Letters to the Editor
George Sears
Published Letters: 30 Editor's Choice: 15
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The Deeper Reality
[Read the article: Secrets and lies]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There's sort of a tabloid quality to the things that are supposedly going to be revealed when Scooter rolls into the defendants chair. What is left to know that is worth knowing? It's the need to personalize it, at this point. You done me wrong, Scooter, now Scoot along, maybe to prison.
Because, in fact, we know what went wrong. We didn't understand that Islam matters to the Islamic people. They don't want Western institutions, even if they want some form of popular will or democracy. Bush felt we would make them like us, or something, and this reveals his lack of understanding of the world. Don't ignore Pakistan or Indonesia or what is happening anywhere in the Islamic world. But to appreciate the change, you have to have a deeper understanding of Islam, not the cartoonish version of the Bushies.
People should look at the philosophies that drove the people to the actions they took. Look at who educated Wolfowitz and the swirl of ideas that infected all these men, to varying degrees. Their sense of American power, the power of American ideas, seems a little overdone, at best. They made so much of the Cold War. Most Poles don't think Reagan liberated them. They think THEY liberated themselves.
I used to email Seib at the Wall Street Journal, height of all this Iraqi engagement, asking if he thought the US would still be a Super Power in five years. I clearly felt Iraq was 'it'. America would go 'all in' and walk away from the table.
Why go to war, to solve terrorism? How else can we engage with the world, and sell it to an anesthetised electorate? Guns and abortions and gays, they done took their toll on the psyche. This is the dumbed down America that thinks everything is on its side, able to engage with Islam only in a military sense. Hegemony? That's pretty much over. The world knows we have a limited number of troops.
In the end, Bush has smashed the illusion of American power. After Vietnam, that was what drove these guys, recreating American power. The Left folded under McGovern, and the Right emerged to begin some vague, arrogant Restoration.
How stunningly, shockingly ironic that they are the ones who have now lost American Power. Again. And perhaps forever.
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The First Intelligence Failure
[Read the article: All the vice president's men]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's important to understand that the unshaded world of The Right began with the Evil Empire. People forget that most of the intelligence suggested that the Soviet Union was much stronger than it was. Their economy did not function and yet we were told "They are winning, so we have to be stronger."? Was that just a rationale?
By the time the Soviets were installing sick old men, it was pretty clear something was horribly wrong. But, you wouldn't have known it from listening to America's Right. And, of course, Gorbachev came along, tried to reform, and the whole thing just collapsed. If our intelligence (and wisdom) had been greater, we might not have ended up with such an unstable beast as we now see in Putin's Russia. It's hard to do positive things with a people you refer to as 'evil'. We are in the same box with Islam.
Part of fighting the Evil Empire, of course, was building up bin Laden in Afghanistan, because he was fighting the big Double E. We played games with the Iranians to make some sort of point about Central America. Was our understanding of Communism good enough to form a reasonable policy? Some things just have to play out? Did we not believe in Capitalism, in Freedom, in Faith? Objectively, Communism was doomed. We still seem to be the only thing holding up Castro. The real threat is that China has learned to be Capitalist. Why isn't the focus there? Where were, where are, the real returns in Iraq?
The Right loves to say that Reagan brought down the Soviet Union. I think the Poles who were putting their lives on the line deserve most of the credit. When all is said and done, whatever the Iraqis salvage from their mess should be credited to them. The Right seems to like to take credit for everything good that happens in the world. I'd just like to see a better America, personally.
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What Prosecutors Should Do
[Read the article: Exposing Scooter's crimes]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was very impressed by the presentation that Fitzgerald made. He has kind of a bruised innocence that suggests "Deep down, I don't want to know, but in the end, you are going to tell me". So one indictment, for someone who apparently felt he could basically make up a nice story and send the prosecutor on his way. If Libby hounded Mr. Wilson, there will be lots of men for him to prey upon in prison. Will he enjoy that? What an odd culture we live in.
I'm glad we are not expanding prosecutorial powers, using conspiracy theories to political ends, and all the other excesses that could have flowed from this investigation. It is time for the Dems to expose the horrors that are inherent in American foreign policy. This is not a task for any prosecutor.
For his services, I hope Mr. Fitzgerald is given a seat on the bench, and maybe someday on the Supreme Court. His record does, in fact, speak for itself.