|
Zonie63 -> RE: Foreign Policy -- The Complicated Road Ahead (9/16/2014 9:12:47 AM)
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: tweakabelle
quote:
ORIGINAL: Zonie63
quote:
ORIGINAL: tweakabelle
How many disasters will it take before the Neanderthal neo-con thugs realise that their 'policies' are not only proven failures in the past but also are doomed to failure in the present and future too? Can't they grasp that the goal is not just winning on the ground in a military sense, but winning the peace that follows military engagements? How many Iraqs must occur before these morons accept the most basic and obvious concept that we are dealing with a political not a religious problem and that the only possible viable solution must be a political one?
I've encountered the kind of mentality you describe most of my life. It's even been parodied in popular culture, such as the characters "Frank Burns" or "Colonel Flagg" from M*A*S*H. Of course, I also keep in mind many of the other policies supported by neo-cons and the kinds of bedfellows they've had around the world, making it clear that their so-called desire to protect America is completely false and disingenuous. Remember, these are the same people who threaten to run off to foreign shores over taxes, so most neo-cons in America have the character and backbone of weaselly mafiosi. They think they can just "muscle" these people or "make hits," as if geopolitics is nothing more than a gang war to them.
If it's any consolation I think every country has their own variation on the neo-con theme. The Brits have their Colonel Blimp types. We have more than our fair share of rednecks here - even the PM here would be quite at home at a Tea Party Convention. Such people have never enjoyed a reputation for possessing vision that extends further than the end of their noses.
They all share the same jingoistic nationalism or ultra nationalism, the same nostalgia for a past that never was, the same simplistic 'good vs evil' rhetoric, the same racism lurking just below the surface, the same very limited and self serving view of history and the same ruthless perpetual pursuit of a dollar, no matter the social cost or the costs to others. Your description of them as "weaselly mafiosi' is apt. They're always happy to rush to war but careful to send only other people's kids off to get killed for the neo-cons' dangerous delusions.
It would be nice if there was some place we could send them all and they could swap and share their dangerous delusions among themselves, well away from the rest of us and unable to cause the rest of us any further bother. Antarctica springs to mind as a suitable place .......
I can understand that they desire to keep what they have and preserve the high standard of living that we've maintained (but are starting to lose). Essentially, their position is "it doesn't matter how we got to this position of wealth, luxury, and ease - we aim to keep it by any means necessary." All the jingoism and patriotism is just bunkum for the masses.
Another problem with foreign policy is that public support for it also hinges on domestic policies and whether the home folks are happy and well taken care of. People may be worried more about the threat of being laid off or foreclosed on, than they are about any abstract "threats" on the other side of the planet. They might watch it on TV and pretend it's a football game, cheering for "our" side.
And there may very well be "threats" out there. We've been sitting on top of an empire for quite a long time now, and we can sense it starting to teeter a bit. Our position may very well become more and more precarious in the years to come, but the thing that really poisons our political culture is this illusion that there's some "higher purpose" to it all, like "Freedom, Justice, and the American Way." It's really just "Manifest Destiny" in another form, yet some people are just too blind to see it. They truly see themselves as white knights in shining armor out to save the world from itself.
|
|
|
|
