More Neo-Con Wisdom From the Journal
In a characteristically obtuse, barely coherent and typically self-serving and –centered op-ed published Saturday, former Pentagon policy chief, Douglas Feith calls on Obama to build on Feith’s chairmanship of the U.S.-India Defense Policy Group (DPG) to “intensify strategic cooperation with India” by initiating “a proper strategy to defeat our (common) terrorist enemies.”
Hard-line neo-cons have long seen India as a critical ally in the ongoing “clash of civilizations” which they and Islamist extremists have tried so hard to stoke. What really struck me about Feith’s article, however, was his implicit argument against territorial compromise between India and Pakistan (sound familiar?):
“The more we learned about jihadist ideology – that of al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and others – the less likely it appeared that India could free itself of terrorist attacks simply through territorial compromise with Pakistan over Kashmir. that a territorial compromise on Kashmir between India and Pakistan would not serve. Jihadist leaders declare that the aim of their holy war is not to alter specific policies of their enemies, but rather to establish a universal Muslim state.”
<snip>
In another op-ed published Monday, neo-imperialist neo-con Max Boot argues in favor of stronger international action against pirates in Somalia and terrorists in Pakistan, a generally defensible – if questionable in some of its details (use Blackwater and other mercenaries to protect shipping) – position. But there was one paragraph that really jumped out at me:
“…Pakistan was not entirely peaceful when it was under British rule. Nor was Somalia under Italian and British sovereignty. But they were considerably better off than they are today – not only from the standpoint of Western countries but also from the standpoint of their own citizens.”
<snip>
Of course, Boot’s reasoning is very similar to that of the liberal interventionists with whom neo-cons once again hope to make common cause.
<more>
http://www.ips.org/blog/jimlobe/?p=207