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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (257840)	5/23/2002 1:21:33 AM
From: MSI	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

"the United States largely abandoned a reliance on diplomacy, economic aid, international law, and multilateral institutions in carrying out its foreign policies and resorted much of the time to bluster, military force, and financial manipulation," Not at the request of Americans. This was done, and is done, by an out-of-control military and executive branch, with a Congress that does not represent the American people. I saw Johnson talking about this book shortly after 911. A calm and considered individual, with some well documented bad news, not sufficiently appreciated behind the Beltway or the media. Now if the talking heads would talk to folks like Johnson ...

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (257840)	5/23/2002 8:41:49 AM
From: alan w	Respond to of 769670

Now I know this will fall on deaf ears, but there is a terrific book called "Blowback" that I've read and I highly recommend. It describes the sort of hubristic nature of American foreign policy that makes 911 incidents inevitable: amazon.com. Here's a blurb: If the 20th century was the American century, the 21st century may be a time of reckoning for the United States. Chalmers Johnson, an authority on Japan and its economy, offers a troubling prognosis of what's to come. Blowback--the title refers to a CIA neologism describing the unintended consequences of American activity--is a call for the United States to rethink its position in the world. "The evidence is building up that in the decade following the end of the Cold War, the United States largely abandoned a reliance on diplomacy, economic aid, international law, and multilateral institutions in carrying out its foreign policies and resorted much of the time to bluster, military force, and financial manipulation," writes Johnson. "The world is not a safer place as a result." Individual chapters focus on Okinawa (where American servicemen were accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in "Asia's last colony"), the two Koreas, China, and Japan. The result is a liberal-leaning (and Asia-centric) call for the United States to disengage from many of its global commitments. Critics will call Johnson an isolationist, but friends (perhaps admirers of Patrick Buchanan's A Republic, Not an Empire) will say he simply speaks good sense. All will agree he is an earnest voice: "I believe our very hubris ensures our undoing." --John J. Miller -- Gee, and I thought it was caused by evil people taking advantage of the freedom of our country. Ray you really should think about at least changing the words a little. Hubristic? American foreign policy? Miller sounds like a European. Have a good weekend. alan w