(AP) – 2 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — As with Iran 30 years ago, American leaders again are wrestling with the moral conflict between Washington's demands for democracy among its friends and strategic coziness with dictatorial regimes seen as key to stability in an increasingly complex world, particularly the Middle East.
The turmoil in Egypt — and its potential for grave consequences for U.S. policy throughout the region — was inevitable. The recent WikiLeaks release of U.S. diplomatic reports showed that Washington knew what problems it increasingly faced with the regime of President Hosni Mubarak and his three decades of iron-fisted rule.
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Phi Beta Iota: For decades we have been citing Will and Ariel Durant, who state in Lessons of History that morality is a priceless strategic asset. Max Manwaring et al nailed it in The Search for Security, identifying legitimacy as the sole basis for stable effective governance. Ambassador Max Palmer nailed it in Breaking the Real Axis of Evil, addressing the fact that the US Government has consistently chosen to support 42 of 44 dictators over the public interest. To the best of our knowledge this is the only website that has consistently stated that morality, legitimacy, and integrity are the essential foundation for a prosperous world at peace.
1. The US Government has no strategy and no standing. Obama and Clinton are puffery without a clue. What has been done in this region and “in our name” has been a Web of Deceit and a Legacy of Ashes. Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude.
2. Israel has lost all credibility as well as all practical power–Turkey and the publics will do to Israel what Gandhi did to the British. Israeli genocide (and Arab dictator neglect) of the Palestinians will stand as the modern Holocaust.
3. Saudi Arabia, not Jordan, should be the next regime to fall and fall hard. There are 60,000 “royal” perverts and thieves there that need to be exorcised, exiled or executed. Jordan is on the edge of the razor–our Queen Noor's Leap of Faith is central to the possibilities.
This is going to take a quarter century to play out. A fine beginning.
Related:
Assisi, Egypt, US Hypocrisy, Global Revolution
Marginalization Not Al Quada the Real Atrocity
Women of Washingtonian–The Lunacy Continues
Below the line: one paragraph from selected reviews, other book review links.
Review: The Lessons of History
History is color-blind. Morality is strength. Worth saying again: morality is strength.
They end with “the only lasting revolution is in the mind of man.” In other words, technology is not a substitute for thinking by humans.
Review: The Search for Security–A U.S. Grand Strategy for the Twenty-First Century
Chapter 2 by Robert Dorff dissects existing U.S. national security “strategy” and shows clearly, in a non-partisan manner, that the U.S. does not have a coherent inter-agency capability for agreeing on ends, ways, or means.
In Chapter 4 Edwin Corr and Max Manwaring offer a fine discourse on why legitimate governance around the world must be “the” end that we seek as a means of assuring American security and prosperity in the face of globalization.
Review: Breaking the Real Axis of Evil–How to Oust the World’s Last Dictators by 2025
New Comment: In my view, this is the single most important work of the century with respect to American moral diplomacy. I note with concern that under Bush-Cheney “Failed States” have increased from 75 in 2005 to 177 in 2007. We’ve lost our mind, and our morals, as a Nation.
1) From Churchill to Kennedy to Bush (Cheney), all of our Presidents in the US, but most especially Reagan, Bush, Clinton (Brzezinski), and the current and failed crew of neo conservatives that use Bush Junior as a talking doll, have been complicit–let me spell that again–complicit in the mass murders, the massacres, the torture that we first condoned and now practice ourselves. The US White House denizens are all long overdue for formal indictment, at least by a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The author documents, very ably, a long string of broken promises (e.g. to the Bedouin leader for a free Arab state in return for help in WWI, to the Kurds, etc.) and complicity in mass murder. In the author’s views, the sanctions are a war crime against the children, women, and elderly of Iraq, a war crime that lasted thirteen years.
Review: Legacy of Ashes–The History of the CIA
The author draws on varied sources to characterize the clandestine service as skilled at “gross overstatement joined with grotesque incompetence.” The essence of the book and CIA’s continuous record of bluster and failure is ably captured on page 126, “Cloaked yet flamboyant–that was the CIA under Allen Dulles. It was a place ‘where truly clandestine practices were compromised” while ‘analysis was clothed in an atmosphere of secrecy that was unnecessary, frequently counterproductive, and in the long run damaging,’ Cline thought.”
Review: Sleeping With the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude
Baer’s most brutal points should make every American shudder: it is America itself that is subsidizing terrorism, as well as the corruption of the Saudi royal family. Baer’s documented estimate is that $1 dollar from every barrel of petroleum is spent on Saudi royal family sexual misbehavior, and $1.50 of every barrel of petroleum bought by America ultimately ends up funding extremist schools, foundations, and terrorist groups.
Review: Leap of Faith–Memoirs of an Unexpected Life
At the end of the book, and this no doubt explains the hysterical Jewish attacks against this Queen, mother, and author, I was persuaded of three things: 1) the US public and the US government does not have a good grip on Arab politics, culture, or needs; 2) the combination of Jewish power within US policy; Arab inattention to playing US politics from within; and the Zionist “myths” that take on a life of their own, are a major reason why US policy is ineffective and unsustainable in the long run within this vital area; and 3) Queen Noor was as good a queen as the Jordanian people could have hoped for, given the circumstances. This book was well worth my time, and I recommend it to every citizen who wishes to reduce conflict, increase understanding, and obtain a better return on how the U.S. taxpayer dollar is spent.
Review (Guest): Dishonest Broker–The Role of the United States in Palestine and Israel
Review: Palestine–Peace Not Apartheid
Review: Palestine Inside Out–An Everyday Occupation
Review: Threshold–The Crisis of Western Culture
Review: Reconciliation–Islam, Democracy, and the West
Review: New Turkish Republic–Turkey As a Pivotal State in the Muslim World
Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Abuse & Atrocities
Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Corruption
Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Empire as Cancer Including Betrayal & Deceit
