The epithet crude Americans use to disparage a woman is “Bimbo”, as Donald Trump memorably referred to Fox anchor Megyn Kelley. Stephan Richter now reminds us that it’s an Italian abbreviation for bambino, a male child. A girl would be bambina. And yes, we have a bimbo running for president. It is just a little early to say whether Trump has finally crumbled, but it is good odds that he will not have enough delegates going to the Cleveland July convention to have the nomination locked up. Thus, it will be the first brokered convention in 60 years. Delegates only need to support the candidate to whom they are pledged on the first ballot. On the second, the bosses weigh in. They are unanimous in believing that not only is Trump ruining the Republican Party, but that he would lose in a big way to Hillary Clinton. They do not like Senator Ted Cruz either — but he is electable and certainly no buffoon. He has had a strategy from the first — different from a bimbo bawling words like a 2-year-old crying out for whatever he thinks first, changing sometimes, daily. Cruz has been lining up delegates chosen in state party caucuses, chosen by various means, not always including votes. There is a far larger issue looming behind us Americans. Trump is only too evidently a symptom of a failing United States.
The only Muslim majority country still “liking” us is tiny Albania, but then, we had a hand in its birth as a nation in its present form. How could Muslim countries admire us any longer when a candidate openly espouses hate for Muslims — of whom there are, by the way, three million law-abiding citizens in the US. Ambassador Chas Freeman, a distinguished Sinologist and an old friend, recently voiced the totality of these reactions in an address, now published. Chas recently made waves when my friend, Admiral Blair (who keynoted your prime minister’s conference on “Moderation”), as director of national intelligence at the White House, appointed him to be head of the National Intelligence Council. AIPAC — the Israeli lobby — created such a stink that Chas removed himself from the nomination. He had the temerity to say openly that the US should base its foreign policy on our interests — not Israel’s. “The End of the American Empire” starts with an analysis of why everything is going wrong for us. To start with, we lecture the world about how to be good little Americans, then wonder why there is so much resentment. After we won the Cold War, we gobbled up much of the ex-Soviet satrapies into our alliances. Then, we cannot understand why Russian President Vladimir Putin reacts — and uses clever diplomacy to push us back everywhere he has enough leverage. And then, how is China supposed to react: we have it surrounded by our fleet and allies, where we base vast forces. China builds some airstrips in what’s long been called the South China Sea, and we re-ignite our alliance with the Philippines and start pushing Chinese ships around. On this one, Chas may have gone a bit far, but surely everyone agrees that Beijing has strategic interests in the region. “Small wonder that both US allies and adversaries now consider the US the most erratic and unpredictable element in the present world disorder… and you can’t expect to accomplish much by launching wars and then asking your military commanders to figure out what your objectives should be.” Chas bemoans our failure to see that the terrorism we now see as our biggest challenge is self-created.
Our wars may have killed two million Muslims. No reaction? Barack Obama got world attention when he argued, in late 2002, that a baseless attack on Iraq would make that country a breeding ground for terrorists, but he continues now to think a few more drones will solve our problems. Americans like to see ourselves as peace loving democrats. We forget our warlike history. We all, but, wiped out native Americans, invaded a variety of countries in Latin America, killed a few hundred thousand Filipinos (“to bring them Christianity”, the then-president said, apparently ignorant of the fact that 85 per cent were already Christians), and the list goes on. But, we were, for many, a “light on the hill”, and Irish, Polish, German and Italians came to seek a better life. They succeeded. Right now, with the legislative branch in paralysis, even unable to deal with a nomination to the Supreme Court, with governance reduced to Obama’s skillful use of executive prerogative, we just are not in a position to offer advice anywhere. We might start by backing off, learning from this worst phase of our history, and refocus on our core values. As in the Hippocratic Oath, to paraphrase — first, do no harm. And, we might add, heal ourselves.
W. Scott Thompson is professor emeritus of international politics, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the United States
The only Muslim majority country still “liking” us is tiny Albania, but then, we had a hand in its birth as a nation in its present form. How could Muslim countries admire us any longer when a candidate openly espouses hate for Muslims — of whom there are, by the way, three million law-abiding citizens in the US. Ambassador Chas Freeman, a distinguished Sinologist and an old friend, recently voiced the totality of these reactions in an address, now published. Chas recently made waves when my friend, Admiral Blair (who keynoted your prime minister’s conference on “Moderation”), as director of national intelligence at the White House, appointed him to be head of the National Intelligence Council. AIPAC — the Israeli lobby — created such a stink that Chas removed himself from the nomination. He had the temerity to say openly that the US should base its foreign policy on our interests — not Israel’s. “The End of the American Empire” starts with an analysis of why everything is going wrong for us. To start with, we lecture the world about how to be good little Americans, then wonder why there is so much resentment. After we won the Cold War, we gobbled up much of the ex-Soviet satrapies into our alliances. Then, we cannot understand why Russian President Vladimir Putin reacts — and uses clever diplomacy to push us back everywhere he has enough leverage. And then, how is China supposed to react: we have it surrounded by our fleet and allies, where we base vast forces. China builds some airstrips in what’s long been called the South China Sea, and we re-ignite our alliance with the Philippines and start pushing Chinese ships around. On this one, Chas may have gone a bit far, but surely everyone agrees that Beijing has strategic interests in the region. “Small wonder that both US allies and adversaries now consider the US the most erratic and unpredictable element in the present world disorder… and you can’t expect to accomplish much by launching wars and then asking your military commanders to figure out what your objectives should be.” Chas bemoans our failure to see that the terrorism we now see as our biggest challenge is self-created.
Our wars may have killed two million Muslims. No reaction? Barack Obama got world attention when he argued, in late 2002, that a baseless attack on Iraq would make that country a breeding ground for terrorists, but he continues now to think a few more drones will solve our problems. Americans like to see ourselves as peace loving democrats. We forget our warlike history. We all, but, wiped out native Americans, invaded a variety of countries in Latin America, killed a few hundred thousand Filipinos (“to bring them Christianity”, the then-president said, apparently ignorant of the fact that 85 per cent were already Christians), and the list goes on. But, we were, for many, a “light on the hill”, and Irish, Polish, German and Italians came to seek a better life. They succeeded. Right now, with the legislative branch in paralysis, even unable to deal with a nomination to the Supreme Court, with governance reduced to Obama’s skillful use of executive prerogative, we just are not in a position to offer advice anywhere. We might start by backing off, learning from this worst phase of our history, and refocus on our core values. As in the Hippocratic Oath, to paraphrase — first, do no harm. And, we might add, heal ourselves.
W. Scott Thompson is professor emeritus of international politics, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the United States
No comments:
Post a Comment