Can't stay away from that "jewish" conspiracy thing can you? On Sep 9, 2:31 pm, plainolamerican <[email protected]> wrote: > As Richard Perle and David Frum, co-authors of the agitprop classic An > End to Evil, put it, “There is no middle way for Americans: It is > victory or holocaust.” > ---- > so, jews like Richard "The Prince of Darkness" Perle and David Frum do > what neocons do best ... push the USA into war with their enemies ... > it's how they operate ... very much like parasites > > On Sep 9, 1:12 pm, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > An End to EmpireThe Cold War and Long War are overit’s time to return to > > reality.By Andrew Bacevich | September 7, 2011The tide of war is receding. > > … It is time to focus on nation building here at home.-- President Obama, > > June 22 > > Ideology makes people stupid. Employing ideology as the basis for policy is > > a recipe for disaster. Surviving in a complex, uncertain environment > > requires flexibility, pragmatism, and perhaps above all self-awareness. > > That’s true if you’re in the business of making cars or selling donuts. > > It’s truer still for those whose business is statecraft. > > When the Cold War ended 20 years ago, Americans chose to view the outcome > > through the lens of ideology. We congratulated ourselves on winning an > > unqualified victory, to which we attributed transcendent significance. The > > outcome had ostensibly rendered a great historical judgment, testifying to > > the manifest superiority of democratic capitalismthat is, to the American > > way of doing things. The universal embrace of liberal values, democratic > > politics, and market economics seemed sure to follow, sealing our triumph > > and extending the American Century for centuries to come. > > In Washington, such expectations qualified as advanced thinking, finding > > expression in the expansive claims that became a hallmark of the 1990s. “We > > stand tall. We see further into the future.” Thus did Madeleine Albright > > elaborate on the attributes accruing to the world’s “indispensable nation.” > > Meanwhile, her boss Bill Clinton was wagging his finger at China. Beijing > > needed to align itself with the “right side of history,” the president > > counseled, which meant that the Chinese should take their cues from America. > > Expanding on or embroidering these themes got your books on bestseller > > lists, your columns in all the best newspapers, and your smiling face on > > the Sunday talk shows. My favorite artifact of this era remains theNew York > > Times Magazinedated March 28, 1999. The cover story excerptedThe Lexus and > > the Olive Tree,Tom Friedman’s just-released paean to > > globalization-as-Americanization. The cover itself purported to illustrate > > “What the World Needs Now.” Alongside a photograph of a clenched fist > > adorned with the Stars and Stripes in brilliant red, white, and blue > > appeared this text: “For globalism to work, America can’t be afraid to act > > like the almighty superpower that it is.” > > That globalization was transforming the world into a global village had > > become self-evident, with the United States serving as lord mayor, guidance > > counselor, and purveyor of entertainments. More importantly still, America > > occupied the office of police chief. So we wished to believe. > > A mere decade after the end of the Cold War had delivered history to a neat > > and satisfying conclusion the 9/11 attacks occurred. Along with horror and > > heartbreak came humiliation. How could 19 thugs armed with nothing more > > than box cutters have caught the indispensable nation so completely > > off-guard? Many factors contributed to the United States being surprised. > > Prominent among them was the self-congratulatory mindset to which > > Washington had succumbed during the 1990s, manifesting itself in a sense of > > privilege and dominion appropriate to an almighty superpower. Like the song > > says, “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape.” Was not America history’s > > anointed Superman? > > Remarkably, the events of September 11, 2001 served not to overturn such > > thinking, but to affirm it. Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld did not > > disagree with the claims of American prescience and prerogatives expressed > > by Clinton and Albright. Sharing in the view that the United States was > > indeed an almighty superpower, they merely wanted to assert that power more > > aggressively. After 9/11, they had little difficulty converting George W. > > Bushhitherto proponent of a humble foreign policyto their view. If the > > results achieved from winning the Cold War had turned out to be less > > conclusive than first thought, then surely one more big push would deliver > > history to its intended destination. So the ideologues in power, now > > Republicans rather than Democrats, and those cheering from the sidelines, > > neoconservative voices now ascendant, determined to pull out all the stops. > > As Richard Perle and David Frum, co-authors of the agitprop classicAn End > > to Evil,put it, “There is no middle way for Americans: It is victory or > > holocaust.” > > Yet the crusade that Perle, Frum, and their confrères so vigorously > > promoted did not unfold as expected. Launched with high expectations