>From the Wall St Journal: >Joe Lieberman, Radical > Historian > By Ira Stoll. Mr. Stoll is editor of Smartertimes.com, >North American >editor of the Jerusalem Post and a contributor to OpinionJournal.com. > So you thought Al Gore's book "Earth in the Balance" >was > flaky? Check out his running mate Joseph Lieberman's > little-noticed 1970 volume on arms control and the >origins of the > Cold War, "The Scorpion and the Tarantula." It's a >masterpiece of > moral equivalency in which Mr. Lieberman draws a >parallel > between Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and the >American > Monroe Doctrine of maintaining influence in the Western >hemisphere. >The book's title comes from a quote >from > Cold War historian Louis Halle, who > contended that the Cold War "is not > fundamentally a case of the wicked >against > the virtuous. Fundamentally, it is >like the > case of the scorpion and the >tarantula in the > bottle, and we may properly feel >sorry for > both parties, caught as they are, in >a > situation of irreducible dilemma." In >the > preface to his 1970 book, Mr. >Lieberman > wrote that "this is the spirit in >which I have >recorded what my research has revealed." > The only problem is that, as most >Americans > have by now realized-and as those stuck behind the >Iron > Curtain at the time knew all too well-the Cold War >was a case > of the wicked against the virtuous. The Soviets were >the wicked > ones, depriving the Russian people and those in their >puppet >states of freedom of the press, of religion, of emigration. > Mr. Lieberman interpreted the communist talk of >international > domination as mere bluster, and he wrote that Americans >should > have known better than to take it seriously: "One of >the primary > causes of the failure to achieve international atomic >control and > the concurrent failure to prevent the cold war was the >inability of > America's statesmen and people to see through the >avalanche of > Communist rhetoric and deal with Soviet foreign policy >as > something shaped by Russia's unique history and guided >by the > Russians' conception of their national interest. In >this more > accurate light, Russia's goals are seen to be more >limited and less > in conflict with America's." > When it came to American activity in Latin America, Mr. > Lieberman sounded like a campus radical, or at least >George > McGovern. "Consistency was not one of the >characteristics that > marked America's side of the argument over the fate of >Eastern > Europe," he wrote. "While protesting the creation of a >Soviet > sphere of influence in Eastern Europe on the theory >that it would > constitute a return to the evil days of international >power politics > that has caused two world wars, the United States >nevertheless > zealously protected its own sphere of influence in the >Western > Hemisphere. From the earliest enunciation of the Monroe > Doctrine right down to the twentieth century, America >has proved > itself willing to resort to arms to keep anti-American >governments out of power in Latin America." > Has Mr. Lieberman reassessed his views, or does he >still see the > Cold War as a battle between a scorpion and a >tarantula, a war > that America shared equal guilt for starting and in >which > American calls for democracy and Soviet talk of world > domination were each merely rhetoric? After I inquired >about the > matter, the senator issued a statement that distanced >himself from > the book without totally disavowing it. > "Few of us view the world through the same lenses in >our 50s as > we did in our 20s," the senator said. "The Scorpion and >the > Tarantula was written more than 30 years ago and >certainly does > not reflect my thinking about foreign policy or our >national > security today. As the Cold War progressed, and the >actions by > the Soviet Union to subjugate the people of Eastern >Europe > intensified and the Soviet military build-up >increasingly > threatened the United States and the free world, I >became a strong > advocate of military readiness and of using our >military power > when necessary to oppose any such tyranny. My voting >record > since I have been in the Senate much more accurately >reflects my > positions than does this 30-year-old book." > Mr. Lieberman's statement is somewhat reassuring. But >rather than > admitting he was wrong at the time he wrote the book, >he tries to > explain it by suggesting that the Soviets somehow >worsened their > behavior after 1970. In fact, the crushing of the >Prague Spring, > the construction of the Berlin Wall and Stalin's forced >collectivization campaign all happened before Mr. >Lieberman > wrote his book. The Soviet Union threatened the free >world from > the very inception of that totalitarian state in a coup >by a group > of Bolshevik thugs, not as a result of some post-1970 >increase in > aggressiveness imagined by Mr. Lieberman. > The Cold War is over, and there are other issues to >vote on in > November. But there are still plenty of scorpions and >tarantulas > out there on the international scene. And when it comes >time to > deal with them, you get the sense that the Bush-Cheney >team, > with their cowboy boots and Reagan-era foreign policy >posse, > could flick the creepy-crawly dictators aside with a >lot less >self-doubt and moral equivocation than a Gore-Lieberman team. > Even a Gore-Lieberman team that claims to have matured > somewhat since Mr. Lieberman's days as a radical >historian of the > Cold War. > > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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