e-Claire

GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRAND-SON OF: NYT --Non-biassed and brilliant

[Kerry's theory that we're facing the clash of civilization against chaos] stands in significant contrast to the Bush doctrine, which holds that the war on terror, if not exactly a clash of civilizations, is nonetheless a struggle between those states that would promote terrorism and those that would exterminate it. ...[Bush] does not accept the idea that those adversaries can ultimately survive and operate independently of states;

I disagree with the conclusion of the author. He mistakes a Strategy for a Vision. I believe that it is Bush's strategy to make other states choose which side -- chaos or civilization -- they will act upon and to make clear to them the consequences of that choice. Terrorists must exist within states -- they ain't floating around on the Atlantic -- and it is up to each individual state to decide whether they will help 'em, ignore 'em or toss 'em out.

By singling out three states in particular- Iraq, North Korea and Iran -- as an ''axis of evil,'' and by invading Iraq on the premise that it did (or at least might) sponsor terrorism, Bush cemented the idea that his war on terror is a war against those states that, in the president's words, are not with us but against us.

The author's snark [or ignorance] aside, in doing so Bush cemented the idea that every state was to be held responsible and accountable for what goes on within its borders, thereby preventing the necessity of US troops/operatives running willy-nilly though other states' territories chasing random terrorist groups and individuals. [aka; "swatting flies."] That would have really pissed off the 'world community.' . NB I'm gonna break this up into several pieces so as not to go on and on and fucking on to make it less egregious. The original piece is Kerry's Undeclared War from the NYT Magazine. [login: biasedashell PW: dncshill]

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