The Limits of Western Power - Die Zeit, Germany

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

The Neo-cons are gone, only to be replaced by the Neo-libs, whose dreams of empire include apologies and regrets for the victims.

http://watchingamerica.com/News/36572/the-limits-of-western-power/


But this is now. Barack Obama is in charge. The better America, the more intelligent and more peaceful America is here. Obama has never failed to make every humble gesture possible in order to distance himself from his predecessor’s dreams of omnipotence. He solicits friends; he needs friends.

That’s all well and good, but has he made the Greater Middle East more peaceful? Not by a long shot. Since Obama’s inauguration, we’ve seen a dramatic escalation of hostilities. The reason for that, his supporters claim, is that the President has finally come to the right conclusions. He now understands that he can’t pacify Afghanistan unless he defeats the Taliban, including the Taliban in Pakistan. He has finally grasped that Afghanistan requires renewed efforts: more civilian assistance, more money and more soldiers.

But there are good reasons to doubt whether that’s right. Even if one assumes his new strategy will succeed, it suffers from the same disease that infected the Bush administration, namely, the belief that American military power will triumph in the end.

Of course, Obama is less bellicose than Bush when he talks and many of his actions are also less bellicose. But even Obama’s policies depend on the big stick, a stick he knows how to use effectively. That’s the case in Afghanistan as it now is in Pakistan. Pakistan will only get financial aid from Washington provided it fulfils a whole catalog of American requirements, many of which clearly violate Pakistan’s sovereignty. There was a time when that was called imperialism; today it’s called the war on terror.

[snagglepuss]

1. K & R

"There was a time when that was called imperialism; today it’s called the war on terror."

That certainly hits the nail on the head.