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 The Illusion of Saving Nations From ThemselvesPosted on Jun 30, 2008The Bush government was elected in 2000 on a platform including vigorous opposition to the United States Army’s doing “nation-building.” Swedes, Danes, the European Union, and NGOs did nation-building. The U.S. Army was a fighting army. This was the principle on which the new U.S. volunteer Army was formed after Vietnam. It is the explanation why, after the fall of Baghdad in 2003, the Army looked on, bemused, while the people of Baghdad hesitantly, and then enthusiastically, tore down the phone and power wires, dug up the copper pipes, and destroyed the power generators of the city infrastructure, looting their own capital city of everything that had value and could be sold. U.S. commanders, asked to protect at least the National Archaeological Museum, and the arts museums and universities, politely replied to curators, professors and concerned citizens, “Sorry, Sir (or Ma’am), we don’t do that sort of thing.” We only protect ourselves and the Oil Ministry. What a difference a five-year-long military disaster can make! It now has cleared the way for another and opposite disaster. In the latest issue of the journal Foreign Affairs, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that “it is absolutely clear that [the United States] will be involved in nation-building for years to come. Democratic state-building is now an urgent component of our national interest.” In the U.S. Army, “a new generation of military leaders [is being trained] for stabilization and counterinsurgency missions” for decades to come, part of “our long-term partnerships with Afghanistan and Iraq, our new relationships in Central Asia, and our long-standing partnerships in the Persian Gulf, providing a solid geostrategic foundation for the generational work ahead.” Advertisement One might have thought that a decade of laying waste to Vietnam and Cambodia in order to accomplish “democratic state-building” would have taught the eminently practical lesson that the United States cannot democratic-state-build for anyone else. It is not even a total success in doing it at home. It is a rule in the life of modern nations that nationalism trumps all else. If the government in Saigon, or a government in Baghdad or Kabul, cannot, even with appropriate foreign material assistance, establish and maintain order within its own frontiers and by its own means, armed legions of foreign democracy-teachers, state-builders and winners of hearts and mind cannot do it for them. As the British soldier—and state-builder in Bosnia—Paddy Ashdown said recently, the time it takes for a liberation army to turn into an occupation army is very short. The transformation is already well-advanced, if not complete, in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In denial of that fact, the Bush administration has ordered reorganization and retraining of American military and political expeditionary forces so as to continue to build nations and democracy, by means of armed intervention and military occupation, for many more years in unlucky Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries (and who knows wherever else). It is an axiom of history that no government put in place by foreign troops, or needing to be maintained in place by them against internal opposition, can be considered a legitimate government. The Taliban in Afghanistan are not the Russian army, overrunning Afghanistan with tanks and helicopters, or an invading British colonial army. If they were, the problem would be simple. They are Afghans, members of the 40-million-strong Pathan (or Pushtoon) people, who make up the largest part of the Afghan population. If other Pathans, inside Afghanistan, who are not religious fundamentalists, and the Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks who make up the rest of the country’s population, do not wish to be ruled by Pathan religious reactionaries, they should not need 60,000 NATO and U.S. troops to defend them. If they will not defend themselves, there is nothing the foreigners can do to save them from their countrymen. The same is true of the Iraqis. The only foreign army that has invaded Iraq is the American Army. The Iraq government is resisting long-term American extraterritorial presence in the country, and Iraqis increasingly are pressing the United States to get out. They are finding that the Pentagon and the White House have actually been planning to stay indefinitely (for 100 years?). This automatically will sooner or later produce popular uprising against military occupation. Then what will an Obama or McCain administration do? It might order the troops to pull out. It will be accused of surrendering America to forces of evil. Or it might order the Army and Marines to do again what was done to Falluja. They could forget about democracy and nation-building. In the present (post-political-campaign) stage of American foreign policy thinking, and under mounting pressure from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for military solutions in the region, all of this deserves more reflection than it is receiving. © 2008 Tribune Media Services International Elsewhere: . CommentsAre you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig. Add Your Comment
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By Paul_GA, July 1, 2008 at 12:40 pm #
“Best minds of this generation”? Looks to me more like the US government has proved the correctness of the Peter Principle; i.e., in a hierarchy, people tend to rise to their level of incompetence.