of > > victories won with Superman-style ease, the Global War on Terror turned out > > to be a long, hard slog and soon enough lost its luster. Over the course of > > his two terms as president, George W. Bush succeeded chiefly in running the > > United States military into the ground and the American economy off the > > rails. Along with victory or holocaust there turned out to be a third > > possibility that Perle and Frum had overlooked: exhaustion resulting from > > our own folly and malfeasance. > > With the meter still running, the enterprise launched by Bush a decade ago > > has taken the lives of over 6,000 U.S. troops, wounded many thousands more, > > and consumed trillions of dollars, while undermining America’s standing > > around the world. (There is little point in citing the vastly larger number > > of Afghans, Iraqis, and the like who have had their lives torn apartin > > Washington, that number doesn’t count). Rather than peering deep into the > > future, the United States is demonstrably unable to see even into next > > week, with major eventsthe Arab Spring being the most recent > > examplecatching Washington asleep at the switch. No longer instructing the > > Chinese on how to manage their affairs, we now routinely tap them for loans > > so that we can pay our bills. And needless to say, theNew York Timesno > > longer proclaims the United States to be an almighty superpower. Meanwhile, > > what was once advertised as a single coherent war has fragmented into > > several only vaguely related “overseas contingency operations” in locales > > as far afield as the Persian Gulf, Central Asia, and the Horn of Africa. > > Were that not enough, we’re broke and stuck with an unemployment rate above > > 9 percent.The years 1991 and 2001 are commonly treated as breakpoints, > > markers that inaugurate distinctive chapters of history, the first labeled > > “Post-Cold War,”the second “Post-9/11.”Yet there is a strong case to be > > made for amalgamating the two decades into a single period: call it the > > “era of ideological fantasy,” when U.S. self-regard and Washington’s > > confidence in its ability to remake the world in America’s image reached > > unprecedented heights. > > To survey the past 20 years from our present, much reduced vantage point is > > to be struck above all by the once cherished, now discarded illusions > > littering the landscape. Prominent among those shattered illusions are the > > following:The insistence that history has a discernible purpose, made > > manifest by the evolving American experiment that is destined to prevail > > universallyThe conviction that the United States is called upon to exercise > > “global leadership” and that our governing elites possess the capacity to > > do so effectivelyThe assurance that U.S.-promoted globalization will > > produce unprecedented wealth while simultaneously contributing to global > > peace and harmony, with the American people thereby assured of both greater > > prosperity and greater securityThe notion that a self-regulated or > > minimally regulated market produces the greatest good for the greatest > > number of citizensThe belief that America’s privileged place in the > > international order relieves the United States of any obligation to live > > within its meansThe expectation that in times of crisis, the American > > people and their leaders will selflessly unite, setting aside partisan > > differences to act in the common goodThe claim, for too long indulged by > > conservatives, that the Republican Party takes seriously the preservation > > of traditional valuesPerhaps above all, the belief that the United States, > > having mastered the art of war, can quickly and economically overcome any > > foe, high-tech precision weapons and superior professionalism offering a > > surefire recipe for victory. > > Not one of these is true. No amount of recalibration or reformulation or > > trying harder next time will make any of them true. To pretend otherwise > > serves no purpose. To escape from our era of ideological fantasy requires > > acknowledging this realityfacing the dismal consequences that 20 years of > > American arrogance and misjudgment have yielded. Seldom has a nation > > relinquished a position of advantage as quickly and recklessly as has the > > United States in just the past two decades. > > What this means for the so-called conservative movement today is this: it’s > > time to face the music, assess the damagemuch of it to be laid at the feet > > of the faux-conservative Republican Partyand begin the hard work of > > recovery and restoration. > > The most urgent priority is to staunch the hemorrhaging of American power. > > In this regard, two facts stand out. The first is the federal deficit, > > hovering around $1.6 trillion for the current fiscal year. The United > > States government borrows 40 cents for every dollar it spends. The second > > is the war for Afghanistan, nearing its tenth anniversary. There the United > > States is spending $10 billion per month in hope of pacifying a country > > with a total annual gross domestic product of perhaps $27 billion. > > Together the deficit and the Afghanistan war exemplify the chronic > > imbalances that unless > > ... > > read more »
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