Wolfowitz and the U.S. Imperium
Paul Wolfowitz gave a May 6th interview with CNN Turk in which he made some extraordinarily presumptuous comments (even for this Administration, one of the most presumptuous in memory).
The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/08/international/worldspecial/08TURK.html) notes that he criticized Turkey for not joining the Bush administration’s campaign to topple Saddam Hussein‘s government. During the interview he remonstrated: "Let’s have a Turkey that steps up and says: `We made a mistake. We should have known how bad things were in Iraq, but we know now. Let’s figure out how we can be as helpful as possible to the Americans.’" If that isn’t the most galling and self-interested comment made by a U.S. government official in recent memory!!
To add insult to injury, Wolfowitz also singled out the Turkish military for criticism. "I think for whatever reason, they did not play the strong leadership role that we would have expected."
People like Wolfowitz and his Bush Administration colleagues are among the most monomanically self-centered U.S. government officials ever to have graced our nation’s capital. In their view, no nation is viewed as an independent entity in its own right. Nations are mere extensions of U.S. interests. They only exist insofar as they further or deny those interests.
A nation like Turkey, which exercised its sovereign right to follow a neutral path in the war, aren’t given the benefit of the doubt. They aren’t even given the right to have their own (i.e. Turkish) foreign policy. Not only have they disappointed U.S. expectations but, at least in the world according to Wolfowitz, they have gone against their own interests. I wouldn’t be surprised if Wolfowitz didn’t dream that he should be appointed foreign and military czar for all the nations of the world. Then, he wouldn’t be blocked in his expansive vision of a U.S. imperium by any person or nation. What a relief for him not to have any opposition from anyone in the world to his goals.
When will these people receive their comeuppance? May it come soon.
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