"Evil does exist in the world..."

President Obama is receiving widespread praise for his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.  Here is what I see as the key assertion, made after he praised the moral example of Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism -- it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.

To equate Al Qaeda's 100 to 300 terrorists and Hitler's armies is simply rhetoric totally out of control. Worse, it is to stretch the doctrine of self-defense beyond recognition, giving the United States permission to invade other countries at will.  

Hitler's armies and Nazism were evil, as was fascism generally.  Terrorism is an evil of the modern world but in no way comparable to what we faced in WWII. And the means we use to battle terrorism are not only disproportionate; they are wildly off the mark.  

Obama goes on to claim that in the post-WWII world the United States has been a force for good only pursuing enlightened self-interest.  But how about Chile and Allende?  How about Guatemala and Arbenz?  How about Cuba?  How about Mossadeq in Iran?   How about Vietnam, a war that cost us dearly in American lives not to mention a million Vietnamese dead?  

How about a national security establishment that has been routinely used by both parties to deflect and deform domestic politics and to stymie our chances for a democracy that places the highest priority on rebuilding our nation at home?

I know that Obama knows this sorry record.  George Bush didn't.  Even if he did, Bush didn't care.  He was a scion of an oil-rich family. He expected the U.S. government to override democracy wherever corporate interests.  And the U.S. government did exactly that. 

Of course, I could be wrong about the president's intentions.  Obama may just be protecting his political flank, hoping that if health care reform passes and other domestic priorities pass, he can call the generals back in and tell them:  "Gentlemen, I meant it when I said the troops must come home in 2011."  

I'm not going to hold my breath, however.   And in the meantime, Afghani and American lives will be lost as a president protects his political flank. 

Reinhold Niebuhr wrote in the shadow of Nazism and Communism. Obama speaks in a world where those forces are gone.  But our appetite is whetted and our politics is upended, and we can't seem to stop using violence for reasons that pertain more to the next election than to the principles of "an enlightened self interest."  

Comments

[Carole Beauchamp]

Hats off, gentlemen!!!