Tom Engelhardt ( TomDispatch )
"Bush’s American Dream was a kind of apotheosis of this country’s global power as well as its crowning catastrophe, thanks to a crew of mad visionaries who mistook military might for global strength and acted accordingly. What they and their neocon allies had was the magic formula for turning the slow landing of a declining but still immensely powerful imperial state into a self-inflicted rout, even if who the victors are is less than clear.
Despite our panoply of bases around the world, despite an arsenal of weaponry beyond anything ever seen (and with more on its way), despite a national security budget the size of the Ritz, it’s not too early to start etching something appropriately sepulchral onto the gravestone that will someday stand over the pretensions of the leaders of this country when they thought that they might truly rule the world."Read more
A self-inflicted wound, no doubt,... but defeat? Dream on, guys. It will not happen in your lifetimes.
ReplyDeleteEngelhardt makes too much of the Krgyz president's decree about closing the base in 2014. Is that the first time anybody has said "no" to the U.S.? Get real.
Oh. and by the way, it is this sort of attitude that always trumps the "America in decline" cheering section:
ReplyDelete"I'm saying I can make it right here, and I will. Watch me. I'm just getting started."
http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-detroit-20111113,0,3242102.story