Paul Weyrich, via his Free Congress Foundation, has called for an end to this Administration’s interventionist addiction:
Free Congress Foundation
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jill Farrell 703-405-8905
Thursday, November 04, 2004
jfarrell@freecongress.orgThe Free Congress Foundation Calls For Traditional Conservative Foreign Policy
Washington, D.C. – The Free Congress Foundation released the following statement from Paul M. Weyrich, Chairman and CEO:
The re-election of President George W. Bush is a victory for conservatives and for America. Senator John Kerry is the most liberal member of the United States Senate. Especially in view of likely Supreme Court vacancies, our country will be far better off with a President who represents what most Americans believe.
However, now that the election is over, it is time for a serious debate within the conservative movement. It is a fact that certain elements within the Bush Administration, the so-called neo-conservatives, have taken America’s foreign policy in directions that are very different from what conservatives have traditionally supported.
I will be the first to praise the neo-cons for their many past contributions to American conservatism. They played key roles in sustaining America’s opposition to the Soviet Union in the latter stages of the Cold War. Without them our country might have made some sort of compromise that would have kept the Communists in power. Many of their positions on domestic issues reflect Free Congress Foundation’s own work on cultural conservatism. I count many leading neo-cons as personal friends.
It is also true that the re-direction of American foreign policy toward utopian, Wilsonian goals began not under President George W. Bush but under President Clinton. The Clinton Administration started an unprovoked war against a country that did not threaten us, Serbia. In the name of democracy and human rights, NATO’s air bombing campaign killed as many as 5,000 Serbian civilians and wrecked much of that country’s economy and infrastructure.
However, in the year 2000, George W. Bush ran on a platform that renounced such adventures. He said, “I just don’t think it’s the role of the United States to walk into a country and say, we do it this way, so should you…I think the United States must be humble…in how we treat nations that are figuring out how to chart their own course.” These statements reflected conservatives’ traditional belief that America should go to war only in self-defense and should avoid unnecessary foreign entanglements.
Then, after 9/11, President Bush’s views seemed to change. While our invasion of Afghanistan was a necessary response to al-Qaeda’s attacks on America, it is clear that America’s attack on Iraq reflected a different agenda. Specifically, it reflected the neo-cons’ belief that the whole world should be democratized on the American model, by force if necessary. That is a radical departure from what conservatives have stood for ever since Edmund Burke.
The consequences of the neo-cons’ adventure in Iraq are now all too clear: America is stuck in a guerilla war with no end in sight, our military is stretched too thin to respond to other threats, and our real enemies, non-state organizations such al al-Qaeda, are benefiting from the Arab and Islamic backlash against our occupation of an Islamic country.
In coming months, I intend to work with other conservative leaders to bring about the debate over foreign policy and grand strategy that both our nation and the conservative movement clearly need. What should our foreign policy goals be if we are realists, not utopians? Should our grand strategy be offensive or defensive in a world where non-state, Fourth Generation war is spreading? Is our military oriented toward Fourth Generation war, or are we still focused on war with other states?
If President Bush’s second term is to be successful, these questions must be addressed. As much as I admire the neo-cons and appreciate their past contributions, it is not clear that the strategic direction in which they have sent the country is correct. I am hopeful that the Bush Administration will welcome this debate and participate in it with an open mind. President George W. Bush’s place in history may depend upon his having done so.
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While I part company with the Free Congress Foundation on its stances on most social issues, I fully support their call for an end to neo-conservative militarism and empire-building. (Disclosure: I have in the past and am currently involved in multiple civil liberties coalitions with the Free Congress Foundation.)
This entry also posted at Stand Down.
Weyrich says he harbors admiration for the neo-cons. I don’t. None of their theories were sustained by a shred of evidence. However, when compared to Israel’s experience in Lebanon in the 1980s, and French debacle in Algeria in the 1950s, there was plenty of evidence to reject their rosy predictions. Sound American foreign policy is not the objective of Wolfowitz, Feith, Wurmser, et. al. This is about furthering Israel’s strategic interests. The canard of weapons of mass destruction, i.e., fear mongering does not stand up to the sound reasoning of people like Bernard Brodie who taught containment and deterrence. As the Duelfor report found, the latter were indeed succeeding. Before the Iraq invasion, the now exposed sycophants of Powell and Rice said Saddam Husssein was not a threat. What the neo-cons have achieved is the isolation of the U.S. in the community of nations, not surprisingly like the pariah Israel for their occupation of Palestinian land. The neo-cons have succeeded in sabotaging the Mideast peace talks. This runs directly counter to America’s national security, but is precisely what Sharon desired. The Republicans have allowed foreign interests to game the American electoral system to the detriment of our security. The name for that, my fellow Americans, is treason.
11/5/2004 2:48:00 PM
Please spread the word. Let’s hit the bastards in the only place they understand – their wallets. I’m calling for everyone who voted against Bush to STAY HOME on the busiest shopping day of the year – the day after Thanksgiving. 43 million less shoppers might make a point. Also boycott Bush’s chums like WalMart and buy from liberal friendly, overseas, or local small business. And finally – cancel your vacation to any red state destination – Florida, Kiawah Island, New Orleans and spend it instead in Maine, Wisconsin, Cape Cod, California, NYC, Chicago, etc… We don’t need to pay these people to take our rights away. Please pass it on!!!
11/4/2004 17:06:00
I very much hope more nonUS people (may I say ‘folk’ a la GWB?) pick up the themes of traditionalist and libertarian US thought. Doltish UK commentaries seem to assume that the US is either imperialist neocons or Kerry-ites who er want to consult ‘us’ before invading other countries.
The idea that a Christian could write such commentaries as those of Gary North on lew.rockwell is a mystery to them.
(by the way I am an atheist of 55 years’ standing)
sincerely
Ben Cosin, London UK
Gosh, what happened to that all-powerful conspiracy to take over Iraq and control the whole world’s oil supply? You’d think those selfish America-Firsters, of all people, would have got the memo about how America needs to conquer the whole oil-producing world to keep our economy and our SUVs going. Guess the FCF don’t read this blog.
“War for Oil” my ass.
We’re all familiar with the contents of your ass. They normally end up spilling out onto this blog.
Richard
11/9/2004 5:28:00 PM