I commented on a statement by Brook Hines over at Johnson City Stories and everything else about how never before has there been such universal resistance to war as we have now. I pointed out the resistance most Americans felt about getting involved in WWII to refute his point. His response:
Dude! There was already a war going on. Plenty of people had died, cities were ruined and balance of power in Europe was in peril. My point was that the mobilization of anti-war sentiment is happening PRIOR to a war breaking out.
Yes there was a war on, and Americans were almost universally uninterested in getting involved. It took a devastating sneak attack and the driving will of an idealistic President to mobilize popular opinion to support America's entry into the war. As for today, this war has been ongoing for 12 years now. The first phase of the Gulf War ended not with armistace, or peace, but a cease fire, based on terms laid out by the UN to Hussein, who has since breached every one of those terms. The resumption of military action is not a new war, but a new phase of the same fight.
Brook continues:
Another thing, Gulf War Part Two, is NOT aimed at putting a stop to widespread conflict or human atrocities (as the Democratic-backed intervention in World War II was). It is about outfitting an unprecedented global empire (as outlined by William Kristol, Richard Pearle, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Jeb Bush in the Project for a New American Century mission statement which pines for "some catastrophic and catalyzing event like a new Pearl Harbor"), and jack-booting any attempts by rival nations, or free people anywhere, to do anything about it.
His link didn't lead to the mission statement, but this one does.
Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its power. But we cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership or the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental interests. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats before they become dire. The history of this century should have taught us to embrace the cause of American leadership.
I don't see anything here about "pining" for catastrophe. I see a mission statement written in 1997 which has been born out by world events, culminating in 9/11. They weren't asking for something like this; they were warning about the possibility if we continued using the politics of expedience.
Brook finishes with this statement:
That's why I would suggest that Mr. Shots Across The Bow familiarize himself with Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War which documents how Athens' corrupted democracy was brought to ruin by the hunger for empire in the conquest of Sicily.
Again with the American Empire thing. If America wanted to be an Imperial Power, there would be no United Nations today. America had just finished whipping Germany and Japan; the rest of Europe was exhausted from the war; and America had nukes. It wouldn't have been at all difficult to declare dominion over a large portion of the planet, and to make it stick for a couple hundred years. Germany would be an American protectorate, along with France, and a fair chunk of Africa as well. England would retain her independance, but would be little more than a client nation. Japan would be ours, as would large portions of the Pacific Rim. We'd leave Russia and China alone, because they would be too much trouble without any real gain. And most impotrtantly, the Middle East oil fields would be ours.
Period.
But that's not American style. After the war, we rebuilt the Axis countries, and then went back home. We didn't annex or colonize them because at heart, Americans are isolationists. We don't want an empire. What we do want is to protect our vital interests, and like it or not, oil is one of them. So is protecting our citizens and our allies from attacks with WMD carried out by thugs and madmen. 9/11 showed us we can't ignore the mosquitos like al Qaida and Iraq like we used to anymore. You don't have to have the world's largest military to slaughter on combatants; all you need is 19 men willing to die and you can murder 3000.
Posted by Rich at February 14, 2003 12:47 AM