Posted by sigismund on September 11, 2011, at 14:42:10
I thought this, by Melvyn Leffler, was pretty reasonable.
Rather than heaping blame or casting praise on the Bush administration, 10 years after 9/11 it is time for Americans to reflect more deeply about their history and their values. Americans can affirm their core values yet recognise the hubris that inheres in them. They can identify the wanton brutality of others yet acknowledge that they themselves are the source of rage in many parts of the Arab world. Americans can agree that terrorism is a threat that must be addressed but realise it is not an existential menace akin to the military and ideological challenges posed ny German Nazism and Soviet Communism. They can acknowledge that the practice of projecting solutions to their problems onto the outside world means that they seek to avoid difficult choices at home, such as paying higher taxes, accepting universal conscription, or implementing a realistic energy policy. Americans can recognise that there is evil in the world, as Obama reminded his Nobel audience in December 2009, and they can admit, as he did, that force has a vital role to play in the affairs of humankind. But they can also recognise that the exercise of power can grievously injure those whom they wish to help and can undercut the very goals they seek to achieve. American can acknowledge the continuities in their interests and values yet wrestle with the judgements and trade-offs that are required to design a strategy that works in the post-Cold War era, where the threats are more varied, the enemies more elusive, and the power more fungible.
poster:sigismund
thread:996466
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20090821/msgs/996466.html