Achilles -- Thanks for your response (on Kosovo and Chechnya).
I find it hard to disagree with the following statement:
I don't think that we can escape the fact that there are
pressures that can be put on the Serbs that can't be put on the Russians for practical reasons (i.e., the Russians have nuclear weapons and are dangerously unstable anyway).
In other words: we are scared of the Russians, who represent a potential threat; we are not scared of the Serbs, who represent no threat at all to us as a nation. Hence we can bluster at the Serbs, but not at the Russians. We stand up for the human rights of "oppressed peoples" only when their oppressors are weak.
I have mixed feelings about another argument you make, namely:
..not having done something in Chechnya is not an argument against doing it now in Kosovo..
Of course, it is never to late to learn from one's mistakes. But is the Administration prepared to admit it made a mistake in Chechnya? Is it even aware that it did make a mistake?
My feeling is that this Administration (like previous administrations, alas) has used, and will continue to use, different standards in different situations. In some, like the Chechen situation, it will let itself be guided by "realpolitik." In others (e.g., bombing of pharmaceutical factory in Sudan), it lets the "lone cowboy syndrome" govern its actions. In still others, when it is both easy and expedient, the U.S. professes to be inspired by "concern for human rights."
Smells of hypocrisy to me (not to speak of inconsistency and ignorance). That is nothing new, of course. In my opinion, at least, hypocrisy has always been a feature (although not the only feature) of American foreign policy.
Still can't quite simmer down! :-)
jbe |
