Sickening quote from Michael Ledeen, and just for current interest, a remark from the great John Bolton. We know all this here at DU, but sometimes just reading the words is heartbreaking.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,901982,00.htmlConflict and catchphrases
Brian Whitaker explains what
'creative destruction' and 'total war' mean in the context of current US foreign policy Monday February 24, 2003
SNIP.."Faced with obstruction from the French and Germans, ransom demands from the Turks, and opposition from millions of demonstrators around the world, the desired invasion of Iraq has fallen behind schedule.
But not to worry. The process of selecting the next candidates for regime change is already under way."
SNIP.."In a meeting with American congressmen last week, the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, nominated three countries to be tackled after Iraq: Iran, Libya and Syria.
Mr Sharon also met John Bolton, the US under secretary of state, who reportedly told him that it will be "necessary" to deal with Syria, Iran and North Korea after an attack on Iraq. That puts Syria and Iran into the lead with two votes each, followed by Libya and North Korea, with only one.
The attraction of this approach is easy to see.
After Afghanistan and Iraq, conquering Syria and Iran would create an unbroken chain of puppet regimes stretching from the Mediterranean to China...."SNIP..
"The two key phrases are "creative destruction" and "total war". Writing in National Review Online, Michael Ledeen, one of the US's leading rightwing ideologues, explained: "We should have no misgivings about our ability to destroy tyrannies. It is what we do best.
"It comes naturally to us, for we are the one truly revolutionary country in the world, as we have been for more than 200 years. Creative destruction is our middle name. We do it automatically, and that is precisely why the tyrants hate us and are driven to attack us." The National Review article is paid, I think. But here is a James Wolcott article referring to it. This is just frightening to me.
http://jameswolcott.com/archives/2005/01/heh_is_for_hors.php