Re: The Assault on Reason

On Thu, 24 May 2007 01:31:48 -0500, Matthew Scott
<scottm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Islander wrote:

Matthew Scott wrote:
I strongly suspect that still to come is the rejection of anything
remotely connected with the U.S. It won't be long before Venezuela and
Mexico, maybe even Canada, certainly the Middle-East, cut off oil
exports to the U.S. Charitable donations, government aid,
trans-national companies; all will told to pack up and go home. The
currently hostile U.N. will become more openly antagonistic. This
attitude has been building for much, much longer than the past five or
six years. We're in for some very interesting times.

I agree that this has been building for a long time and that the last
six years are just the icing on the cake. Bachevich in "The New
American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War" makes a good case
for how we have come to rely on militancy rather than alternative
approaches to our international affairs. This tenancy helps to paint us
as the bully. Even in Europe, our efforts to safeguard the world from
the Soviet threat allowed the European countries to minimize their
military spending while our military came to dominate the region. They
became dependent on us and it could be expected that this would produce
some resentment, especially when that power is used to ride roughshod
over many other issues. When we decided to invade Iraq, that resentment
bubbled to the surface as many countries started to wonder what the
impact of a new policy of preemptive war might mean. Our early signal
to the nations in Europe that they would not participate in the
production of Iraqi oil if they did not become part of the coalition was
also a clear signal of our intent to use militarism to increase our
economic power.

This is really an interesting subject for thought and discussion. While
ordinarily I poo-poo Buchanan and other strict isolationists, the
concerns you mention are valid, and the cost/benefit ratios of the
sacrifices demanded by the leadership position are increasingly brought
into question, especially considering the hostility and resentment felt
by recipients of our "largesse". I'm coming closer and closer to the
conclusion that it's probably time for the U.S. to draw in its horns a
little and let the rest of the world, particularly Europe and the EU,
stew in their own juices for a while. I'm also sure that that will never
happen -- TV shows films of starving orphans too often.

I'm afraid that too many senior officials, military, civilian, and
governmental, spent so many years "fighting" the Cold War that they
don't know how to stop and are desperately searching for a new "axis of
evil" to combat. Much of the schizophrenic behavior of the U.S. over the
past fifteen years has been due to the "withdrawal symptoms" caused by
the sudden collapse and disappearance of our greatest enemy. Habit
patterns are hard to change. The largest portion of our population was
shielded from knowledge of the majority of the effort that went into the
Cold War. In retrospect, I'm not sure that this was a wise course to
take. But who knows?

That new "axis of evil" has been found -- surely you recognize the
amorphous "war on terror" as providing even more gist for U.S.
intervention around the globe than the Cold War?

The enemy in the Cold War was communism. Now it is Muslim
fundamentalism. Which, given the Muslim population of the world
and the fact the very fact of being Muslim seems to be in and
of itself a cause for great alarm, means this will be a robust
and long lasting venture. Communism collapsed of its own weight
but Muslims are not going to convert or go away.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The Assault on Reason
    ... Bachevich in "The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War" makes a good case for how we have come to rely on militancy rather than alternative approaches to our international affairs. ... Even in Europe, our efforts to safeguard the world from the Soviet threat allowed the European countries to minimize their military spending while our military came to dominate the region. ... Our early signal to the nations in Europe that they would not participate in the production of Iraqi oil if they did not become part of the coalition was also a clear signal of our intent to use militarism to increase our economic power. ... I'm afraid that too many senior officials, military, civilian, and governmental, spent so many years "fighting" the Cold War that they don't know how to stop and are desperately searching for a new "axis of evil" to combat. ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Fatally Flawed: The 9/11 Commission Report
    ... the Boeing Jets did not ht the World Trade Centre that we saw live on TV ... this death and destruction has been inflicted upon the Muslim world, ... and Muslims everywhere are the target of a new cold war with Islam ... The Iraq war alone is expected to cost the U.S. between one and two ...
    (soc.culture.malaysia)
  • Re: "The 9/11 Commission Report"
    ... this death and destruction has been inflicted upon the Muslim world, ... and Muslims everywhere are the target of a new cold war with Islam ... The Iraq war alone is expected to cost the U.S. between one and two ...
    (talk.politics.mideast)
  • Re: OT: Canada Agrees to be Missile Target
    ... there were certainly problems (e.g. the slavery as encouraged by the ... Europe exported and encouraged severe damage against other ... Unlike France, at least the responsible leaders in the UK are ... The French instigated 'cold war' against the US shows ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: OT: A reply
    ... Europe that the Soviets wouldn't have won the cold war? ... actually lived in Russia? ...
    (rec.gambling.poker)