Tag: Bush Administration

Neoconservativism In A Nutshell

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Neoconservativism In A Nutshell

If I were asked to boil down neoconservatism to its essential elements—that is, those that have remained consistent over the past nearly 50 years—I would cite the following:

* a Manichean view of a world in which good and evil are constantly at war and the United States has an obligation to lead forces for good around the globe.

* a belief in the moral exceptionalism of both the United States and Israel and the absolute moral necessity for the U.S. to defend Israel’s security.

* a conviction that, in order to keep evil at bay, the United States must have—and be willing to exercise—the military power necessary to defeat any and all challengers. There’s a corollary: force is the only language that evil understands.

* the 1930s—with Munich, appeasement, Chamberlain, Churchill—taught us everything we need to know about evil and how to fight it.

* democracy is generally desirable, but it always depends on who wins.

The Redirection [2007]

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Is the Administration’s new policy benefitting our enemies in the war on terrorism?

The New Yorker, March 5, 2007

By

Efforts to curb Iran’s influence have involved the United States in worsening Sunni-Shiite tensions.

A STRATEGIC SHIFT

In the past few months, as the situation in Iraq has deteriorated, the Bush Administration, in both its public diplomacy and its covert operations, has significantly shifted its Middle East strategy. The “redirection,” as some inside the White House have called the new strategy, has brought the United States closer to an open confrontation with Iran and, in parts of the region, propelled it into a widening sectarian conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

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