Atrocity Fatigue - In the Comments, We Can Read the Truth

Irrational exuberance is not the primary danger, sorry Mr. Greenspan. Working my way through Sunday's specials at the WaPo, I am getting a real feeling of hope that it's Atrocity Fatigue (A.F.). The liberal DFH's have been getting it for awhile as we moved from the 'commas' remarks - about troops' deaths signifying no big thing - to the secret torture memos coming out this past week. So much evil is overwhelming. It's breaking out in punditry, but most especially it's hammering its way into the sanctum sanctorum in the form of comments.

In writing about the U.S. inability or disinclination to do anything about violence against peaceful protesters in Myanmar/Burma, Georgie Ann Geyer pulls no punches. And Geyer is not pugilistic much of the time. Extraordinary times leave no options but telling the truth, imho.

American actions half a world away from Rangoon/Yangon diminish its moral and physical capacity to act in Asia. President Bush immediately enacted further sanctions against the Burmese government, but the fact that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has missed two of the last three ASEAN annual security forums is yet another indicator of how America is losing influence in the region. How, for instance, can Washington pressure China, using its pride over its much-vaunted Olympic Games in 2008, to pressure the Burmese junta when the United States is so unappetizingly involved in Iraq?

No more cocktail weenies for Georgie. Now on to the Head Horror - Bill Kristol. Yep, you read that right. The Pundit Who Would Rather Be Bombing is sorry we can't do anything about these offenses.

On Sept. 25, President Bush addressed the U.N. General Assembly. Mostly avoiding controversial topics such as Iraq and the war on terrorism, he called on countries to live up to the freedoms promised at the United Nations' founding six decades ago. He called particular attention to the situation in Burma, expressing Americans' outrage at the "19-year reign of fear" imposed by military dictators. Alluding to the tens of thousands who had been bravely and peacefully protesting in the streets for over a month, Bush noted that "the people's desire for freedom is unmistakable."
(snip)
But given our weak history of pressuring China on anything, and the number of excuses there will be for not making this a priority, no one should hold his breath waiting for real consequences to follow for China. In any case, the expectation that China might somehow be persuaded to support a democratic uprising in its back yard is probably wishful thinking.

So is there nothing more the United States can do? Does the inaction of other governments require our own inaction?

What about using our national power to help the Burmese people against their tyrannical rulers? Burma's regime lost what little legitimacy it had with its
bloody crackdown. Parts of the ruling elite must be nervous. Couldn't we give at least some of Burma's generals and soldiers reason to doubt the wisdom of slaughtering political opponents? Couldn't we turn our intelligence-gathering capabilities on Burma to monitor, document and publicize what is happening? Couldn't we tell the generals who are ordering and the soldiers who are carrying out this crackdown that they are being watched, that their names are being recorded -- and that the day will come when there will be plenty of evidence to hold them personally accountable for their deeds?

Couldn't we use other military and intelligence capabilities to put more stress on the regime?
(snip)
Couldn't the Bush administration do more to give that just God a helping hand?

Okay, I apologize for subjecting you to an awful lot of the rightwing posturing Kristol has been allowed by WaPo to put out as his great offering to the unwashed ignorant masses. We know he's directly responsible for the very fix we find ourselves in as a country - deeply mired in a misdirected war effort that was originated under lies and carried out by incompetents acting without guidance from the seasoned military that tried to head them off, then tried to enable them to 'succeed' within that framework of lies.

Now for a few of the comments, which generally show more knowledge of the facts and more realistic oversight than all of the editorial staff at WaPol.

ifthethunderdontgetya wrote:
Bill Kristol, ever ready to lead the fight...from the safety of home.

As others have written, what has this man ever done to deserve a forum in the Washington Post?

Mithras wrote:
Whatever moral authority America might have had to influence the UN or the junta has, thanks to you and your PNAC no-hopers, been dissipated to the point of non-existence.

Thanks to the ill-advised war of choice in Iraq that you sold and promoted, America is generally loathed in the world -- as much, if not more, as the junta in Burma.

Far from being the dominating Imperial power that you envisioned, America is now the naked Emperor that no one fears -- or respects.

Thanks to you and your neo-con idiocy, the Burmese junta can ignore America -- without fear of anything except empty threats.

You are more than partially to blame for the fact that the junta in Burma can do whatever it wishes to the people of Burma without fear of reprisal.

America is now almost as impotent as you are.

Well done, little Billy. Well done, indeed.

Rickster623 wrote:
Sorry Mr. Kristol, we're still stuck in the other wars you cheerled so we have no troops or credibility left to deal. One sad fact is that history will indeed treat this administration quite badly, but it will probably forget to mention the influence of you and your publication who's writings encourage the belief that we can shape the world through a few bombs.

Next time you encourage some "limited" military action to influence rogue states, please also mention what you think it will take to clean up the messes we'd create. Shouldn't be hard to estimate now that we have a blueprint (well, a partial).

What an idiot you are Mr. Kristol.

Gatsby1 wrote:
Let's invade Burma and depose the dictators! Burma has oil too. reconstruction will pay for itself...

Not enough troops, you say? Oh right, I had forgotten the little matter of Iraq that Mr. Kristol is so keen on. Plus, we need to bomb Iran, and incite Israel to go destroy Lebanon again. Burma can wait.

And of course, there's my comment.

jocabel wrote:
If the U.S. were not already involved in a unilateral war that saps its resources of all kinds, it could provide

It's not the first time that I've read examples in the comments about op-eds that show knowledge and judgment light years above and beyond the pundits who get paid for their lame expositions of their views.

Atrocity fatigue is not just about the country's excesses of the past 6+ years. It's about the quality of thought that is posted on front pages of our media, that are covering up reality with a travesty of political 'viewpoints'.

The internets are increasingly the only place to find truths unambiguously displayed. Commenters at WaPo, and at other media sites, are giving the real story, in contradicting the charade of editorializing featured there.