Joshua Muravchik’s article in Commentary Magazine, The Past, Present, and Future of Neo-conservatism is worth of note.
In it he reviews what Neo-conseravtives believe and whether they have been proven wrong.
The test as he sees it,
In the end, the validity of the neoconservative position, or for that matter of the indictment against it, rests on two issues that go beyond Iraq: whether and how the U.S. should try to spread democracy in the Middle East, and whether we should be engaged in a war against terrorism.
He then goes on to answer these questions.
Well comma the neocons got their reputation for a reason that is ongoing.
Liberalism appealed to racial equality ? Any Title 8A housing projects in Sausalito, California ? in Scarsdale, New York ? Don’t look at the labor unions.
The author missed the significance and events of the Vietnam War. Three terms must be understood:
-Wars of National Liberation
-SEATO
-Bangdung Conference
Vietnam was only 1 segment of the Second IndoChina War. Don’t forget the US war against Indonesia’s Sarkarno and the PKI was also a segment.
The pro forma Paris Peace Accords of 1973 kept the Noble peace committee busy but the real governing agreement was the First Joint Communique (Shanghai I) signed by President Nixon on 27 Feb 72. The United States achieved most of its strategic objectives.
The USSR had “more kill power” than the US ? Moscow only arrived at nuclear parity circa 1975. US production was not idle.
Former VP Al Gore lost the election perhaps “allegedly stolen away” ? This does not constitute journalism. Al Gore did not even cary his home state of Tennessee where he had been a US Senator. His dad was also (and later worked for a “Jewish” company [an Armand Hammer owned coal company]).
OK, an election was held by the “Palestinian Authority”. Is there significance to this in re “democracy” ?
“Resistence and terror” in Iraq NEVER reached levels the US could not manage. The US rules of engagement caused the problems exploited by the press.
The “promoting democracy in the Middle East” is clearly expressed in the Iraqi Constitution Article II:
“No law can contradict ‘fixed principles’ of Islam”. One of the US drafters was a Noah Feldman of New York.
George Soros and the “among many others” are 100% wrong (presuming the writer’s statement is factual; I don’t think Soros believes this although he might have said it for PR purposes)
to view terrorism as a criminal matter to be handled by law-enforcement. Here, I thank Senator Arlen Specter for instituting the new anti-terrorism insurance program. Without it, the US economy would have stalled.
The neocons have a well-established negative reputation best highlighted by “the tenets of neo conservatism continue to offer the most cogent approach to the challenge that faces our country.” by Joshua Murauchik.
In less than 2 elections, America’s new immigrant citizens will be a force in politics. They are a major group converting from nominal Catholicism to Evangelicalism. They are pragmatists and they have different views than the chardonnay and trust fund circuit.
Kol tuv,