July 16, 2004
THE ANTI-AMERICAN RIGHT (via Danny Postel):
Neo-conservatism and the American future (Stefan Halper and Jonathan Clarke, 7/07/2004, OpenDemocracy)
At these stress-points, it appears that the combination of a crusading idealism, an assertion of the universal applicability of American values, and the willingness (indeed eagerness) to use force to back them can overwhelm the venerable “checks and balances” considered integral to the American political process. [...][T]he true legacy of the neo-conservatives may be to have revealed a systemic problem that must be addressed if the American foreign policy process is to recover its consistency and predictability. The current neo-conservative moment may be passing, like a comet that streaks through the skies at regular intervals before disappearing into space. The result, in the short- to medium-term, may be a more familiar, collegial and substantive, American foreign policy. This will provide opportunities for the United States’s allies not just to agree with American policy but to influence it for the better.
But as comets return, so will the neo-conservatives’ themes - especially the preference for unilateral military power as the option of first resort. Neo-conservatism offers a recurrently powerful ideological booster-rocket in support of America’s military pre-eminence.
It's helpful to just reverse what they see as the "problem"--they are arguing against idealism, the universality of American values, American military pre-eminence, and the use of force. In other words, they oppose the nation and its history. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 16, 2004 7:45 AM
Maybe they just see the difference between
the American Revolution and the French (or
the Bolshevik for that matter).
an assertion of the universal applicability of American values
I love hearing this criticism of the Bush administration from the left, the same folks who a moment ago were urging the third world to adopt a whole range of American values, from women's rights to minimum wage laws.
Posted by: PapayaSF at July 16, 2004 3:23 PMWe Still need that Bush commercial quoting the JFK inaugural "We will go anywhere we will bear any burden we will pay any price"
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 17, 2004 1:19 AM"The pre-war neo-con confidence about the nature and extent of Iraqi resistance; the predicted warm welcome for American forces; the United Statess capacity for peaceful reconstruction of vital infrastructure (especially electric and water services); even the expenditure of already approved project funds - all ended in bitter disappointment."
What? Maybe I've been spending too much time here, but I thought they were all rather successful. This is a black variation on the old joke about avoiding war by declaring victory and going home. Now we just declare defeat whatever happens and move straight to the "What went wrong?" workshops.
Victor Davis Hansen has written eloquently about how the demand for perfection distorts the poltical reality and is a source of much anti-American sentiment both inside and outside the States.