[dehai-news] America and the World


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From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Sat Aug 16 2008 - 14:49:05 EDT


Andrew Bacevich, America and the World

Friday 15 August 2008

by: Michael Winship, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

photo
During an interview on Bill Moyers this week, Andrew Bacevich, retired Army
colonel and author of "The Limits of Power," said, "There is nothing in the
Preamble to the Constitution which defines the purpose of the United States
of America as remaking the world in our image, which I view as a fool's
errand. (Photo/Illustration: Damien Donck / Newsweek)

    In a letter written in 1648, Swedish statesman Axel Oxenstierna,
chancellor to both King Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina, counseled,
"Know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed."

    The fighting between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia
is an unnerving reminder of that, and of how quickly the balance of global
power can be tilted from unexpected directions with barely a warning.

    Some hawks and neo-cons called for NATO intervention or even suggested
we send in Stinger missiles or the 82nd Airborne as a peacekeeping force.
President Bush warned, "Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state
and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action
is unacceptable in the 21st century."

    Perhaps, but the reality of the early 21st century is that, in the
short run, at least, the president's words ring hollow. In spite of past
promises of support to Georgia, Russia is key to our efforts in the Middle
East and our European allies are dependent on Russia for energy. The
invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have both our military strength and our
international credibility stretched perilously thin at a time when oil-rich
Russia is reemerging as a superpower. We've boxed ourselves in.

    It was in that light that I came upon the Oxenstierna quote the other
night, while re-reading the late historian Barbara Tuchman's "The March of
Folly," a knowing compendium, from ancient Troy to Vietnam, of the ways in
which, given half a chance, those in power will steer their ships of state
straight into the rocks. In the first chapter, she also quotes American
President John Adams: "While all other sciences have advanced" - you can
almost hear him sighing - "government is at a stand; little better
practiced now than three or four thousand years ago."

    Andrew J. Bacevich probably would agree with all of the above. The
retired Army colonel, a West Point graduate, teaches history and
international relations at Boston University. His latest book, "The Limits
of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism," explores our nation's
current predicament, not just on the world stage, but here at home as well.
He spoke with my colleague, Bill Moyers, on this week's edition of the PBS
series, Bill Moyers Journal.

    Bacevich speaks truth to power, no matter who's in power, which may be
why those of both the left and right are eager to hear his views. Perhaps
it's also because when he challenges American myths and illusions, he does
so from a genuine patriotism forged in the fire of his experiences as a
soldier in Vietnam and the death a year ago of his son, an Army lieutenant
in Iraq. "The Limits of Power" is dedicated to the young man, but the
senior Bacevich, a man of quiet, solid gravitas, holds his grief privately
between himself and his family.

    "Our foreign policy is something that is concocted in Washington, DC,
but it reflects the perceptions of our political elite about what we the
people want," he told Moyers. "And what we want, by and large is ... this
continuing flow of very cheap consumer goods. We want to be able to pump
gas into our cars regardless of how big they may happen to be. And we want
to be able to do these things without having to think about whether or not
the books are balanced at the end of the month, or the end of the fiscal
year."

    To that end, he says, "One of the ways we avoid confronting our refusal
to balance the books is to rely increasingly on the projection of American
military power around the world to try to maintain this dysfunctional
system or set of arrangements that have evolved over the last 30 or 40
years."

    "... I think historians a hundred years from now will puzzle over how
it could be that the United States of America, the most powerful nation in
the world, as far back as the early 1970's came to recognize that
dependence on foreign oil was a problem, posed a threat, compromised our
freedom of action. How every president from Richard Nixon down ...
declared, 'We're going to fix the problem.' [But] none of them did."

    He continued, "The clearest statement of what I value is found in the
Preamble to the Constitution. There is nothing in the Preamble to the
Constitution which defines the purpose of the United States of America as
remaking the world in our image, which I view as a fool's errand. I believe
that the framers of the Constitution were primarily concerned with focusing
on the way we live here, the way we order our affairs. To try to ensure
that as individuals, we can have an opportunity to pursue our, perhaps,
differing definitions of freedom, but also so that, as a community, we
could live together in some kind of harmony. And that future generations
would also be able to share in those same opportunities.... With the
current crisis in American foreign policy, unless we do change our ways,
the likelihood that our children, our grandchildren, the next generation
will enjoy the opportunities that we've had is very slight because we're
squandering our power. We are squandering our wealth."

    Bacevich believes, "The Congress, especially with regard to matters
related to national security policy, has thrust power and authority to the
executive branch. We have created an imperial presidency. The Congress no
longer is able to articulate a vision of what is the common good. The
Congress exists primarily to ensure the reelection of members of Congress."

    That imperial presidency, he says, "has made our democracy a false one.
We're going through the motions of a democratic political system. But the
fabric of democracy, I think, really has worn very thin."

    Iraq, Bacevich concludes, "was a fundamental mistake. It never should
have been undertaken. And we're never going to do this kind of thing
again." This might, he thinks, "be the moment when we look ourselves in the
mirror [and] ... see what we have become. And perhaps undertake an effort
to make those changes in the American way of life that will enable us to
preserve for future generations that which we value most about the American
way of life."

    Andrew Bacevich's words should echo down the corridors of Congress and
the halls of the White House, no matter who becomes our next president.

    -------

    The full broadcast of Bill Moyers Journal will be devoted to Bill's
conversation with Bacevich (check local listings), and further discussion
will continue online at the Moyers Blog.

    Michael Winship is senior writer of the weekly public affairs program,
Bill Moyers Journal, which airs Friday nights on PBS. Check local airtimes
or comment at The Moyers Blog at www.pbs.org/moyers.

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