Richard Bernstein: The trans-Atlantic divide is growing ever deeper

After Abu Ghraib it is even harder for Europeans to defend the US position in Iraq. This makes it even more difficult to reach consensus over a common policy toward future crisis in for instance Iran if it goes nuclear.
This is in essence Richard Bernsteins observation of the political mood in Europe.

He is dead right. In the eyes of Europeans the Americans confirm at the moment every anti American cliché that goes around.

To speak for myself.

A year ago I was in favor of toppling Saddam Hussein from power.
I doubted a long time if a war would reach that goal. In the end I granted the Americans the benefit of the doubt.
I presupposed one important thing: The Americans would have made good and sound preparations for the after war period. In my mind there would be no doubt that they would have a sound plan for winning the peace.

Since winning the war, they showed an astounding talent for screwing things up. Abu Ghraib is the culmination of it. A super screw up.


Richard Bernstein: The trans-Atlantic divide is growing ever deeper: printer friendly version
- posted by DD @ 18:02 Perma Link/Print  

 
That's The Ticket - The Kerry-McCain Dream

The last week has been an emotional whiplash for Americans. The shame of Abu Ghraib morphed into the shock of the beheading of Nick Berg. America seemed too powerful and then not powerful enough. And by the end of it, a kind of psychic equilibrium could be felt. No serious figure wants to cut and run in Iraq, however chastened and troubled Washington has become. And no serious neo-conservative or liberal interventionist has avoided what is in Washington a rare event: a bout of public self-doubt. What emerges is something of a consensus: Bush has a few months to persuade the country that Iraq is on the right path. If he fails, Kerry will have a chance to offer himself as the "smarter war, kinder peace" candidate. In this endeavour, Kerry needs some measure of hawkish credibility. And he needs someone who can ease polarization and bring independents into the Democratic tent.


Here is a powerfull argument for a vice- president for John Kerry of the other party. To make an end to the deadly divisions in US domestic politics.
Will it work? Won't a Kerrry McCain presidency manouvre a lot of policies into deadlock?
Well at least on the international theatre they might reach out to the US allies and start working together again.

www.AndrewSullivan.com - Latest Posts

- posted by DD @ 13:03 Perma Link/Print  

 
The Misunderestimated Man - How Bush chose stupidity. By Jacob Weisberg

"The question I am most frequently asked about Bushisms is, 'Do you really think the president of the United States is dumb?'
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is yes and no.
Quotations collected over the years in Slate may leave the impression that George W. Bush is a dimwit. Let's face it: A man who cannot talk about education without making a humiliating grammatical mistake ('The illiteracy level of our children are appalling'); who cannot keep straight the three branches of government ('It's the executive branch's job to interpret law'); who coins ridiculous words ('Hispanos,' 'arbolist,' 'subliminable,' 'resignate,' 'transformationed'); who habitually says the opposite of what he intends ('the death tax is good for people from all walks of life!') sounds like a grade-A imbecile. "

The Misunderestimated Man - How Bush chose stupidity. By Jacob Weisberg

Yesterday evening I was at a reading by the author Paul Auster here in Amsterdam.

He read the first two pages of all is novels. A lesson in first sentences. He also talked about the situation in the US. The antagonism between Democrats and the conservative from George W. Bush. "They can't talk to eachother. Within five minutes they start screaming. There is a divide right through the middle."

Reading Jacob Weinbergs piece on Bush reminded me of the words. Republicans hated Clinton. Democrats hate Bush.

I don't want to intervene in US domestic politics, but in my judgment, the US president and his gang are making a chaos of international diplomacy.


- posted by DD @ 11:35 Perma Link/Print  

 
CHAIN OF COMMAND by SEYMOUR M. HERSH

What did the American soldiers think they were doing in the Abu Ghraib prison? What did the French think they were doing in Algeria? What did the Argentinean Junta think they were doing to the left wingers?

They were trying to extract information from a hostile population.

Marie-Monique Robin showed in a courageous documentary (Death Squadrons: The French School) how it works and the history of this kind of military behavior. The French started it in Indo-China, perfected the torture techniques in Algeria and then exported their knowledge to south American countries like Argentina, Brazil and Chili.
The Americans can't have missed this French invention in military strategy in a hostile civilian environment.

It is not the right way to win hearts and minds, it is the way to lose them to the other side. It is counterproductive and disastrous.

How high does it go up? Does it matter? It will be booked as incidents, but the softening up is to much in line with previous military behavior in wars to be incidents.

The New Yorker: Fact: "CHAIN OF COMMAND
by SEYMOUR M. Hersh"
- posted by DD @ 15:46 Perma Link/Print