Thursday, August 14, 2008

Fools Russian Where Neocons Fib to Trod

Time for one of those point and nod entries, but I have to admit I was sort of thinking what Robert Scheer writes about here on his Truthdig:

Is it possible that this time the October surprise was tried in August, and that the garbage issue of brave little Georgia struggling for its survival from the grasp of the Russian bear was stoked to influence the U.S. presidential election?

[...]

Yes, it sounds diabolical, but that may be the most accurate way to assess the designs of the McCain campaign in matters of war and peace. There is every indication that the candidate’s demonization of Russian leader Putin is an even grander plan than the previous use of Saddam to fuel American militarism with the fearsome enemy that it desperately needs.

McCain gets to look tough with a new Cold War to fight while Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, scrambling to make sense of a more measured foreign policy posture, will seem weak in comparison. Meanwhile, the dire consequences of the Bush legacy that McCain has inherited, from the disaster of Iraq to the economic meltdown, conveniently will be ignored. But the military-industrial complex, which has helped bankroll the neoconservatives, will be provided with an excuse for ramping up a military budget that is already bigger than that of the rest of the world combined.

What is at work here is a neoconservative, self-fulfilling prophecy in which Russia is turned into an enemy that expands its largely reduced military, and Putin is cast as the new Josef Stalin bogeyman, evoking images of the old Soviet Union.

Go read the whole thing.

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1 Comments:

Blogger Noah said...

Seriously. If McSame wins because of this issue...this drummed-up fear and absolute consequence of Bush Administration foreign policy...I am moving to Canada. I am searching for jobs in Toronto, just in case. Canadians seem nice.

5:55 AM  

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