From Consortium News
Police maintain barriers to control anti-Trump protesters near the presidential inauguration, Jan. 20, 2017.
(Image by (Photo credit: Robert Parry)) Details DMCA
To say that Donald Trump is an imperfect messenger for some reasonable messages doesn't do justice to the word "imperfect." But he is right to note that that Official Washington has gone far off-track in recent decades and that the Establishment needs shaking up.
For instance, in his Inaugural Address, President Trump made clear that he would break with the orthodoxy of neoconservatism and liberal interventionism that has led to endless wars in the Middle East and a dangerous New Cold War with Russia.
Trump declared: "We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world, but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example. We will shine for everyone to follow."
That sentiment reflects a traditional U.S. approach to the world, followed by America's first presidents who warned against "entangling alliances" and articulated best by President John Quincy Adams who said in 1821 that while America will speak on behalf of liberty, "she has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart.
"Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy."
Over the past several decades -- even after the end of the Cold War --American presidents have violated this founding precept as they repeatedly went abroad "in search of monsters to destroy."
These missions -- designed and advocated by Washington's dominant neocons and their liberal-hawk sidekicks -- have not only wasted trillions of dollars and cost the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers but the projects have failed to improve national security, have led to massive bloodshed in the targeted countries and have undermined global stability.
No Accountability
Yet, it has been a sign of Official Washington's disconnect from reality that the architects of these failed endeavors have escaped accountability and indeed have solidified their control over the foreign policy establishment and the mainstream news media.
Despite the bloody fiascos in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine and other unfortunate countries where the neocons and liberal hawks have prescribed "regime change," these esteemed know-it-alls have systematically pushed aside all rivals, including old-school "realists" and peace proponents.
The confirmation gauntlets that have confronted Trump's nominees for State, Defense and other national security posts have revealed a near-unanimous bipartisanship in favor of a continuation of neocon/liberal-hawk orthodoxy, demanding pugnacious approaches toward Iran, Russia, Syria and China.
So, while there is a great deal to worry about from President Trump and his administration -- particularly an apparent hostility toward climate-change science, disdain for minority rights and the embrace of right-wing law-and-order nostrums -- there could be a new opening for conflict resolution and a return to traditional diplomacy. Already, there has been a housecleaning at the State Department, where the biographies of some of the most prominent neocons, such as Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland, have disappeared.
Trump's Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson is regarded as a pragmatic businessman who has little patience for the destructive "regime change" strategies of the neocons and liberal hawks. However, because of that and Tillerson's desire for better relations with Russia, many Democrats and some Republicans appear eager to block his confirmation and force Trump to pick someone more acceptable to the neocon/liberal-hawk foreign policy establishment.
Reasons to Resist
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
4
3
3
