Merchants of Death

I very rarely cite The American Conservative and I don’t believe I’ve ever quoted Tucker Carlson before but his diatribe against the execrable Max Boot and Bill Kristol deserves your attention. Both are faithful advocates for American Empire, something that would only bring death and destruction, including the destruction of anything resembling America. Here’s a sample:

“The September 11 attack was a result of insufficient American involvement and ambition,” Boot wrote. “The solution is to be more expansive in our goals and more assertive in their implementation.” In order to prevent more terror attacks in American cities, Boot called for a series of U.S.-led revolutions around the world, beginning in Afghanistan and moving swiftly to Iraq.

“Once we have deposed Saddam, we can impose an American-led, international regency in Baghdad, to go along with the one in Kabul,” Boot wrote. “To turn Iraq into a beacon of hope for the oppressed peoples of the Middle East: Now that would be a historic war aim. Is this an ambitious agenda? Without a doubt. Does America have the resources to carry it out? Also without a doubt.”

In retrospect, Boot’s words are painful to read, like love letters from a marriage that ended in divorce. Iraq remains a smoldering mess. The Afghan war is still in progress close to 20 years in. For perspective, Napoleon Bonaparte seized control of France, crowned himself emperor, defeated four European coalitions against him, invaded Russia, lost, was defeated and exiled, returned, and was defeated and exiled a second time, all in less time than the United States has spent trying to turn Afghanistan into a stable country.

and

Under ordinary circumstances, Bill Kristol would be famous for being wrong. Kristol still goes on television regularly, but it’s not to apologize for the many demonstrably untrue things he’s said about the Middle East, or even to talk about foreign policy. Instead, Kristol goes on TV to attack Donald Trump.

a sure path to continued fame.

Afghanistan. Iraq. Libya. Syria. Each of these debacles has turned out very much as I said they would. The lessons are clear. There is no appetite in the United States for the sort of scorched earth policies that would be required to achieve the sorts of victories they long for and even less appetite for imperial occupation of these places that would be required to hold them.