Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Rarely is the question asked: "is our children learning" -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Sladek who wrote (1767)	1/9/2004 7:58:01 PM
From: John Sladek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2171

09Jan04-Leon Hadar-US neo-cons forced to take a back seat for now Nothing they said about Iraqis turning out the way they envisaged. So Bush has to rely on 'realists' now to fix things By LEON HADAR IN TOKYO THE neoconservative intellectuals who were the driving force behind the Bush administration's Iraq adventure, its alliance with Israel's Likud government and the ambitious US-led 'Democratic Empire' project are being forced to play defence these days. The face of experience: former State secretary James Baker's help has been enlisted to persuade US allies to agree to forgive tens of billions of dollars of Iraq's foreign debt Indeed, the grand designs that the neocons had cooked in their Washington think tanks and the expectations raised by the editorials published in their glossy magazines - that American would be welcomed as 'liberators' in Iraq, that Mesopotamia would be transformed into a liberal democracy, and that it would become a model for the entire Arab Middle East - are proving to be nothing more than intellectual fantasies. According to a report in the Washington Post, the escalating attacks by insurgents against US troops have forced the Bush administration to back away from several of its more ambitious initiatives to remake Iraq's political and economic system and to accelerate the timetable for ending the civil occupation of that country. Hence, the Americans have dropped plans to privatise Iraq's state-owned businesses and to write a Constitution before a transfer of sovereignty. Moreover, the demands by the Kurds in northern Iraq for the creation of a semi autonomous governing body to represent them and the expectations that a general election in the country would bring to power Shiite Islamic figures hostile towards the West suggest that Iraq could be drawn into a bloody civil war and be torn into three separate mini-states, representing the Arab Shiites, Sunnis and the Kurds. The mess that the neocons, led by Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, have created in Iraq explains the return to Washington of the realpolitik types that had played the leading role in the making of foreign policy of the Elder George Bush. 'The grown-ups are being recalled to clean up and put things back in order' is the way one Washington insider put it, referring to the decision by the White House to send former secretary of state James Baker on a diplomatic mission to persuade America's allies to agree to forgive tens of billions of dollars of Iraq's foreign debt. Another foreign policy 'realist' who came back to Washington is the former US ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill, who has been asked to serve as the National Security Council's (NSC) coordinator for strategic planning, with his chief responsibility being US policy in Iraq. Press reports also indicate that Iraq's Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) chief, Ambassador L Paul Bremer, has been distancing himself from the neoconservative cadre in the administration. At the same time, Wolfowitz is planning to leave the administration and return to academia early this year, according to Newsweek magazine. But the collapse of the neoconservative project goes beyond Iraq. After all, the chicken hawks from the American Enterprise Institute and the Weekly Standard who now dominate top foreign policy jobs in the Pentagon and the vice-president's office have proposed that 9/11 and the ensuing war on terrorism would permit the United States to formalise its global dominant position. Hence, the establishment of the 'Democratic Empire' in the Middle East would lay the foundations for a global imperial scheme in which US military power would leave other players - ranging from 'rogue states' like North Korea and Iran to major powers like the European Union and China - no choice but to bow to American dictates. Even before 9/11, the neocons were arguing that Washington should adopt a strategy of 'containing' China and forcing it to accept the reality of an independent and democratic Taiwan. Instead, Bush rolled out the red carpet in Washington for Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and warned Taiwan to refrain from antagonising Beijing by challenging the 'One China' policy. China has also been playing a leading role in a multilateral effort to defuse the North Korean nuclear crisis. And a similar multilateral strategy has been advanced by Washington in dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions - that is, when it comes to the other two members of the 'Axis of Evil', Bush has rejected the neoconservative unilateral approach. Or, to put it differently, he is recognising the limits of US military power and is not prepared to do a 'regime change' in Teheran, Pyongyang or Damascus. And while the neocons are 'spinning' the recent move by Libya's Gaddafi to open its weapons-production facilities to international inspection, that development should be regarded as another example of the Bushies adopting a more realistic foreign policy by agreeing to make a deal with a military dictator committed to radical Arab nationalism. Well, the neocons are not 'out' yet, although they are certainly starting to lose some of the political battles in the US capital. But the only figure who could strike a real and final blow to their influence in Washington is the occupant of the White House. And it's not clear yet whether he is ready to do that. The writer is BT's Washington correspondent business-times.asia1.com.sg