Report thisBy Allan Krueger, July 1, 2008 at 12:09 pm #
My only question is, who are you referring to? Best minds of this generation, indeed.
“...One would wonder, why the president, a person surrounded by the best minds of this generation, refuses to see the light of reality and pull the troops out of Iraq…”
Report thisBy Paul_GA, July 1, 2008 at 11:35 am #
Non-interventionism is not “isolationism”; it’s just putting into practice Thomas Jefferson’s formula from his first inaugural address: “Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none.”
Interventionism will be this country’s ruin if it’s not ended.
Report thisBy Ostrogoth, June 30, 2008 at 10:45 pm #
“Or it might order the Army and Marines to do again what was done to Falluja. They could forget about democracy and nation-building.”
“In the present (post-political-campaign) stage of American foreign policy thinking, and under mounting pressure from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for military solutions in the region, all of this deserves more reflection than it is receiving.”
_______________________________
Pfaff is no “in your face” imperialist like most of the other journalists in the American MSM.
He writes some intelligent, thoughtful articles that would never make it past the AIPAC censors in the US.
That said, he needs to read, or reread, Klein’s and Chomsky’s latest books. Every two-bit dictator throughout history has always used “liberation” as a pretext to loot and plunder their victims. Iraq was merely the national equivalent of a corporate hostile take-over: strictly business. Over a million innocent victims had to be tortured and murdered because they wouldn’t cooperate? Hey, nothing personal. “Democracy and nation-building” are euphemisms to deceive only the most gullible and naive.
“Nation-building” didn’t fail in Iraq. It was never, at any time, an objective. That’s why Bush and Cheney have no motive to consider Iraq “a five-year-long military disaster.”
Report thisBy Fadel Abdallah, June 30, 2008 at 10:42 pm #
“It is an axiom of history that no government put in place by foreign troops, or needing to be maintained in place by them against internal opposition, can be considered a legitimate government.”
=====================================
I’ve been biting my fingers trying to understand why successive American political-military administrations are not capable of understanding basic facts like the one expressed by William Pfaff above!
Straight thinkers all over the world know that a government put in place by a military occupying power is and always will be a puppet government that the average citizen will never accept as legitimate, and therefore there will be constant internal struggle to topple it. Therefore, no sane person can call this democratic nation-building, when it’s in fact a recipe for continued nation-destruction.
I am starting to question the quality and legitimacy of American institutions that would grant a doctorate degree to a low-thinking person like Condie Rice, who does not have the basic requirements to think rationally! At least we know that her boss, Bush, was a “C” student who was hand-picked by the secret manipulators of power to be their no-questioning man. I guess this applies to Rice and the rest of them. The more stupid you’re, the most likely you’ll have a shot at a political-military high-ranking position. No wonder that this country has been moving backwards from bad to worse!
Report thisBy cann4ing, June 30, 2008 at 6:08 pm #
The notion that the U.S. acts as a benevolent world’s policeman, invading other nations in order to bring their peoples democracy and freedom, is a myth having no basis in reality. The reality is that the U.S. has sought and continues to seek to exert imperial hegemony all over the globe, forcing other nations to serve the interests of a very narrow economic elite—an elite which has no qualms about aligning the U.S. with the world’s most vicious dictators, so long as they are willing to accommodate the interests of the WTO, IMF & World Bank. The neoliberal concept of “freedom” is the ability of the billionaire class to enslave the rest of mankind. It is the realization of one of the three major Party slogans from George Orwell’s “1984.” “Freedom is slavery.”
Report thisBy nrobi, June 30, 2008 at 4:58 pm #
And the Show must go on.
The smattering of applause that the “shrub” receives every time he mentions that Iraq is a success, has to be the most deceptive part of the show.
Report thisI cannot conceive of one person who, with half their brain tied behind their back, thinks that the conflict in Iraq is in any way a success.
