This is with ref. to the Zakaria article titled “Bush Backs Pakistan’s Musharraf, Urges Vote to Empower His Foes”.
In 1791 Jefferson proclaimed “We should have nothing to do with conquest.”
Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived. ~Abraham Lincoln In 1821,
The American Secretary of State John Q. Adams warned that if America went abroad in search of ‘monsters to destroy – the fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force.’ While she might become the dictatress of the world, he predicted, ‘she would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.’
The American Declaration of Independence proclaimed the need to fight the War of Independence against the occupying power Britain because King George III had ‘kept among us standing armies’ that committed intolerable ‘abuses and usurpations.’
Today our government’s army is committing abuses and usurpations in Iraq, Afghanistan and perhaps Pakistan. The American people are sick and tired of “perpetual mimetic” warfare. Pre-9/11, the US military maintained over 700 foreign military bases and almost a quarter of million soldiers in 130 countries. 70% of Americans do no support Empire building. Today we are behaving like an empire and our press is a partner in this enterprise.
Discussions of the inner politics of Pakistan as if it were a colony or a province of America confound many in Pakistan. Democratic forces in Pakistan are saying “Yanki ghar jaoo”.
If you don’t know what that means, ask the professional anti-Pakistan elements in your team
