ronpaulhawaii
04-01-2011, 09:30 AM
Just did some searches, kinda surprised if this hasn't been posted... Quite the headline, and article...
http://blogs.forbes.com/richardsalsman/2011/03/23/libya-exposes-obama-as-our-latest-neocon-president/
In violation of the U.S. Constitution, President Obama has launched a semi-war against Libya, a nation that did not attack the U.S. and was not a threat to its self-interest or national security. But Obama and the neoconservative warmongers who inspire his unjust actions don’t even pretend to put America first. They presume foreign policy is morally “noble” if it sacrifices America’s self-interest, her wealth, her soldiers and even her national security. And the more such values are sacrificed, the more “success” they presume.
...
That’s why Obama took this route – as did Truman, Bush I, Bush II and Clinton. They all put America second or last, the supposedly “moral” stance. We’ve seen such evil before, as when Democratic presidents pushed America into disastrous wars — see Woodrow Wilson (WWI), FDR (WWII), Truman (Korea), JFK and LBJ (Viet Nam) — not solely out of U.S. self-interest, but to “make the world safe for democracy,” which means: safe for a political system America’s Founders did not want and actively opposed.
Obama — amid loud applause from neoconservative cheerleaders at The Weekly Standard, from excuse-making “anti-war” leftists at The New Republic, and with the seeming approval of 70% of the American people — defends his invasion and occupation of Libya on the grounds that it is not truly a “war” but instead a “humanitarian” mission. By that he means U.S. lives and wealth are to be sacrificed in order to prevent a savage political regime from harming or killing its own citizens, even if they are “rebels” of equal or greater savagery. This is not “humanitarian” or moral in the least; it’s an evil act, resting on an evil premise (that sacrifice is “noble”) and an obscene abuse of American lives and liberties, with not a single selfish gain to be had in return.
...
Until a month ago Obama had retained Bush’s designation (since 2003) of Gaddafi’s government as legitimate and off the U.S. enemies list. Why the sudden assault? Is it simply because “victims” are observed in Libya?
What about the millions of victims of regime abuse in dozens of other countries like China, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Yemen, Bahrain, Iran or Sudan? If Obama and the neoconservatives could get away with it, they’d invade many other nations too
...
This self-effacing, self-defeating approach is typical of neoconservative foreign policy — regardless of whether it is practiced by Democrats or Republicans — and it is avowedly anti-self because it presumes self-interest is evil. The stance is timid, cowardly, apologetic and reserved when American self-interest and security are at stake, but bold, eager, unilateral, and warmongering whenever victims abroad, who mean nothing to us (or indeed, are the sworn enemy, like the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda) are “victimized” and we sacrifice to “save” them.
...
I wonder about the following reference to "Just War Theory" though:
In foreign policy, the choice between being imperialistic or pacifistic is a false choice; the relevant alternative is not either to pursue perpetual war (a la John McCain) or to never fight a war (a la Dennis Kucinich), but rather to righteously and totally fight wars only in self-defense and for self-interest (or pre-emption of a real and imminent threat), not out of self-sacrifice. Today so-called “just war” theory insists that there can be no justice if a nation is self-interested in its pursuit of military objectives. The theory animates both neoconservatives and Obama’s advisors.
He seems to be equating Just War with the neo-con approach... am I reading that wrong?
http://blogs.forbes.com/richardsalsman/2011/03/23/libya-exposes-obama-as-our-latest-neocon-president/
In violation of the U.S. Constitution, President Obama has launched a semi-war against Libya, a nation that did not attack the U.S. and was not a threat to its self-interest or national security. But Obama and the neoconservative warmongers who inspire his unjust actions don’t even pretend to put America first. They presume foreign policy is morally “noble” if it sacrifices America’s self-interest, her wealth, her soldiers and even her national security. And the more such values are sacrificed, the more “success” they presume.
...
That’s why Obama took this route – as did Truman, Bush I, Bush II and Clinton. They all put America second or last, the supposedly “moral” stance. We’ve seen such evil before, as when Democratic presidents pushed America into disastrous wars — see Woodrow Wilson (WWI), FDR (WWII), Truman (Korea), JFK and LBJ (Viet Nam) — not solely out of U.S. self-interest, but to “make the world safe for democracy,” which means: safe for a political system America’s Founders did not want and actively opposed.
Obama — amid loud applause from neoconservative cheerleaders at The Weekly Standard, from excuse-making “anti-war” leftists at The New Republic, and with the seeming approval of 70% of the American people — defends his invasion and occupation of Libya on the grounds that it is not truly a “war” but instead a “humanitarian” mission. By that he means U.S. lives and wealth are to be sacrificed in order to prevent a savage political regime from harming or killing its own citizens, even if they are “rebels” of equal or greater savagery. This is not “humanitarian” or moral in the least; it’s an evil act, resting on an evil premise (that sacrifice is “noble”) and an obscene abuse of American lives and liberties, with not a single selfish gain to be had in return.
...
Until a month ago Obama had retained Bush’s designation (since 2003) of Gaddafi’s government as legitimate and off the U.S. enemies list. Why the sudden assault? Is it simply because “victims” are observed in Libya?
What about the millions of victims of regime abuse in dozens of other countries like China, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Yemen, Bahrain, Iran or Sudan? If Obama and the neoconservatives could get away with it, they’d invade many other nations too
...
This self-effacing, self-defeating approach is typical of neoconservative foreign policy — regardless of whether it is practiced by Democrats or Republicans — and it is avowedly anti-self because it presumes self-interest is evil. The stance is timid, cowardly, apologetic and reserved when American self-interest and security are at stake, but bold, eager, unilateral, and warmongering whenever victims abroad, who mean nothing to us (or indeed, are the sworn enemy, like the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda) are “victimized” and we sacrifice to “save” them.
...
I wonder about the following reference to "Just War Theory" though:
In foreign policy, the choice between being imperialistic or pacifistic is a false choice; the relevant alternative is not either to pursue perpetual war (a la John McCain) or to never fight a war (a la Dennis Kucinich), but rather to righteously and totally fight wars only in self-defense and for self-interest (or pre-emption of a real and imminent threat), not out of self-sacrifice. Today so-called “just war” theory insists that there can be no justice if a nation is self-interested in its pursuit of military objectives. The theory animates both neoconservatives and Obama’s advisors.
He seems to be equating Just War with the neo-con approach... am I reading that wrong?