Bush needs to identify who the enemy is, and he's been avoiding that, because any rational description of the enemy [would pose problems]
agreed. but the problems persist even while they're being avoided.
Mostly, I think they're just stumped how to put a simple handle on a complex reality.
agreed. but huffing and puffing and pretending otherwise is not a good solution to that dilemma.
I don't think 'divergence from what is obviously true' is much of a problem for Bush outside of diplomatic circles, because most people don't pretend to know squat about the region, they just want to hear that we are going to get the guys that blew up the WTC before they do it again.
here I disagree--not because most people are incredibly sophisticated, but because over time the administration's current approach seems bound to exacerbate the problem rather than contain it.
Strictly speaking, for example, Iraq is neither a terrorism problem, nor a 9/11-related problem, nor a radical Islam problem: it's a good old-fashioned regional-security-cum-nonproliferation problem. It's possible to believe that and still favor agressive preventive action--like Pollack does--but that's not the rationale the administration has generally used so far. If they try to go after Iraq under a "war on terrorism" rubric, accordingly, they will (correctly) be slammed for not being truthful.
Same with policy towards Israel and the Palestinians. It's clearly not simply a case of fighting terrorism, because if it were, then the answer would be simple--back Israel 100%. But the administration is not willing to concede rhetorically what it is obviously accepting in practice--that the issues, and US interests, involved are complex and cross-cutting rather than simple and overlapping.
Byford is basically saying, it seems to me, "treat the public and the world like adults. say what you mean, and mean what you say--that may be politically incorrect and cause some discomfort at home and abroad, but in the end the clarity it produces will redound to your advantage."
tb@asJuanSecadasaid,facethetruth.com |
