McCain‘s surrogates, Max Boot and Richard Williamson, told a gathering of the hawkish Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) in Virgina last weekend that the Republican candidate, if elected, would not become actively engaged in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and discourage Israeli-Syrian peace efforts, according to an important article by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s excellent Ron Kampeas. Consistent with my last post, Abrams’ influence on both McCain positions is apparent.
As noted by Kampeas, Williamson’s endorsement of those positions “signified how closely the McCain campaign has allied itself with neo-conservatives.” Frankly, the position of those foreign-policy realists who have endorsed McCain and who, according to the mainstream media, are supposed to be advising him — I’m thinking of James Baker or Richard Armitage as examples — is becoming increasingly untenable in this campaign.
Sheilanagig – is your moniker a variation on a P.J. Harvey song? (I’m a fan.)
The damage we have done to others sickens me — be it the people of Iran, or Guatemala, or Vietnam, or other places. And of course we shouldn’t forget Native Americans and African Americans. On the other hand, just berating ourselves doesn’t accomplish much. And then shouldn’t we weigh the good things America has done in the world, as well?
Doesn’t every European country of any size have some major crimes in its history? Isn’t China a pretty nasty place? How many genocides have occurred in Africa in the last 40 years? There’s plenty of shame to go around. Americans generally are more self-critical than any other people I can think of.
Are/will the Euros be so belligerent when we go broke? I get the sense that they are just joining the chorus that we’re leading. I don’t know for sure. When we shrivel up, it will hurt Europe some. I’m not planning on going to Europe but the resource rich 3rd world. They know how to deal with privation.