Lunacy synonym1/9/2024 ![]() This new Iraqi regime would help to usher in secular republics throughout the Greater Middle East. ![]() The emphasis on changing Iraq's "regime" also implied that by removing Hussein's dictatorship and installing more benign political institutions and leadership in its place, the country could with ease and speed be transformed into a functioning liberal democracy that would serve as a beacon for reform throughout the region. There was therefore no choice: After the 9/11 attacks, Hussein needed to be removed from power. strictures - or to refrain from passing along biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons to terrorists who would strike the American homeland or its allies around the world. His government could never be trusted not to cheat on sanctions and U.N. For them the issue was the need for "regime change." Hussein was a ruthless dictator, an undeterrable fanatic. While many emphasized Hussein's supposed defiance of United Nations resolutions restricting his development of weapons of mass destruction, the neocons emphasized a different consideration. Now the neocons joined the chorus of support for deposing the Taliban government in Afghanistan - and then helped lead the charge to overthrow Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Kristol's magazine responded with an editorial titled "A National Humiliation," clearly implying that the new president should have been willing to go to war with China over the incident for the sake of saving face. During the new Republican president's first few months in office, the administration negotiated a peaceful resolution to a standoff with China after an American spy plane was forced to land by a Chinese fighter jet. Bush was elected on a platform favoring realism and restraint, The Weekly Standard became more bellicose. (Kristol's father Irving was among them.) At the time, these writers endorsed a range of domestic and foreign policy positions: They were tough on crime, defended the conservative side in the culture war, favored work requirements for welfare recipients, and endorsed a revival of the Cold War against the Soviet Union.Īt first this mainly translated into support for American military interventions in the Balkans under President Clinton. The word was originally coined as an epithet to describe a group of liberal intellectuals who migrated rightward during the 1970s, eventually coming to support the presidency of Ronald Reagan. In recent years, the term "neoconservative" has been emptied of meaning - used either by anti-Semites to mean "Jewish conservative" or by journalists as a synonym for "foreign policy hawk." Neither is true to the history of the movement or what's distinctive about the evolution of its ideas. Yes, Virginia, there really are worse options than President Trump. It's important because, along with a tweet storm Kristol produced to explain and defend his endorsement of Chinese regime change, it helps to clarify exactly what's distinctive about neoconservative foreign policy thinking.Īnd it's important, finally, because it so clearly illustrates just how dangerous and deluded that way of thinking really is. It's important because it shows that Kristol, despite burnishing his mainstream reputation over the past few years by unwaveringly opposing Donald Trump, remains an unrepentant neocon.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |