Seld-defeating US foreign policy

[Will Morton]

Tyler Durden wrote:

> But of course, we were still in the middle of McCarthy-ism, so way too 
> ideologically blind to see the obvious. As a result we continued to 
> mindlessly pursue ideology rather than practicality and so ended 
> really making things worse in SE Asia, in a place where Marxism was 
> really a useful but temporary veneer over local politics (again we 
> were too blind to see that Marxism was a western transplant that 
> wasn't going to do too well in Asia). And we're doing it again...(eg, 
> we had some chances with Iran recently that we passed up...that was 
> really stupid, and the Iranians seem to know it).
>
    The US missed a real trick when Khatami got into power in 1997; he 
had a huge swell of popular support behind him, and with significant US 
backing he could probably have outmaneuvered the conservatives and made 
some real changes.  A truly democratic Persian state would be a huge 
boost to stability in the Middle East, not to mention the psyops 
benefits of having a poster-child for moderate, tolerant Islam.  
Instead, we had the 'axis of evil' hogwash, and lo: the conservatives 
marginalise Khatami, and we're back to abayas, beards and jihad.

    Of course the more cynical might think that this lack of stability 
is entirely deliberate on the part of the US.  Better to have pet 
tyrants who require American military aid to suppress dissent, and hence 
ensure ongoing access to oil fields, or else loonies who spit vitriol 
about The Great Satan and ensure their own irrelevance (in which case 
the oil stays underground, waiting for a more economically realistic 
owner).  Stable regimes with the ability to sell oil on the world stage 
might start throwing their geopolitical weight around.  Venezuela, anyone?

    W