A Familiar Foreign Policy: David Podvin (Must read!)

[Nancy Waterman]

An incredible piece by David Podvin comparing Bush's actions to the Soviet style of leadership:

http://makethemaccountable.com/podvin/more/040404_AFamiliarForeignPolicy.htm

By opting for a Bolshevik foreign policy that emphasizes coercion instead of persuasion, Bush has disgraced our nation. He has rejected the best traditions of the United States in dealing with other countries. Gone is the advocacy of human rights, the encouragement of democracy, and the sharing of food and medicine and technological expertise designed to improve the lives of our less fortunate neighbors around the world. These have been the actions America has taken at those times when we have decided that being the strongest nation obligates us to be the most generous.

Each president must eventually confront the question of whether America should chart the difficult course of attempting to live up to our stated ideals or take the easier path of exerting power over weaker countries. Bill Clinton chose the former option, and as a result the prestige of the United States skyrocketed during his presidency. America mediated disputes between foreign adversaries, helped to cultivate new democracies, and was a participant in world affairs rather than a bully. When Clinton left office, the US was trusted by our allies and unscathed by our enemies.

Bush has also chosen a foreign policy approach, and he has made the wrong choice. He has maintained the oratory of peace and freedom, but only to act as camouflage for war and repression. He has changed America’s role from mediator to dictator. Just as the Soviets ruled their sphere of influence with an iron fist, Bush lays down the law to the whole world. He is emulating the actions of evil people, and in doing so has made himself morally indistinguishable from them.

The Bush technique of winning through deception is proving to be as counterproductive as it is immoral. Even his accomplices in the “Coalition Of The Willing” no longer trust him, as the leader of Poland recently made clear when he complained that Bush had “taken us for a ride” by lying about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The result is that the war on terror, which should be a unified effort on the part of civilized nations, has essentially become a one-man show designed to achieve domestic political advantage.

<snip>

The great irony of the Soviet Union was that the more it imposed its will upon other countries, the weaker it became. And so it is with America under George W. Bush. After three years of kicking ass and taking names, the United States has lost ground; terrorism is flourishing as American influence is waning. Bush betrayed the confidence of our allies and squandered the goodwill that was extended by virtually every country following 9/11, so the US now has less diplomatic leverage than at any time in recent history. Half of the American people may buy into Bush’s creative use of language, but most foreigners side with the half who don’t: carpet bombing civilian population centers in Afghanistan and Iraq is murder, even when it is done in the name of human rights.

[reprehensor]

1. Thanks for posting! n/t