I feel compelled to respond to his claims to Goldwater Republicanism and patriotism because his attacks on the Bush administration's "neoconservatism" were anything but patriotic. In short, Prestowitz is a CFR operative with only one agenda: to use his former conservative identity as a disguise for political attacks on the Bush administration's strong policies for military preemption of terrorism and invasion, American strategic and environmental sovereignty, and the Bush administration's value for the American destiny as a global defender of intellectual and economic freedom. Despite what Prestowitz would have us believe, these are recipes for continued American vigor and economic viability. A strong America means continued progress in this world where the alternatives are Islamic Shari'ia law, Chinese fascism, and European socialism.
Prestowitz denounced Manifest Destiny and claims that our "unilateralism" is a continuation of this tradition. He labels our conquest and purchase of the North American southwest as empire building, and lumps our time limited control over the Philippines in with our destruction of the Spanish empire as imperialism, as well. Despite America's victories in WWI, WWII, and the Cold war, he claims we are not the "chosen people." His claims to Christian evangelicalism aside, this issue need not be seen as a Christian-only claim, and many Americans have faith that this nation is holding the baton of liberty regardless of their religious convictions.
Prestowitz, who is a CFR contributor (Council for Foreign Relations, see http://www.namebase.org/main1/Clyde-V-jr-Prestowitz.html), claims that we need to reduce the size and power of our military. This is typical of the contemporary "multilateralism" spearheaded by Presidents Jimmy Carter and William Clinton, and their wives. Claiming as a Republican in favor of small government, he argues that having a large military is anything but a conservative policy. He even blames California's problems on a form of "Trotskyism on the Right," evidently meaning that our military expenditure is part of the problem with our state's economy, despite its close association with the military industrial complex's R&D and manufacturing.
Prestowitz calls the Israel lobby in Washington a "tough nut to crack," and in a thinly veiled anti-Zionist comment, cites an unnamed Israeli professor who says that "Americans are more Jewish than Israelis." He proudly claims to have interviewed Arafat, Sharon, Barak as "Key Players" in the peace process in Israel, but claims that 80% of the Israeli public are for getting rid of settlements, and pulling back to the "green line." He blames settler parties, "extreme" religious parties for being determined to have Israel settle the "whole west bank." He mentions that Jenin "massacre," saying he saw BBC, Deutsche Telecom (meaning Welle?) Al Jezzera. FOX, and CNN news sources as being from extremely different perspectives, clearly unwilling to admit that there wasn't a "massacre." Prestowitz upholds the road map as our only hope, saying 'In that sense, "let's wish him well."' Despite the fact that Israel is the only democracy in the mideast with any measure of religious freedom, it is somehow due to Jewish manipulation that we support its right to exist in strategic araes such as the west bank!
To solve our problems, Prestowitz speaks kindly of Dean as being the only candidate willing to stand against "unilateralism," saying that America can't afford to do things by itself, and wouldn't want to. He recommends the following:
He upholds the United Nations as a multilateral, post-war era success (despite the war in Korea) and even mentions an early American proposal to put our nuclear weapons under international control as exemplary multilateralism. He cites Vietnam as a unilateral failure, despite its origins in a UN failing, ignoring CFR's culpability.
Prestowitz accuses neoconservatives as being imperialists (where have we heard that?) and stresses that preemptive war requires "good intelligence," as if we didn't act on exactly the right intelligence when we crushed Saddam. He holds up Kosovo as our shining accomplishment, and mentions that the Kyoto accords would have given us a stronger position going into Iraq.
To recap, Prestowitz is a CFR wolf in Goldwater "small government" clothing. Republican conservatives believe in just enough government to do the job at hand. As he admits, 9/11 changed everything. It ended a legacy of 60 years of appeasement, going back to Eisenhower's halt at the river Elbe in deference to the advancing Soviet army, a pattern begun by FDR and Churchill at Yalta. When a muslim-controlled American airliner slammed into our Pentagon, the era of appeasement ended, hopefully forever. Multipolarists need not apply as manipulators of our foreign policy, and an East coast ivory tower elitist like Prestowitz has nothing to offer the present debate as to the causes of California's economic woes.
Despite what neo-neocons like Prestowitz would have us believe, the American Revolution continues to this day, and our gift of intellectual and economic freedom to humanity will continue to shine as a beacon on the hill of this world as long as the majority of Americans believe we can. Prestowitz usurps this metaphor, and deserves to be criticized for it.
The left believes that America is a rogue nation led by terrorists which neeeds to be destroyed.
[sound of churchkey pulling off bottle cap]
Left and fake right left have gone crazy with this anf it has hit themainstream as well.
It is weird.
Of course. But doesn't change the truth that America is still lightyears ahead of whoever is in second place.