American Empire

(...) Some critics oppose Mr. Wolfowitz on the grounds that he was responsible for so many military and political failures in Iraq. (...) But these were questions of means, not motive. His motives were laudable and in line with a tradition of foreign policy idealism that both parties have supported at different times: the use of American power to fight tyranny and support democratic values. Mr. Wolfowitz was one of the few Republicans who supported President Clinton's interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo. (...) But at the World Bank, he will be leading not an army but a painstaking campaign to build respect for the rule of law, openness and good governance through development projects and international cooperation. He will be doing something that Democratic presidents from John F. Kennedy to Bill Clinton have supported - and that today's Democrats should support, too. (...) If he becomes president of the bank, he has said that his job will be to see if he "can shape a consensus on these things" not push the American view. By most accounts, during his time as United States ambassador to Indonesia, he was an effective diplomat and consensus-builder. (...)

Lending the Good Loan
By JAMES P. RUBIN
The New York Times
Published: March 22, 2005

James P. Rubin, assistant secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, was an adviser to Senator John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign.

Once again, we are reminded that there is no real difference between the two factions of the same business party. Wolfowitz and Rubin have the same view on Israel, the Middle East and on any other important foreign policy issues of the Empire. As William Blum reminds us “Those who intensely despise the leaders of the Bush administration are convinced that they are uniquely vile in American history. I would maintain, however, that there's very little of what we've come to fear and loathe about the Bushgang that can't be found in many previous administrations, and that if George W., on a purely personal level, were not such a crass, ignorant, dishonest, and insufferably religious jerk, his policies would be much more readily excused by liberals (though not by radicals) as they excused similar policies under Clinton and other Democrats going back to Truman.” (William Blum, The Anti-Empire Report, No. 19 - March 21, 2005)