The U.S. rules supreme. Gotta problem with that? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Poor Ms. Rice -- her ability to detect irony is obviously very seriously impaired. Since the end of the Cold War boat-rocking, malcontents like myself have continued to ask the reasonable question: why do we continue to spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year to maintain and expand a military infrastructure that was designed to defeat an enemy that no longer exists? Well, at least now we know. The United States will no longer be the reluctant sheriff; now we will act as the self-appointed judge, jury and executioner. This proclamation sets the United States down a treacherous course. The taste for conquest has not only long since proven itself to be intoxicating, it often becomes reason unto itself for further conquest and conflict. The problem is that the more possessions a nation holds under its command, the harder it must work to maintain and defend them. This tendency to overreach has proven to be the death knell for every imperial power in history That it will prove no different for the United States is virtually pre-ordained. Peace. _____________ Youth is the first victim of war - the first fruit of peace. It takes 20 years or more of peace to make a man; it takes only 20 seconds of war to destroy him. -- King Boudewijn I, King of Belgium (1934-1993)
Interesting My brother, a Stanford grad, thinks that Condi Rice can do no wrong. Of course, I once asked him, only half-sarcastically, if Stanford ever did graduate an utter prig. He looked about as thoughtful as I ever see him look, and said, "No." Point being, Condoleeza Rice was a Stanford professor, and hence she is infallible. So whenever she speaks, that seems to be the basis of his perception of things. So we finally got into it about a few things, and I ended up giving Condi Rice the benefit of the doubt as follows: • We can examine the whole of the problem by viewing five members of the executive administration: President Bush, VP Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld. • Bush wants to avenge his father, and sees an inch of daylight in order to do this, hence he tries to take a mile. •_Cheney, a former Defense Secretary, wants to avenge himself and finally cease the nightmare voices that remind him that on his watch, the US was defeated by a petty dictator despite winning on the battlefield. (We can stop to think about oil here, if we like, but I agree with Stephanopolous that while oil is a factor, there are more important factors on the table.) • Donald Rumsfeld wants us to get into wars. Since the 1980s, he has been a fan of robot wars and all sorts of stuff. It's why the remote vehicles missing their targets is so damned embarrassing to him. He wants the US to get into a war with an unconscionable tyrant; if enough of our soldiers die horribly, he gets his robot army. Besides, he was central to our last dealings in Afghanistan; he has a few scores to settle with the Muslim world. • Condoleeza Rice is a former Stanford professor. While I don't go to the extreme of saying she can't be wrong, I do acknowledge a certain standard of excellence. I believe that the information Ms. Rice sees indicates to her that, in the abstract, warfare is necessary. At a certain intellectual level there occurs a separation of logic from human necessity. The war seems logical to her. Whether it's a good idea from the standpoint of human necessity is a question seemingly removed from her at the moment. She knows she's right, but she also knows she's trying to play neutral "scientific" party amid a sea of politics; she is, nonetheless, an appointed executive and will support her president. It is not her job to give a flying rat's behind why we've arrived at the point we're at. Her job is merely to tell us where we appear to be. • Colin Powell has been there. He, like Rice, sees certain ways to justify a war in Iraq, and ideologically perhaps believes that this showdown must happen, but it is quite obvious that the man with the best military experience is the one being given the least credibility by the executive office. Colin Powell knows warfare. It is his job. He knows the politics, the logistics, the costs, the rewards ... he knows warfare. I think it is significant that he has been the closest thing to a voice of moderation. Think of it this way: Rumsfeld and Cheney have reasons for wanting this. Bush is stupid enough to go along because he wants revenge, and Rummy and Dick are smart enough to make it seem like a good idea. Condi Rice is an informational advisor only, and is to stay out of the politics except, of course, for stumping for her president on BBC radio and elsewhere. And it is her job, as well as Colin Powell's, to make sure that Rummy, Dick, and Dubya don't shatter the American heritage and stomp our white hats in the dust. Fear of a black hat no longer has anything to do with rap. (Or, my beer-drenched two cents from last night.) thanx, Tiassa Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I see your argument Tiassa regarding Condi Rice, but, for once, find myself disagreeing with you. Granted, she's a former Stanford professor and if she was as frighteningly unaware as she at times appear, we would have to bring the entire US education system into question. I'm not prepared to do that just yet. We can also say (fairly I think) that this new policy of pre-emptive attack, even if it just looks like someone may be a threat, is one that was not on her mind prior to 11/09/02 (fighting a losing battle for the British - and more logical - way of dating things). BUT. Let's not forget her time spent in the Hoover Institute and obvious respect for the Kissinger school of realpolitik. She undoubtedly has reasons for this view and an entire philosophy that fits around it, but we have to remember where she comes from - politically. Before the election we all said at least Dubya has someone who knows where Russia is. But lets also not forget that she wasn;t that far away from suggesting bombing them! (I exaggerate, but she did want to 'get tough with Russia'). Let's not forget about China either. So she comes in a bit 'gung-ho' to begin with. If you ask me she's on the path already to the US projection of power given her obvious love of using the military you guys have paid so much to build. I think she's in the same category as Rumsfeld here. Cheney's a little more reserved - but I think the reaction from Rice and Rumsfeld is to be expected following September 11. Nope. Just don't see it that way. She's too steeped in the international political philospohy of the right not too follow the same thought patterns. Equally I don't see her rhetoric as explaining so much as justifying. And she's doing that far too well to be in any way neutral. She doesn't have a score to settle - true enough - but I've no doubt she's not just going along with this new policy, but one of the driving forces. She's talked intervention for a while and (golly!) now she gets to do it! And keep on doing it. To me that's more firghtening. Personal grudges change with the personnel. A philosophical school just goes on and on. She's the real danger. For the ohters it's personal. For her it's right. For Powell its pragmatic (but only under certain circumstances). Which leaves just one question. What does Blair get out of it?
Look at a few things she has accomplished: -Tenured professor at Stanford University - Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute on War, Revolution, and Peace - Nuclear Strategic Planner for the Joint Chiefs of Staff - Director of Soviet and East European Affairs for the National Security Council under Bush Sr. - Member of the Council of Foreign Relations - Director of the Chevron Oil Company Condoleezza's list of influential positions is quite long. The issue that bothers me is that her only major work experience outside the halls of academia and government seems to be in Big Oil. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with that. It just seems to suggest yet another potential conflict of interest for the current administration Chevron prized Condoleezza's services so highly they even named an oil tanker after her. In the summer of 2001, Taliban officials were in Houston, Texas meeting with Unocal oil company officials in an attempt to negotiate a pipeline deal. No agreement was reached. When Vice President Dick Cheney was running Halliburton, they won a multi-billion dollar contract with Chevron to build a Caspian Sea pipeline for them to use in moving oil out of the Tengiz field in Central Asia. The Taliban has now been bombed out of power and a pipeline across Afghanistan is almost certainly in the works. Now Iraq - I also believe she feels that warfare is necessary. But necessary for the reasons being paraded in front of the American public? I wonder. Peace. _____________ Youth is the first victim of war - the first fruit of peace. It takes 20 years or more of peace to make a man; it takes only 20 seconds of war to destroy him. -- King Boudewijn I, King of Belgium (1934-1993)
