Try Reason
" There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries "
While that is a favorite Shakespeare maxim, I deeply fear that the cretin in chief's tendency to view his own particular fortune as the overriding concern of his administration's policies portends incredible danger for this country. The history he will generate seems to be driving him into ever more hazardous uses of the country's powers.
The surge that the C-i-C has substituted for the sensible, negotiated resolution of his wars abroad threatens 21,500 lives immediately, and the security, well-being and economic health of this country for the long term. His wars and his use of torture and detention without appeal, [habeas corpus] create families of new terrorists throughout the world. Will we be drawn into the unspeakable, nuclear confrontation, by his rejection of diplomacy in the interest of displaying his own idea of toughness?
Most recently, the C-i-C spoke to the country and included the country of Iran in his threats to use violence for his personal need to control.
President Bush: "Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. *****************************
And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.
Continually risking this country's security and its foreign relations has brought out a protest which we can only wish had preceded his adventuring into Iraq, and parsing out our resources in the now foundering war with Afghanistan. In WaPo, Jim Hoagland joins the chorus by pointing out how the rush to deal belligerently with Iran is creating another crisis that otherwise could be used in the interests of the U.S. and of the world.
[A] broad, sustained campaign of economic sanctions is perhaps the most effective way to bring pressure to bear on an Iranian regime that has failed to deliver on its grandiose promises of prosperity to a restive population.
But it is the Europeans and the Saudis, not the Bush administration, who control the tools of economic pressure that Washington wants wielded. Managing a campaign in which the immediate price will be paid by others will require skill, extensive consultations and enormous patience.
Such a campaign would be undermined by hurry-up tactics built around the American political calendar, or the use of U.S. military force in Iraq intended to serve as a show of force against Iran.
The mopping-up operation that this administration desperately needs is not one of throwing its remaining resources into a melee. The mopping-up called for is cleaning up the huge mess created by irrational use of those resources, throughout the world. Two more years of throwing away this country's relationships and resources could be more than the rational parties now reining in the waste can cure.
If an unrestrained amateur continues unchecked, there is a threat to the world that grows larger as he becomes more desperate every day.
While that is a favorite Shakespeare maxim, I deeply fear that the cretin in chief's tendency to view his own particular fortune as the overriding concern of his administration's policies portends incredible danger for this country. The history he will generate seems to be driving him into ever more hazardous uses of the country's powers.
The surge that the C-i-C has substituted for the sensible, negotiated resolution of his wars abroad threatens 21,500 lives immediately, and the security, well-being and economic health of this country for the long term. His wars and his use of torture and detention without appeal, [habeas corpus] create families of new terrorists throughout the world. Will we be drawn into the unspeakable, nuclear confrontation, by his rejection of diplomacy in the interest of displaying his own idea of toughness?
Most recently, the C-i-C spoke to the country and included the country of Iran in his threats to use violence for his personal need to control.
President Bush: "Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. *****************************
And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.
Continually risking this country's security and its foreign relations has brought out a protest which we can only wish had preceded his adventuring into Iraq, and parsing out our resources in the now foundering war with Afghanistan. In WaPo, Jim Hoagland joins the chorus by pointing out how the rush to deal belligerently with Iran is creating another crisis that otherwise could be used in the interests of the U.S. and of the world.
[A] broad, sustained campaign of economic sanctions is perhaps the most effective way to bring pressure to bear on an Iranian regime that has failed to deliver on its grandiose promises of prosperity to a restive population.
But it is the Europeans and the Saudis, not the Bush administration, who control the tools of economic pressure that Washington wants wielded. Managing a campaign in which the immediate price will be paid by others will require skill, extensive consultations and enormous patience.
Such a campaign would be undermined by hurry-up tactics built around the American political calendar, or the use of U.S. military force in Iraq intended to serve as a show of force against Iran.
The mopping-up operation that this administration desperately needs is not one of throwing its remaining resources into a melee. The mopping-up called for is cleaning up the huge mess created by irrational use of those resources, throughout the world. Two more years of throwing away this country's relationships and resources could be more than the rational parties now reining in the waste can cure.
If an unrestrained amateur continues unchecked, there is a threat to the world that grows larger as he becomes more desperate every day.
Labels: Foreign Policy, Iran
posted by Ruth at 2:23 AM
1 Comments:
We shall not sit hopelessly by the way. Each and every word we utter reaches and teaches and makes a dent in this evil purpose.
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