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Politics : Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_urchin who wrote (18222)	5/7/2003 7:53:58 PM
From: sea_urchin	Respond to of 81434

> Perhaps this might give you some insight as to why I am so upset by what is occurring and why I am so critical of the present US administration. In my opinion, simply, Mr Bush & Co screwed it up. The reason I posted the interview between James Zogby and The American Conservative paper is self-evident when one reads it. amconmag.com >>>AC: What do you think are the likely consequences of war? Will it unlock the door to democracy in the Arab world and be some springtime for peoples of the Middle East? Zogby: I call that the neoconservative infantile fantasy. But theirs is not the only movement with infantile fantasies. Trostkyism was like that. Maoism was like that. Anarchism was like that. Religious fundamentalism is like that. The notion that out of upheaval good things fall in place is the apocalyptic vision of good spontaneously coming out of chaos. I’ve always thought that we need to put these people on a couch and take notes. AC: What ramifications or consequences do you see this having on the peace process? Zogby: There is no peace process anymore. This administration abandoned it early on and let the parties move on this downward spiral to unending violence that has poisoned the well on both sides. American leadership is nowhere to be found. When the explosions began last year, the president had an opportunity and gave a speech that laid out some conditions to both sides: Sharon must do this and Arafat must do that. But two weeks later, after hearing public protests from Gary Bauer, Bill Bennett, and Ralph Reed, the president got scared off. To protect his base vote, he announced two weeks later that Sharon is a man of peace, and Arafat has got to go. The result is that Sharon has been emboldened, Arafat has been discredited, and the policy that Likud laid out five years ago has practically been implemented. Democracy is never formed out of a war. There have to be pre-conditions for democracy. In fact, I think the war’s more likely outcome is that some countries in the Middle East, allies of ours, will become more repressive because their people will internalize the anger brought on by the war, and in order to stabilize the situation, the governments will have to crack down more. And sadly, we will probably support that crackdown. Zogby..........The only way is to create hope by radically transforming the circumstances on the ground. That will not come from the Sharon government. The Palestinian Authority cannot do it. Therefore, what the world has to look to is an external factor, and the only one available is the United States of America. But every step along the way we have denied ourselves the opportunity to play that role. The failure of Oslo was the failure of the United States because if you read Oslo carefully, it was not a road map to peace. It was two sides coming together saying we can go so far. We recognize each other’s right to exist with legitimate rights. What we can’t do is go any further. It was, in effect, a cry for help. Remember the old Mennen commercial? Where the guys slapped themselves and said, “Thanks, I needed that.” What both sides needed then was a slap. Historically, only the Palestinians have gotten the slap, and the Israelis have been coddled. That has not been in Israel’s interest nor has it been in the Palestinians’ interest. <<< This is also the way I see it. Someone had to be "daddy" and both sides needed a slap. It didn't happen --- and now it can't. But what has actually happened is a bunch of neo-con (with the emphasis definitely on con) intellectuals have seen, created, and in fact taken, the opportunity to advance their own importance, prestige and power --- and at everyone else's expense.