Monday, April 14, 2003
The Neoconservative Agenda: Which Country is Next on the List?
There are three things to be said about the neoconservatives and what they want.
The first is that they act out of fear. They are motivated by fear of terrorist bands, armed by Islamic states, wielding weapons of mass destruction, even though this is politically, technologically and militarily highly implausible.
There is an element of hysteria in this fear, as there was a quarter-century ago when Washington convinced itself that a victory by peasant insurgents in Vietnam would lead to world domination by "Asian communism" and to the isolation and destruction of the United States.
Second, they are naive. Krauthammer says it is "racist" to think that "Arabs" can't govern themselves democratically. The problem in the Middle East is not "Arabs." The problem is a powerful historical culture that functions on categories of value absolutes and religious certainties hostile to the pragmatic relativisms of Western democracy. Military conquest and good intentions will not change that.
Finally, the neoconservatives are fanatics. They believe it is worth killing people for unproved ideas. Traditional morality says that war is justified in legitimate defense. Totalitarian morality justifies war to make people or societies better.
What's the third part a philosophy lesson?
Even the neoconservatives have their limits. I don't think we need to worry about them picking some other place to invade and force regime change. Of course they have learned public opinion really doesn't like pre-emptive war. I think and hope they are wise enough not to militarily go after anyone else without equal or more justification than they did with Iraq.
There are three things to be said about the neoconservatives and what they want.
The first is that they act out of fear. They are motivated by fear of terrorist bands, armed by Islamic states, wielding weapons of mass destruction, even though this is politically, technologically and militarily highly implausible.
There is an element of hysteria in this fear, as there was a quarter-century ago when Washington convinced itself that a victory by peasant insurgents in Vietnam would lead to world domination by "Asian communism" and to the isolation and destruction of the United States.
Second, they are naive. Krauthammer says it is "racist" to think that "Arabs" can't govern themselves democratically. The problem in the Middle East is not "Arabs." The problem is a powerful historical culture that functions on categories of value absolutes and religious certainties hostile to the pragmatic relativisms of Western democracy. Military conquest and good intentions will not change that.
Finally, the neoconservatives are fanatics. They believe it is worth killing people for unproved ideas. Traditional morality says that war is justified in legitimate defense. Totalitarian morality justifies war to make people or societies better.
What's the third part a philosophy lesson?
Even the neoconservatives have their limits. I don't think we need to worry about them picking some other place to invade and force regime change. Of course they have learned public opinion really doesn't like pre-emptive war. I think and hope they are wise enough not to militarily go after anyone else without equal or more justification than they did with Iraq.
