Ruminatrix
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Wednesday, Mar 19, 2003
I'm not at all a fan of his but check out Thomas Friedman's historical analogy for what will likely start in the next day or so:
Some 35 years ago Israel won a war in Six Days. It saw its victory as self-legitimating. Its neighbors saw it otherwise, and Israel has been trapped in the Seventh Day ever since — never quite able to transform its dramatic victory into a peace that would make Israelis feel more secure.The prospects for a Middle-East Marshall Plan don't look good: handouts and "hands-ups" are sooo last century. Friedman trusts that this government places a high value on building democratic institutions in the region. On what evidence? As for "the wisdom of their predecessors", I haven't heard any in this administration's rhetoric.
More than 50 years ago America won a war against European fascism, which it followed up with a Marshall Plan and nation-building, both a handout and a hand up — in a way that made Americans welcome across the world. Today is a D-Day for our generation. May our leaders have the wisdom of their predecessors from the Greatest Generation.
But the warning about the outcome of the Six-Day War -- a case of a truly defensive pre-emptive war if ever there was -- should be a sober reminder to Washington of the futility of unilateralism over the long haul...