From Holocaust to Hyperpower / Jim Lobe

[atommom]

<snip>
Of course, the modern-day international human rights movement owes its birth and moral force in many ways to the universal revulsion that followed the discovery of the concentration camps.

But the Nazi Holocaust also lies at the core of the neo-conservative worldview that has animated and given coherence to much of the Bush administration's post-9/11 foreign policy that itself is changing the world, albeit not necessarily in ways that either Annan or the international human rights movement would approve.

"For those of us who are involved in foreign and defence policy today, my generation, the defining moment of our history was certainly the Holocaust," former Defence Policy Board (DPB) chairman Richard Perle, a central figure in the U.S. neo-conservative network, told BBC as U.S. forces drove toward Iraq two years ago.
<snip>
For neo-conservatives, the fact that the United States played a decisive role in the defeat of the evils of Nazism, fascism, and communism in the last century offers compelling, if not conclusive, evidence of its redemptive, beneficial, and "exceptional" mission in world affairs. It justifies the idea that its freedom to act should not be constrained by multilateral organisations or even international law if evil is abroad.

http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=27188

Another interesting and scary analysis!

(Edited to add that I'm particularly curious what you all think about the author's contention, later in the article, that they hate liberals because they think humanism and secularism make a nation weak.)

[JAbuchan08]

1. Yeah I just read the history and goals of Dominionist christianity

<<For neo-conservatives, the fact that the United States played a decisive role in the defeat of the evils of Nazism, fascism, and communism in the last century offers compelling, if not conclusive, evidence of its redemptive, beneficial, and "exceptional" mission in world affairs. It justifies the idea that its freedom to act should not be constrained by multilateral organisations or even international law if evil is abroad.>>


Even if they are required to do evil to defeat evil, gag.

[bemildred]

2. There is some basis for what is said in this article.

However, the neocons are delusional, hubris is their middle name,
and Nemesis is awake and looking for them now. It is one thing
to babble publicly about untrammelled power and another thing
entirely to exercise it, especially when you are not actually
stronger than everybody else. Witness Iraq, their carefully picked
demonstration project. They also, like the Nazis, seem to be
plungers, they prefer Armageddon to failure. I am hoping that it
will prove to be the case that they fail at that too.

[Dirk39]

3. The USA is revoking Nuremberg...

For me, as a German, this is the most frightening thing about this mess.
The old Nazis and the new Nazis always supposed that Nuremberg was "victory justice" and nothing else and nothing more. It wasn't. Although the more important Nuremberg did never happen - and it's not me, claiming it would have been more important: the U.S. judges considered the second Nuremberg, the one against those corporations, who did benefit from Ausschwitz, the Nuremberg against those, who did profit behind the scenes, without being directly involved, to be the more important one. It never happened, 'cause those criminals were considered to be too important for the reconstruction of Germany.
And then there was the old enemy of the Nazis and the new enemy of the USA: the Soviet Union. In Post-War Germany, not just parts of the old Elite became the new Elite, the entire economic - with nearly no exceptions - and most of the old political elite - with very few exceptions - kept its' power.
But what should be expected from a country that commited the genocide against the jews?
But what is to be expected from the country, who did judge about the Nazis and Germany?


Despite the fact that the USA has killed millions and millions of innocent people in more than 300 illegal wars since the end of Word War II, Bush II with his criminal gang is a turning point.

Before, although not justified in any way, it was "just" ideology. It was mendacious and transparent but still somehow perceptible as double moral standards, but still "moral" - as disgusting as it might have been.

But Bush, besides his empty flag-waving and talking about liberty, freedom, democracy bla bla bla...
seems to make evident only one thing: there isn't any kind of justice besides victory justice and who is "right" in the end depends on the strength of your military and the almighty media-corporations with the most money from corporations, who use their propaganda machine to explain who's right and who's not.
And this really means to revoke Nuremberg.
I didn't want to mention that if Nurmeberg would have been succesfull, Bush wouldn't be president of the USA today and the entire Bush clan would never have become a part of the US-establishment.
But I couldn't resist.

Dirk

[atommom]

5. I don't know a great deal about German history, but

I've been wondering for awhile now just how much the Bush family's WWII experiences shaped GWB's mindset. They would certainly seem to have learned some very dangerous lessons during those years.

A few of these lessons:
War is a business opportunity, and the savvy will find a way to profit.
With enough money and power, one can always escape the negative consequences that result.
The suffering and death of lesser people doesn't matter. They are there to be used by "men of vision," who will mold events to achieve their desired ends.
Peace means stagnation and a dimunition of power.

I'm sure there are many more that escape me at the moment....

[The Crazy Canadian]

4. Why i think the Nazi's came to power.

In the 1920-'30s the German economy sucked, big time. The value of its currency dropped dramatically, wiping out savings and its purchasing power. People lost jobs and were desperate. It was economic misery not liberal values like humanism, relativism or secularism that brought about the Third Reich in 1933.