Robert Kagan: Mouthpiece for Empire

At the beginning of the week, I was invited to attend a World Affairs Council event, featuring Robert Kagan. A neo-con insider and founding member of the Project for a New American Century, Kagan spent the evening pandering to the ideals of freedom while promoting the ideals of empire.

The evening's talk was titled "The Future of Foreign Policy Challenges for the Obama Administration". Kagan led off the talk with glowing reviews of Hilary Clinton, who he deems "strong and principled" as our next top diplomat. In his glowing endorsement of the Obama nominations for cabinet, Kagan observed that two-thirds could have been chosen by Senator McCain. You're not going to see "a dramatic shift in choices" with Obama's administration, he informed us. This is going to be a "centrist" administration.

Talk quickly moved into "National Security" and the War on "Terror". Mr Kagan was quite excited that "some of the top leaders" of the Mumbai attacks had been arrested in Pakistan (so far, only "suspected terrorists" have been arrested and no charges issued-as usual). "Perhaps Mumbai will be enough to set Pakistan on the right course" he went on. This led, quite naturally, into talk of Afghanistan. Mr Kagan is proudly supporting a troop surge (over 20,000) into the region with the incoming Obama administration. He believes "Obama should go to Europe" and pursue alliances for the further occupation of Afghanistan. Apparently, if we have allies in the occupation, it will be less contentious.

When asked by Jane Wales (conducting the forum, and President of the World Affairs Council of Northern California) "how dangerous is Iran", Mr Kagan jumped immediately into "Iran will have a nuclear bomb within a year". He had no trouble leaping to such claims, and even conflated Iran and Iraq with "a kid coming out of an alley and pointing a toy gun at the Police", thereby excusing the Police gunning down the kid. He uses this analogy to condone leaving a residual force of 50-70 thousand troops in Iraq and taking the fight to Iran next.

As talk of "safety" continued, Kagan promoted "Humanitarian Interventions". He referenced our "humanitarian" efforts in Panama, Haiti, Iraq, Somalia, Kosovo and Bosnia. Never was American training of death squads, bombing of urban areas, recruitment, arming and training of "al-Qaeda" forces or use of depleted uranium in the bombs dropped mentioned. "America has a special roll to play, as many predecessors have believed" he explained. It is quite amazing how "little intervention exhaustion we have considering these two grinding wars". Mr Kagan was quite confident that America will get behind any future "humanitarian interventions" that may arise-say in Iran.

Through the rest of the interview, Mr Kagan expounded on Russia, which seeks to "regain its empire" and China, with whom we utilize "engagement and containment" policy. He truly presented himself as a competent mouthpiece for fascism. He used all the right phrases ("humanitarian intervention" instead of invasion and attack, "centrist economics" instead of "corporatocracy"), he stood behind the choices of the Democrat President-Elect and even took a few chides at the current regime. Through it all he was warm, friendly, charming. He was all glows and smiles at the mention of the Project for a New American Century and the need to expand the global War on "Terror".

The coup de gras was the horrid observation that Obama need not go on a listening tour, and that the American People do not care if Obama listens to us, because we only need him to lead-not listen. Ms Jane Wales, who had been handed stacks of cards with questions from the audience, found her way to asking three of them (all three being quite innocuous). I am not surprised that my question (why is American aid to dictatorships that sponsor terror never cited as a cause for global terrorism?) asked. I am surprised that the audience seemed duped by the rhetoric, and quite at ease with his predictions for the future of our foreign poicy.

If what Mr Kagan (and Mr Obama and Mrs Rodham-Clinton, et al) espouse is anything to go by, then we are indeed fucked.

http://www.newamericancentury.org/