Putin countered, "I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States' policy is "what makes America different. It's what makes us exceptional.' It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation.", ("A Plea for Caution from Russia")
Obama felt compelled to respond.
By saying that no, the U.S. played by the same rules as everyone else?
Hardly! He declared:
"The danger for the world is not an America that is too eager to immerse itself in the affairs of other countries, or to take on every problem in the region as its own. The danger for the world is that the United States, after a decade of war--rightly concerned about issues back home, aware of the hostility that our engagement in the region has engendered throughout the Muslim world--may disengage, creating a vacuum of leadership that no other nation is ready to fill.
"I believe such disengagement would be a mistake. I believe America must remain engaged for our own security. But I also believe the world is better for it. Some may disagree, but I believe America is exceptional--in part because we have shown a willingness through the sacrifice of blood and treasure to stand up not only for our own narrow self-interests, but for the interests of all.
The U.S. is indeed exceptional--it's exceptional in the death and destruction it's wreaked on the planet--including the Middle East. No other power even comes close to the U.S. in the number of countries bombed, bullied, invaded or occupied and the millions murdered--from the 150,000-250,000 incinerated in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan; to the two to three million killed in Vietnam and Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s; to the hundreds of thousands massacred by U.S.-backed death squads in Guatemala and El Salvador in the 1980s. Many books have been written detailing these crimes and their staggering toll.
But most people in this country are unaware of (or in some cases refuse to fully confront) this history. Even more enlightened people may think the U.S. may have "made mistakes," but basically agree with Obama that on balance "the world is better" because of U.S. actions, and that it isn't acting "only for our own narrow self-interests, but for the interests of all." Or at least they wish it were so, and believe it is possible.
This is why it is so important to bring out what motivates U.S. actions (as we'll dig into below), the means the U.S. employs, and the horrific impacts of its actions--all realities that Obama skirts, lies about, and obscures.
"America is Exceptional": The Invasion of IraqTake one example: Iraq.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a war of aggression based on the deliberate lie that Saddam Hussein had WMD. And it was sold as a good thing for the people of Iraq and beyond. But it was not about advancing the "interests of all," it was launched as part of a strategy to create an unchallenged and unchallengeable U.S. empire as Bush regime thinkers spelled out explicitly in policy papers.
Neither Iraq nor the world was "better" for what the U.S. did. At least 121,754 Iraqis were killed between March 2003 and December 31, 2011 (when U.S. military forces withdrew); between 655,000 and 1 million Iraqis died from the direct and indirect impacts of the war and occupation (including to water and power systems, healthcare, and food production); it's estimated that over 4 million Iraqis were injured, and 4.5 million driven from their homes.)
Yet during his review of U.S. military actions, Obama never says a word about this staggering Iraqi toll. He makes a glancing reference to the ongoing civil war ("In Iraq, killings and car bombs continue to be a terrible part of life"). But he implies that the U.S. made a noble attempt to bring democracy to Iraq, but was thwarted by problems within Iraqi society ("Iraq shows us that democracy cannot simply be imposed by force") and the re-emergence of "sectarian conflict."
This is a lie and a cover-up: the U.S. invasion and occupation (which was never about self-determination for Iraq) fueled Islamic fundamentalism and sectarian and religious conflict in many ways, including backing reactionary religious fundamentalist violence of all kinds to impose its rule through "divide and conquer."
One can look at the history of any country in the region and come to the same conclusion: that the Middle East is NOT a better place for what the U.S. has done. And more U.S. intervention, attacks, and wars won't be any better.
Their Interests are NOT Our InterestsMany people reading this article, this far, will agree that what the U.S. has brought to the world has not been good. But there is an intellectual and yes, moral responsibility to take that further: to confront the fact that the U.S. cannot bring anything good to the world. It is an imperialist power.
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