Now This
Interesting week in Junta foreign policy. For six years, it's been all swords and no plowshares. Our entire foreign policy apparatus was tuned to one channel: intimidation. We were the power players, the guys who acted tough and backed up our words with fists.
But of course it was all a sham. How could it not be? The supposed 'tough guys' were chickenhawks and bully's. The Georgie-Cheney chest thumping only showed how hollow and chicken-chested they really were. True tough guys don't have to prove it by beating up on weaklings. Real bad-asses are both smart and deadly - like the US under Clinton.
Truly powerful people - and nations - don't worry about pathetic nonsense like "emboldening the enemy." True power acts in the interest of itself - and has the generosity of spirit to worry about others as well. It doesn't worry about what mood it might summon in others by doing the right thing.
But for six years, we've been too weak and simple-minded to be tough and civilized. We've been too weak to engage our 'enemies' in real diplomacy. You remember real diplomacy don't you? It was the thing we used to do before we went on the bridge-burning binge that's made us less safe in the world.
But, with the ship in flames and going down fast, Georgie finally grabbed a lifeline - Clinton's North Korea policy. By doing what he should have done six years ago - negotiating with NK instead of threatening them - we finally got them to shut down their nuclear reactor.
Mind you, they've already built a half-dozen nuclear devices. They now have for-real weapons of mass destruction that Clinton didn't let them have. It's tragic and stupid - like everything else the Junta does.
And now we're even going to talk to the Iranians. The Iranians! You know, the people with both the interest and the power to calm a lot of the violence in Iraq? The Axis of Evil member that Cheney and the NeoCons have been angling to bomb for years? Those Iranians.
And - to top it off - Georgie's going to have a Middle East Peace Conference. Of course, by refusing to invite the Arab countries that don't recognize Israel's right to exist, he's once again shut out the only people who might influence the Palestinians to compromise. If they're going to talk to Iran and North Korea, why not invite their close friends the Saudis?
It would be funny if it weren't so tragic. After six years of John Bolton spitting in the eye of nearly every country on the planet - friend and foe alike - Georgie's discovered diplomacy in his last 18 months.
His Hail Mary play is a cry for help. He must realize that his place in history is solidifying around the bottom of the heap. Even he must be able to see that he has absolutely no accomplishments. Not that he's done nothing, but everything has gone so horribly wrong.
If he can chuck it down the field with this 'diplomacy' stuff, maybe the game won't have been a shut-out. He's getting no love on the NK deal - Americans are crediting Clinton and NeoCons are outraged that he picked up the phone to begin with.
And the situation in Israel has changed since Hamas took over Gaza and Fatah was chased to the West Bank. Now Abbas is under pressure to save his movement and his skin, so he may be willing to talk.
Will the Iranians talk? Well, they've been trying to since 2002. Condo lost their fax (she says she never got ). Please.
But none of this will save the Toddler King's legacy. He's the worst.
But of course it was all a sham. How could it not be? The supposed 'tough guys' were chickenhawks and bully's. The Georgie-Cheney chest thumping only showed how hollow and chicken-chested they really were. True tough guys don't have to prove it by beating up on weaklings. Real bad-asses are both smart and deadly - like the US under Clinton.
Truly powerful people - and nations - don't worry about pathetic nonsense like "emboldening the enemy." True power acts in the interest of itself - and has the generosity of spirit to worry about others as well. It doesn't worry about what mood it might summon in others by doing the right thing.
But for six years, we've been too weak and simple-minded to be tough and civilized. We've been too weak to engage our 'enemies' in real diplomacy. You remember real diplomacy don't you? It was the thing we used to do before we went on the bridge-burning binge that's made us less safe in the world.
But, with the ship in flames and going down fast, Georgie finally grabbed a lifeline - Clinton's North Korea policy. By doing what he should have done six years ago - negotiating with NK instead of threatening them - we finally got them to shut down their nuclear reactor.
Mind you, they've already built a half-dozen nuclear devices. They now have for-real weapons of mass destruction that Clinton didn't let them have. It's tragic and stupid - like everything else the Junta does.
And now we're even going to talk to the Iranians. The Iranians! You know, the people with both the interest and the power to calm a lot of the violence in Iraq? The Axis of Evil member that Cheney and the NeoCons have been angling to bomb for years? Those Iranians.
And - to top it off - Georgie's going to have a Middle East Peace Conference. Of course, by refusing to invite the Arab countries that don't recognize Israel's right to exist, he's once again shut out the only people who might influence the Palestinians to compromise. If they're going to talk to Iran and North Korea, why not invite their close friends the Saudis?
It would be funny if it weren't so tragic. After six years of John Bolton spitting in the eye of nearly every country on the planet - friend and foe alike - Georgie's discovered diplomacy in his last 18 months.
His Hail Mary play is a cry for help. He must realize that his place in history is solidifying around the bottom of the heap. Even he must be able to see that he has absolutely no accomplishments. Not that he's done nothing, but everything has gone so horribly wrong.
If he can chuck it down the field with this 'diplomacy' stuff, maybe the game won't have been a shut-out. He's getting no love on the NK deal - Americans are crediting Clinton and NeoCons are outraged that he picked up the phone to begin with.
And the situation in Israel has changed since Hamas took over Gaza and Fatah was chased to the West Bank. Now Abbas is under pressure to save his movement and his skin, so he may be willing to talk.
Will the Iranians talk? Well, they've been trying to since 2002. Condo lost their fax (she says she never got ). Please.
But none of this will save the Toddler King's legacy. He's the worst.
posted by fiduciary at 2:56 PM
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