
Kerry has really put himself out on a limb, virtually promising to widen the war without limit in order to "stay the course." I don't think the present administration has the nerve or the political muscle to do that. A DP president might.
Emphasize _might_; in general I think leftists should simply ignore the presidency and go about our proper business of doing out best to build mass movements on whatever terrain the enemy creates for us. That is, the presidency, like the Rockies for Lewis and Clark, are just part of the terrain we have to deal with.
A DP president is more likely to expand the war than a RP president, to be sure.
If the next POTUS is going to expand the war, though, won't he deploy US troops in Saudi Arabia, given the spate of terrorist attacks there which may very well escalate?
As for Iran, if the next POTUS is Kerry, won't he more likely try in Iran what worked in Yugoslavia? -- Yoshie
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