Whethe ror not you believe Bush is motivated by a genuine desire to foster democracy; whether or not you believe establishing a military presence in a former slaughterhouse that sits between Iran and Afghanistan and abuts much of the rest of the Arab middle east, you have to be predisposed to believing the US is acting out of imperial motivations to skip over the possible explanation that "to remain the predominant outside power in the region and preserve U.S. and Western access to the region’s oil" is not so much an imperial goal as a defensive one. If China became the …
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Mitch
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everyman, it seems to me that recognizing gray is exactly what the Bush administration has done in the case of Pakistan and it is that grayness that the author is criticizing. Seeing the gray means you recognize that some countries that don't meet your every criterion for good guy still are better allies, with regard to certain high-priority issues, that other countries. It doesn't mean you ignore meaningful differences in the strategies, histories, and personalities involved in different countries. Syria is not just not an "outspoken U..S. supporter..."; it was the colonial conqueror of Lebanon for a couple of decades, the …
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Actually, Heath, she thinks she makes a point, she just doesn'tr convincingly establish it, except for those who already agree with her. And there is a meaningful distinction between defensive and imperial motivations, even for the people of the middle east, although they are not obvious in the short-term. Imperial ambitions are pretty much never-ending, either geographically or temporally; defensive ones tend to be limited by the needs of the time and are usually redefined by changing conditions, such as the ability of the people of the country itself to govern and defend themselves. And if you would stop being so …
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No, Heath, you never did call me simple-minded. And I wasn't concerned about your attitude toward me as your general tone in disparaging the comments of your e-post-ilary opponents: " but perhaps you’ve led a sheltered life"; "thanks for stating the obvious"; "don’t you get it"; "But why am I even bothering.... Time to come back to reality my friend"; "Did you not get the memo about that?....Do you not read the newspaper?"--these did not strike me as the comments of someone who believes he has anything to learn from those whose opinions and perspective differ from his own, who has …
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Heath: Regarding China, fine: you don't think there is a problem, you don't see them not selling us oil, you want to hoist me on the petard of the free market, even as (I bet) you don't really believe the market is truly free. And I don't either: the oil market is certainly not free, either globally or domestically; nor are the natural gas, or wheat, or many other markets. China's potential ability to do the US economic harm is enhanced by any increase in its economic, political, or military power and influence, each of which supports the others. This doesn't …
Posted to Why Pakistan Gets A Nuclear Pass
- Joined September 3, 2006
- Last Visit April 18, 2007
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