George Kennan was prescient about the influence our national security apparatus would have on our purported values. He wrote, "We must have the courage and self-confidence to cling to our own methods and conceptions of human society. After all, the greatest danger than can befall us in coping with this problem of Soviet Communism is that we shall allow ourselves to become like those with whom we are coping." From concern about the Soviet state to terrorism represents a continuum. Before any cure for our crisis in democratic governance can be had, Americans must face the fact that in too many respects, salient even in the context of our current budgetary battles, the military industrial complex is uncontrollable. While our black box government claims to be for the people, it is no longer of the people, or by the people.
Robert Gates made a selective point; citing MacArthur, that sending land armies into Asia or the Middle East was folly. In the Libya case the politicians actually seem to have followed his advice, restricting American involvement to peripheral action; unlike GW Bush, who relied on the advice of those involved in the Project for a New American Century, almost all of whom were from the political world and lacked military experience. Gates, judging that US forces were depleted after Iraq and Afghanistan, was arguing against those in the pentagon who wanted to insert forces and he seems to have carried the day. PS. Your critique that Engelhardt ignored the primary role of the political realm would have been more effective had you refrained from using silly name calling in your final paragraph.
An NPR reporter on the ground in Syria, I think it was Deborah Amos, report eyewitness accounts of undercover US personnel inside Syria. I'm not sure what credence to assign to these third hand reports. Then again I can't realistically believe Administration denials of involvement.
That you elicited a Stalinesque response from the Bush WH is a testament to the power of your thoughts and words. They were on constant alert that the lies they used to launch the Iraq War would be exposed. They were terrified of the truths you spoke. You were apparently shaking their confidence, perhaps more than you ever imagined. More power to you Prof. Cole!
© 2025 All Rights Reserved
George Kennan was prescient about the influence our national security apparatus would have on our purported values. He wrote, "We must have the courage and self-confidence to cling to our own methods and conceptions of human society. After all, the greatest danger than can befall us in coping with this problem of Soviet Communism is that we shall allow ourselves to become like those with whom we are coping." From concern about the Soviet state to terrorism represents a continuum. Before any cure for our crisis in democratic governance can be had, Americans must face the fact that in too many respects, salient even in the context of our current budgetary battles, the military industrial complex is uncontrollable. While our black box government claims to be for the people, it is no longer of the people, or by the people.
Robert Gates made a selective point; citing MacArthur, that sending land armies into Asia or the Middle East was folly. In the Libya case the politicians actually seem to have followed his advice, restricting American involvement to peripheral action; unlike GW Bush, who relied on the advice of those involved in the Project for a New American Century, almost all of whom were from the political world and lacked military experience. Gates, judging that US forces were depleted after Iraq and Afghanistan, was arguing against those in the pentagon who wanted to insert forces and he seems to have carried the day. PS. Your critique that Engelhardt ignored the primary role of the political realm would have been more effective had you refrained from using silly name calling in your final paragraph.
An NPR reporter on the ground in Syria, I think it was Deborah Amos, report eyewitness accounts of undercover US personnel inside Syria. I'm not sure what credence to assign to these third hand reports. Then again I can't realistically believe Administration denials of involvement.
That you elicited a Stalinesque response from the Bush WH is a testament to the power of your thoughts and words. They were on constant alert that the lies they used to launch the Iraq War would be exposed. They were terrified of the truths you spoke. You were apparently shaking their confidence, perhaps more than you ever imagined. More power to you Prof. Cole!