This must be the biggest show of military misunderstanding that has ever existed in the history of the world. It amazes me that Gen. David Petraeus, the hand-picked and extremely powerful representative of the president in the region, thinks the very same thing.
This show of force, is one of, if not the most illegal and immoral uses of the Armed Forces of the United States that has ever happened. And there have been some doozies of “armed conflicts” that have happened in the history of America.
One would wonder, why the president, a person surrounded by the best minds of this generation, refuses to see the light of reality and pull the troops out of Iraq, Both the State Department and the Defense Department, are now having extreme trouble recruiting sufficient forces for tours of duty in both Afghanistan and Iraq. They are two of the most dangerous places in the world for Americans, even those who do not have military backgrounds and are using non-violent means to win the hearts and minds of the citizens of those respective countries.
Should we the people, regard the Congress’s inaction on getting the troops home as a slap in the face? Are we to believe that the president is not in his right or left minds? Should he and “Darth Vader” be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors? The high crimes being, Genocide and lying to the American people about the true purpose for sending the Armed Forces into a sovereign nation that had nothing to do with 9/11?
The show must go on. Duhhhhhhhhhhbya and Darth Vader have committed crimes against humanity, by allowing and ordering the capture and torture of innocent civilians, who had nothing to do with terrorism.
The show must go on. The Main Stream Media has been party to, if not fully involved in the run-up to and the continuation of armed conflict in a region that was relatively peaceful until the US became involved. The MSM should be knocked down a peg or two for the complicity in the deception of the American people by the shrub’s administration. I have no love-loss for the MSM, they are a bunch of kow-towing toadies, who for the life of me, I cannot see having one brain in all their heads. They did not fulfill the traditional role of the media, being a safeguard and voice of the people.
One has to wonder if the MSM will ever recover from the blow that will be given to them when we, the people demand apologies for their inaction and complicity in this debacle.
And the Show must go on.
By felicity, June 30, 2008 at 3:40 pm #
Does this reflect abject arrogance or abject stupidity when Rice recently said, “American values are universal.” (Helpful Hint: According to foreign-service people, Rice is a “joke” among foreign heads of state - friend or foe alike.)
Iranian, Iraqian, fill-in-the-blank society may be ready to embrace democracy, but fill-in-the-blank politics is not ready to accommodate it. Hell, we can’t even get our own politics to ‘accommodate’ democracy let alone anybody elses.
Mr. Pfaff, your article is now heading my list as the most depressing of all.
Report thisBy Allan Krueger, June 30, 2008 at 1:28 pm #
The fact-check police need to look at this comment!
“Bush in July 2000 stated that as president, his top priority was war in Iraq, the American people and country were at the bottom of his list of things to take care of. So after stealing both elections the only promises he has kept are those two things.”
Report thisBy purplewolf, June 30, 2008 at 1:23 pm #
Bush in July 2000 stated that as president, his top priority was war in Iraq, the American people and country were at the bottom of his list of things to take care of. So after stealing both elections the only promises he has kept are those two things.
When Bush was in Michigan this past week for a GOP fundraiser he stated, “I’m going to finish my job with a sprint to the finish line. So if I’m Iran, I’m worried.” That says it all. Another preplanned illegal war brought to you by Bushco Inc. Isn’t this enough to impeach him for already?
Report thisBy Allan Krueger, June 30, 2008 at 12:08 pm #
“While our infrastructure rots, billions are spent on wars over seas.”
I will put it a little differently:
While our infrastructure rots, BILLIONS are MADE on wars over seas.
Report thisBy G.Anderson, June 30, 2008 at 11:00 am #
Next up Iran.
Unfortunately for all of us, our government no longer serves the will of the people.
While our infrastructure rots, billions are spent on wars over seas.
It’s clear the American people are a very low priority.
We’re on our own.
Report thisBy Allan Krueger, June 30, 2008 at 9:37 am #
The NeoCons believe in freedom as long as you are doing what they want you to. This, HOWEVER, does not work as a policy in the rest of the world, because the people in other countries are not asleep (like most of us) and more importantly, are not afraid of our government as (WE THE PEOPLE) we are…
Report this