Sunday, December 30, 2007
Like a fart in a windstorm
Andrew J Bacevich, writing in the LA Times looks at Our Dear Embattled Leader and his neo-cons inability to reshape history as they think it should be.All too often ODEL and his odius crew have made trouble rather than the glorious history they imagine.
Viewed from a historian's perspective, the Bush administration since 9/11 has ransacked the past to conjure up comforting expectations for the future. President Bush excels in this exercise, expressing confidence that the "untamed fire of freedom" will one day soon "reach the darkest corners of our world." Yet as the assassination of Benazir Bhutto reminds us yet again, events refuse to play along. History remains stubbornly recalcitrant.Using Pakistan as his model, Bacevich shows us that the "Wizard of Crawford" is no better than the one in Oz, manipulating smoke and mirrors but in the end changing little and now standing exposed for what he truly is.
Faced with the prospect of "losing" Pakistan, what should the world's sole superpower do? Despite Musharraf's flaws, should Washington back him to the hilt as the only alternative to chaos? Or should Bush commit the United States without reservation to building a strong democracy in Pakistan?In truth, Dear Leader is not the first president to face this dilemma, but he is the first to handle it so badly that the image of effectiveness has been shattered as well, making his efforts look like a fart in a windstorm.
To pose such questions is to presume that decisions made in Washington will decisively influence the course of events in Islamabad. Yet the lesson to be drawn from the developments of the last several days -- and from U.S. involvement in Pakistan over the course of decades -- suggests just the opposite: The United States has next to no ability to determine Pakistan's fate.
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