phillip and zbig food for thought
Posted 23 Oct 2011 at 07:52 AM by clive
If the device that exploded in 1993 under the World Trade Center had been nuclear, or had effectively dispersed a deadly pathogen, the resulting horror and chaos would have exceeded our ability to describe it. Such an act of catastrophic terrorism would be a watershed event in American history. It could involve loss of life and property unprecedented in peacetime and undermine America's fundamental sense of security, as did the Soviet atomic bomb test in 1949. Like Pearl Harbor, this event would divide our past and future into a before and after. The United States might respond with draconian measures, scaling back civil liberties, allowing wider surveillance of citizens, detention of suspects, and use of deadly force. More violence could follow, either further terrorist attacks or U.S. counterattacks. - 9/11 Commission Executive Director Philip Zelikow, Foreign Affairs, writing in 1998
The public supported America's engagement in World War II largely because of the shock effect of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [p. 24-25].... America is too democratic at home to be autocratic abroad. This limits the use of America's power, especially its capacity for military intimidation. Never before has a populist democracy attained international supremacy. But the pursuit of power is not a goal that commands popular passion, except in conditions of a sudden threat or challenge to the public's sense of domestic well-being. [p. 35] - Zbigniew Brzezinski, , writing in 1998
The public supported America's engagement in World War II largely because of the shock effect of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [p. 24-25].... America is too democratic at home to be autocratic abroad. This limits the use of America's power, especially its capacity for military intimidation. Never before has a populist democracy attained international supremacy. But the pursuit of power is not a goal that commands popular passion, except in conditions of a sudden threat or challenge to the public's sense of domestic well-being. [p. 35] - Zbigniew Brzezinski, , writing in 1998
The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives" />Total Comments 0
