June 2004

Dick Lugar’s Translator

ArchPundit June 8, 2004 1 Comment

Was in the Trib this weekend.

I’m an interventionist. A liberal one who believes that judicious use of US power can make the world a better place. I’ve seen the horrors of the misuse of that power in Nicaragua, but I still believe the US can be a productive force in keeping the world stable and avoiding genocide. And both those goals make us more secure.

Despite my change of heart on Iraq, I’ve supported most of our international efforts over the last 10-12 years. Used within the context of world institutions American power can do amazing things. Used outside of that context it is far less powerful. And I believe that there are decent Republicans who have similar beliefs. While partisan rancor is high right now, there are several Republicans I have a great deal of respect for–one of them being Dick Lugar. From the Trib article are some excellent insights:

“Unless the United States commits itself to a sustained program of repairing and rebuilding alliances, expanding trade, pursuing resolutions to regional conflicts, supporting democracy and development and controlling weapons of mass destruction, we are likely to experience acts of catastrophic terrorism that would undermine our economy, damage our society and kill hundreds of thousands if not millions of people,” Lugar said.

Simple sentences are not his friend. But the point is obvious: The present strategy isn’t working.

“The United States, as a nation, simply has not made this commitment,” he continued. “We are worried about terrorism, but the evolution of national security policy has not kept up with the threat. We have relied heavily on military options and unilateral approaches that weakened our alliances. We have engaged in self-flagellation over the Sept. 11 tragedy rather than executive affirmative global strategies aimed at addressing the root causes of terrorism.”

The administration, which often regards Congress as little more than a nuisance, has even been reluctant to have key witnesses testify before Lugar’s committee.

Lugar isn’t perfect. He thought our efforts in the former Yugoslavia would fail. He was wrong there, but on Afghanistan and Iraq he has a depressingly nearly perfect record.

An Interesting Article in Harper’s

ArchPundit June 8, 2004 1 Comment

Though I haven’t read it yet and Harper’s isn’t full text The Washington Post gives a decent overview

Too often Americans buy into really easy stereotypes of who we are fighting in various conflicts. Part of this is the lack of attention spans by individuals and part is by the press so a good take on who is actually fighting can do a lot to explain incredibly complex situations. Some people we fight are violent Islamicists. Some are opportunists and some are simply patriots who think American forces won’t be benevolent in the long run. Each of these three are different challenges. One you defeat, one you jail, and the other you demonstrate your values to.

The sad irony is contained at the end of the first page:

Last November, Mohammed was arrested by American troops and sent to the now-notorious Abu Ghraib prison. But Abu Ali has fared better: He was hired to do contracting work for the occupation government and used his profits to support the resistance. This means, Graham notes, that “the American taxpayer was funding both sides of the conflict.”

What strikes me most about this is that we went in unprepared to deal with this sort of situation. Idiots like Perle suggested the Iraqi people would celebrate and be ready for full sovereignty right way almost, while realists such as Dick Lugar suggested a broader coalition and preparing the population for a long war.

Instead of understanding how complex this situation was, the civilians in the Pentagon sold this war on the cheap and full of hubris. The uniformed leaders suggested more troops. The civilians balked and suggested a new way. And now we know they wanted a way around the international law–or to put more plainly, the law of the land given the United States is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions and treaties approved by the Senate are just that.

Well that new way is failing. War is never simple and there was no chance this would be a World War II that was straightforward (though not easy). We face multiple problems in Iraq, but the Secretary of Defense would like to make you think the problems are simply evil incarnate in a few places. Some of our foes are evil–others need to be shown what being American means. Instead of trusting Americans to understand the need for a prolonged effort, Pentagon civilians sold a lie that the problems were isolated and not a big deal. They were wrong and now there must be accountability at the top. Fire Rumsfeld.

New Blog: WurfWhile

ArchPundit June 8, 2004 2 Comments

By Hiram Wurf who is/was running for DuPage County Board

WurfWhile

I think this sort of blog is going to really allow local coverage of politics to be more indepth. The amount of information available to many folks is rather small on local races, but blogs may make up for that.

More Later

ArchPundit June 7, 2004 No Comments

Just a busy day, but check back tonight or in the morning, I haven’t forgotten.

Thanks Rod, Just Priceless

ArchPundit June 5, 2004 1 Comment

They really are quite funny over there