For the neo-con dominated foreign policy establishment, nothing succeeds like failure.
RPI has recently covered the total collapse of Iraq. Then there’s the intervention in Libya, where even Neocon warhawk Max Boot must admit the sorry state of affairs, as he moans:
“…not only is Libya at the mercy of various militias but it is so ungoverned that its distant deserts in the southwest have become a refuge for al-Qaeda fighters fleeing the French offensive in Mali.”
Prior to the decision to overthrow Gaddafi, there was little extremism to speak of in Libya. Yet the war machine trudged on, arming militant Islamists (or in, John McCain’s words, “Libyan patriots who want to liberate their nation”), Eventually, after these “patriots” had murdered all the dark-skinned Libyans, they turned their (our) guns against the U.S. in Benghazi.
Failure all around.
Does it stop the neocons? Of course not!
Syria has become the next stop on the neocon march of mayhem. But they’ve been struggling to get the combination to the lock for Obama to go all in. They’ve been feverishly thinking of ways to crack the code.
So far, no dice…but the “right people” may be heading to the “right places” to make the war happen: Susan Rice is receiving a nice promotion to become National Security Advisor, and Samantha Power will be filling Rice’s post as UN Ambassador.
The vigilant Max Boot sees a possible opportunity:
“Both Rice and Power are known for their humanitarian interventionist viewpoints; they were widely seen as two of the key advocates for military action in Libya in 2011. Perhaps in their new positions they can make the case to Obama more effectively for greater American involvement in Syria where the situation continues to spiral downward.
Samantha Power is well known for her writings advocating U.S. interventions around the world for “moral” reasons. Supporters of her nomination include a who’s-who of champions for military aggressiveness. They include Sen. John McCain, Joe Lieberman, and Alan Dershowitz.
Although some have suggested that Power has been too willing to consider the Palestinian situation in the Middle East, Dershowitz praises Power’s loyalty to Israel as well as her “doctrine” that seeks to give the U.S. a pass to intervene anywhere that it pleases:
“I’ve known Samantha for many many years and have been to many gatherings where Israel has been discussed off the record and have never heard her express any views that could be characterized as anti-Israel.”
“She is partially responsible for the ‘duty to intervene’ doctrine … She is a leader on the argument that national borders and notions of sovereignty can’t stand in the way of humanitarian intervention.”
Anyone who’s paying attention can easily see that the players (no matter their past failures) do not change (but are promoted). The deck chairs have been shuffled, but the three-headed monster of Clinton, Rice & Power still lives.
No wonder neocons are pleased with the recent appointments. More weight has been placed on scale towards war in Syria — and just in time!
It is their hope, of course, to see the scale tip as soon as possible.
