Re: Among the Bourgeoisophobes
F. Marc de Piolenc forwards: Among the Bourgeoisophobes Why the Europeans and Arabs, each in their own way, hate America and Israel. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/102gwtnf.asp While it drops off into a bit of jingoism near the end, the first three quarters of this essay is spot on and expresses well the ideas I've held about Muslim terrorists for a long time. Also, it eloquently puts the lie to the notion that those terrorists attacked the WTC because they hate freedom. It may be true that they hate freedom in some narrow sense, but it misses the point: what they really hate is the godless, arrogant, materialistic, undeserved (etc. from the article) appearance communicated by the exports of our culture. It is this hatred of the perception of our culture that is misinterpreted (by shallow and jingoistic analysts on *our* side) as they just hate our freedom. Which leads me to a couple of other comments. The additional security restrictions imposed on Americans since 9/11 clearly play right into their hands. No doubt it's very satisfying to bin Laden that he's put the infidel Americans to huge additional inconvenience and substantially decreased their liberties. (Again, though, it isn't primarily liberty itself that he hates, but the cultural exports that flow from the western version of it.) Also, it isn't only the Americans and Israelis that are so regarded - other western nations are ultimately targets as well -- but the Americans and Israelis are seen as by far the most egregious examples. Or, in other words, we'll bring down Britain, Germany and the rest after we dispose of the Americans and Israelis. (Though perhaps France will escape being a target - the French seem to be born with an innate bourgeoisophobia, manifesting itself in such silliness as their government's continual attempts to prevent their language from being corrupted by English imports.) Another point well made here is the notion that American left-wing intellectuals and politicians, as well as right-wing fundamentalists and their politicians, all fall into this same boat. The left-wingers - from Chomskyites to Kennedy/Clinton/Gore liberals - think they need to protect us from our crass obsession with the pursuit of wealth and our selfishness, while the right-wingers - from Falwell and Pat Robertson to more mainstream Republicans - think we've been consumed by licentiousness and immorality and that they need to force us to go back to church. To those of us who admire all types of liberty, it shows why we need to keep sticking fingers into the eyes of both sides, or monkeywrenching, as Tim puts it. At the same time, none of this justifies many of the arrogant and inflammatory actions taken by our government which serve as irritants to the bourgeoisophobes and ultimately give them justification for their hatred and their retaliation. For example, why do we give billions of dollars every year to Israel? We get little or no benefit from it, while it antagonizes the hell out of many Arabs. - GH (preaching to the choir again) _ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx
Re: Among the Bourgeoisophobes
Frederick Kagan, a historian at the US Military Academy, argued in a talk recently that the US needs to: More than double its defense expenditures; Ignore the Europeans and other allies due to their military ineffectuality and insufficient defense budgets; Prepare for long-term US military dominance of the world; Accept that the US will have to combat enemies more or less on its own; Reduce governmental spending for non-national security services; Accept that war is never going away or diminish but evolve into unprecedented forms; Beef up HUMINT and decrease reliance upon intelligence analysis which cannot process the flood of data acquired by non-human means; Increase foreign aid to relieve the problems which lead to easy recruitment for anti-American movements; Not count on the Air Force and Navy for wars of the future -- which will not be primarily with enemies which are not defeatable by air and sea; Destroy any nation which provides a base for terrorism. Understand that ground troops are the only way to secure lasting peace; Professor Kagan said that he graduated as a Soviet specialist just as the Cold War ended and had to quickly develop a new specialty: advancing the cause of the US Army as if the survival of the United States hinged on it. The audience applauded Kagan's candor when he said I assume since all of you are Princeton graduates you work for large corporations. And large corporations do not respond well to criticism or cut-backs, in fact, they become less effective when resources are withdrawn and long-established methods are challenged. Members become fearful and even more ineffective under duress. Kagan said, what needs to be done to ineffective large organizations is to provide them with more resources and affirmation of how they have long done things. This will reassure the corporations' members that they are appreciated, will boost their morale and confidence, and increase the quality of their output. Kagan said many of the United States' foreign policy failures are traceable to the Democrats, then paused, and said, you know I mean Clinton and Clinton's holdovers in government who continue to argue for cut backs in defense spending in favor of more support for domestic programs. This is clearly wrong, Kagan said, and only fools believe the enemy is not at home.
RE: Among the Bourgeoisophobes
Can you give a cite? Peter Trei -- From: John Young[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 5:10 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Among the Bourgeoisophobes Frederick Kagan, a historian at the US Military Academy, argued in a talk recently that the US needs to: [many hawkish things deleted]
RE: Among the Bourgeoisophobes
Frederick Kagan spoke at the Princeton Club, New York City, Tuesday evening, April 9, 2002. http://www.princetonclub.com American Heritage Lecture Series -- Special Guest Frederick W. Kagan After September 11: Terrorism and the Enduring Bases of American Defense Strategy Details: Join us for a stimulating and provocative discussion as Frederick W. Kagan, Associate Professor of military history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and author of While America Sleeps: Self-Delusion, Military Weakness, and the Threat to Peace Today, examines our countrys military and defense strategies and how they contributed to the devastations of September 11. According to Professor Kagan, United States military and defense strategies of the 1990s were always wrong and must be fundamentally reoriented, not only to protect us from the obvious danger of terrorism but to strengthen our ability to respond to other, perhaps even graver, threats to our national security. (Professor Kagans talk will present his own personal views and not those of the United States military or West Point). This event is co-sponsored with the Association for the American Founding and its Legacy, an organization of CUNY faculty members created to encourage study and appreciation of the unique cultural and intellectual heritage of the United States. -
Re: Among the Bourgeoisophobes
[We can propable expect a new Operation Northwoods from Kagan, et al soon] Frederick Kagan, a historian at the US Military Academy, argued in a talk recently that the US needs to: More than double its defense expenditures; Ignore the Europeans and other allies due to their military ineffectuality and insufficient defense budgets; Prepare for long-term US military dominance of the world; ... Kagan said many of the United States' foreign policy failures are traceable to the Democrats, then paused, and said, you know I mean Clinton and Clinton's holdovers in government who continue to argue for cut backs in defense spending in favor of more support for domestic programs. This is clearly wrong, Kagan said, and only fools believe the enemy is not at home. Hush provide the worlds most secure, easy to use online applications - which solution is right for you? HushMail Secure Email http://www.hushmail.com/ HushDrive Secure Online Storage http://www.hushmail.com/hushdrive/ Hush Business - security for your Business http://www.hush.com/ Hush Enterprise - Secure Solutions for your Enterprise http://www.hush.com/ Looking for a good deal on a domain name? http://www.hush.com/partners/offers.cgi?id=domainpeople
