You wanna read something *really* scary?

Glenn Greenwald looks into some recent rhetoric on the unfolding mess in Israel and nothing comes up roses:

...the President claims that the reason 9/11 happened is because the foreign policy of both political parties for the last several decades was devoted to preserving stability (i.e., a state of peace, avoidance of war), and stability in the Middle East is our greatest enemy.

That, according to neoconservatives (apparently including the President), is what needs to be changed. Stability is our enemy because it breeds hatred and war. Only instability and war will breed a "lasting peace." Thus, the more instability and war in the Middle East, the better. That is the central neconservative warmongering tenet and it is what is coming out of the President's mouth as he discusses his views of the new war in the Middle East.

The 1984 references write themselves these days.

He goes further:

That is the central incoherence which lays at the heart of the Bush administration's neoconservative mission -- one minute the objective is to win the "hearts and minds" of Muslims in the Middle East so that there will be less anti-American hatred for Al Qaeda to exploit when recruiting. The next minute the objective is to bomb as many of their countries as possible for their own good and hope that they are appreciative of all the carnage and destruction we are raining down on them in the name of warring against the evil of "stability."

And includes this telling quote from Bush himself:

This moment of conflict in the Middle East is painful and tragic. Yet it is also a moment of opportunity for broader change in the region. Transforming countries that have suffered decades of tyranny and violence is difficult, and it will take time to achieve. But the consequences will be profound -- for our country and the world. When the Middle East grows in liberty and democracy, it will also grow in peace, and that will make America and all free nations more secure.

And there you have it.

They do not like us right now because they are not free Democracies and/or violence has been allowed to 'simmer'. We are a free Democracy. We want them to be a free Democracy so they will like us. So, we will bomb the shit out of every last one of them until they can *see* how wonderful it is to be a free Democracy. Only then, after we have destroyed their homes, killed their soldiers and the occasional civilian, blown up their businesses and destroyed their infrastructure... only then will they like us a really really lot.

It all defies logic, but still the President puts it forth as though it were the only logical conclusion one could reach.

progprog
I'm not liberal, I'm just paying attention