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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (45955)	9/21/2002 7:39:32 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

AMERICA'S WAR ON TERROR -- AND HISTORY By Richard Reeves Syndicated Columnist Fri Sep 20,10:01 PM ET story.news.yahoo.com WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's declaration, "The National Security Strategy of the United States," stands as one of the more amazing, depressing and self-deluding documents ever written by the governors of the land of the free and the home of the brave. It is, in fact, too American by half, reading more like the warning cry of crazed missionaries than the reasoned or tolerant arguments of a free and democratic people. The 33 pages submitted to Congress last Friday should be read to music: Onward American soldiers, marching as to war! We will save the world whether it wants to be saved or not, and those who will not be saved will be destroyed in the fires of new technologies. It seems that we are a beleaguered people, surrounded by an encroaching jungle of danger, persecuted from all sides for our goodness, our decency, our generosity. Or, to be more precise, we are better than other people, and they will become like us -- or else. It is hard to imagine these pages of the national strategy were written inside the comfortable walls of the White House in this sunny capital. The Cold War, it seems, has passed, and things are even worse now with thunder crashing around the world as evildoers gather in the darkness at our borders. It is not the strategies and policies of the document that I find so amazing. It is the tone, or as younger people might say, "the attitude," that is so disturbing, and in some ways, so foreign. Are we really so afraid of everyone else? Do we no longer believe that it is morning in America? Here are some of the thoughts and words from the final draft of the document, which says, among other absurdities, that nationalism is internationalism and victory is defeat: "The United States' national security strategy will be based on a distinctly American internationalism that reflects the union of our values and our national interests. The aim of this strategy is to help make the world not just safer but better ... "We are menaced less by fleets and armies than by catastrophic technologies in the hands of the embittered few. We must defeat these threats to our nation, allies and friends ... "Today, humanity holds in its hands the opportunity to further freedom's triumph over all these foes. The United States welcomes our responsibility to lead in this great mission ... "By making the world safer, we allow the people of the world to make their own lives better. We will defend this just peace against threats from terrorists and tyrants ... "Now, shadowy networks of individuals can bring great chaos and suffering to our shores for less than it costs to purchase a single tank. Terrorists are organized to penetrate open societies and to turn the power of modern technologies against us. To defeat this threat we must make use of every tool in our arsenal ... "The United States will not allow these efforts to succeed. We will build defenses against ballistic missiles and other means of delivery. We will cooperate with other nations to deny, contain and curtail our enemies' efforts to acquire dangerous technologies. And, as a matter of common sense and self-defense, America will act against such emerging threats before they are fully formed. We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best. ... We must be prepared to defeat our enemies' plans." In the plan, we are at the center of "lonely defenders of liberty" -- and we are ever ready to "look outward for possibilities to expand liberty." There is a great deal of political boilerplate in the document, with sections promoting everything from better intelligence to entrepreneurial energy and, of course, lower taxes. But there is also willful deception or delusion about how we got to the point that suicidal terrorism is the greatest threat to our messianic dominance of the world. The administration praises itself for "supporting moderate and modern government, especially in the Muslim world." But our friends out there are military dictators (Pakistan) and monarchies (Saudi Arabia). The history of the Cold War, written by people who were ready to launch war against the Soviet Union, now reads: "We faced a generally status quo, risk-adverse adversary." It is a very depressing document, describing a dark, stormy view from a slightly hysterical White House ready to declare war on both the world and reality. ____________________________________________________ RICHARD REEVES, author of President Nixon: Alone in the White House (October 2001), is a writer and syndicated columnist who has made a number of award-winning documentary films. His ninth book, President Kennedy: Profile of Power — now considered the authoritative work on the 35th president — won several national awards and was named the Best Non-Fiction Book of 1993 by Time. His other best selling books include Convention and American Journey: Travelling with Tocqueville in Search of American Democracy.