Friedman Insightful on Bush Policy
Thomas Friedman of the New York Times is extremely insightful on the primary issue facing the Bush administration in it’s foreign policy in general, but especially when it comes to the Middle East. This administration has failed when it comes to translating stated policy into practice. They can talk the talk, but they can’t walk the walk.
How good are they at translating principles into practice? When it comes to breaking things they are very, very good - whether it is the ABM treaty, the Kyoto accord, Afghanistan, Iraq or the old way of Arab-Israeli peacemaking. The Bush people believe in power and are not afraid to wield the wrecking ball. But how good are they with a hammer and a nail? How good are they at the detail work of building real alternatives - to Kyoto, Saddam or the Arab-Israel peace process? This is still the most important unanswered question about this administration. Can it reap the harvest of the principles it has sown?Don’t get me wrong — ultimately it is up to Israelis, Palestinians and Iraqis to liberate themselves. They have to want it. But at this stage, we have to use our power to help create the context for them to do it. And that is hard. It means taking hits politically and militarily, which is why if we are to do it right we really have to want it bad.
I don’t think the Bush administration wants peace that badly. The President is not willing or able to put in the time, effort and resources it will take to build a two-state solution in Israel or to build democracy in Iraq.
Friedman also makes a powerful statement about why Americans should care about what happens next, “[B]ecause if we’ve learned anything since 9/11, it’s that the spreading flames of Middle East conflicts have, in a world without walls, begun affecting our quality of life. Their madness has become our metal detectors — and we’ve had enough of it.”
I’m in 100% agreement with Friedman’s arguments. We will not have peace on our shores until we act to stabilize the Middle East. We’ve proven we can destroy, now we have to prove we can build the kind of world we say we want.
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October 8th, 2003 at 2:48 pm
AN EDITORIAL BY JEFF SMITH
AMERICANS HAVE TO WAKE UP AND SEE WHAT GEORGE BUSH IS DOING. UNDER THE GUISE OF FIGHTING TERRORISM HE IS POSIED TO INVADE AND DOMINATE ALL THE OIL PRODUCING NATIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST. NOW THAT IRAQ HAS BEEN SECURED THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION NOW STARTS THE RUMBLINGS THAT THERE IS TROUBLE IS SAUDI ARABIA. HE HAS SENT 3 CIA COVERT OPERATIONS INTO SAUDI ARABIA TO INSTIGATE A TERRORIST UPRISING FOR THE PURPOSE TO INVADE THIS COUNTRY AND SECURE THE OIL. YOU WILL SEE A COUPLE OF THINGS HAPPEN IN THE NEAR FUTURE, THE FIRST IS THERE WILL BE A (SO CALLED) GROWING PROBLEM IN SAUDI ARABIA THAT WILL BE REPORTED IN THE NEWSPAPERS AND ON TV, THEN THERE WILL BE AN ASSINATION OF THE ROYAL FAMILY BLAMED ON INTERNAL TERRORST BUT CARRIED OUT BY CIA OPERATIVES. THEN THERE WILL BE THE INVASION “TO RESTORE THE MONARCHY” BUT IN ACUTALITY TO SECURE THE SAUDI OIL FOR MR. BUSH AND HIS OIL COMPANY BUDDIES. IT WILL NOT STOP THERE, IRAN, KUWAIT AND THE REST OF THE OIL PRODUCING STATES IN THE MIDDLE EAST WILL FOLLOW. A LOT OF SO CALLED PATRIOTS WILL SAY “SO WHAT” I REPLY TO THAT THAT ALL OF THE OIL IN THAT REGION IS NOT WORTH ONE DEAD AMERICAN. AND NOW THERE IS TALK OF RE OPENING THE DRAFT IS THIS IS DONE IT MUST BE MET WITH ALL RESISTANCE POSSIBLE. BECAUSE WHO IS GOING TO PAY FOR THIS OIL? THE LIVES OF YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS WILL.
I AM A CONCERNED CITIZEN AGAINST THIS MILITARY ACTION AND WANTED TO SHARE MY FEELINGS. I MANAGE A KASH AND KARY FOOD STORE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA