Friday, August 11, 2006
(11:22 PM) | Rob Breymaier:
When is Enough Enough?
The latest cynical opportunism from the Republicans -- using the terror busts in Britain to raise funds and queer political debate -- leaves me dumbfounded at the level of discourse in American politics. The only thing that gives me hope is that it does seem like the Democrats have finally returned to the good old days of Clinton's first run for president. They hit back fast and strong against Republican "claims" and "assertions". (And, I think we can thank the neo-blogosphere for reinvigorating that.)The unspeakable irony is that neoconservatives, many who believe we are in a cultural war at home, choose to fight that domestic cultural war through the marketplace of ideas. Yet in the global "clash of civilizations", these same neocons refuse to admit that ideas have any power to change a culture. Instead, they insist that change will only occur as a result of force.
Moreover, Republicans refuse to let ideas even enter into the discourse. Any thought about how to improve our efforts or reconsider our approach to terrorism is met with disdain. It's as if the Republicans are using the "war on terror" to prove the ineffectiveness of government just as they use deficit spending (spurred by tax cuts to the wealthy) to prove that government must cut social programs.
Predictably, the result is a war that has become a fiasco. I doubt that, in a macro sense, anyone could point to a success in Iraq -- freedoms are curtailed, violence is more deadly, stability is weakened, strategic balance is disrupted, jihadi recruitment is increasing, and money is wasted. And the sum that is even greater than these parts equals reduced capacity to defend and provide for our own people while inflaming anti-American attitudes throughout the world.
Similarly, we can hardly point to an American success in the "war on terror". Afghanistan is slinking back into fundamentalism. An increasing number of American allies are targets of the terrorists. Al Qaeda's leaders are still at large. The Department of Homeland Security is spending money foolishly. Related conflicts have worsened (see Hezbollah, Iran, North Korea).
Goodness sakes, it's as if we want to lose.
