Tuesday, July 15, 2008

An Opportunity Lost

This kind of backs up what Barack Obama was saying today.

Via www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com:

In Matt Yglesias’ book, Heads in the Sand, which I can’t recommend enough, there’s an especially depressing chapter that explores the extraordinary opportunity the United States had in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. From Chapter Three:
"Nations around the world, including ones with long-standing tense relations with the United States, felt their interests threatened by the rise of transnational terrorism. An internationalist approach could have brought a vast quantity of resources from all around the world to bear on a handful of acute problems — a global alliance capable of achieving defined goals on several fronts."

It’s easy to forget what an important, generational moment this was the nation. Our traditional allies couldn’t have been more supportive, and were anxious to cooperate, but more importantly, untraditional allies wanted to forge new relationships with the United States, including Syria and Iran, both of which had long-standing concerns about al Qaeda. It was an unprecedented opportunity for America to lead. Instead, we had George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and a team of neocons, who had a dream to execute. We’re living with the consequences today, and will be for quite some time.

Read On

No comments: