Democratic Vision of a Strong, Free-Trading, Interventionist U.S.

[The Sushi Bandit]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-outlook3nov03,1,4794860.column?coll=la-headlines-nation-manual

Talk about swimming upstream.

Last week, an impressive group of centrist Democratic foreign policy thinkers released a thoughtful document urging the party to adopt a "progressive internationalism" built around a strong defense, free trade and American leadership through international alliances "to shape a world in which the values of liberal democracy increasingly hold sway."

As a long-term compass, the manifesto — "Progressive Internationalism: A Democratic National Security Strategy" — offers Democrats much sound guidance.

READ THIS... WHAT A LOAD OF KRAP!!!!!

[library_max]

1. There is something to be said for military strength

and the willingness to intervene in opposition to clear-cut cases of aggression, such as Saddam's conquest of Kuwait.

There is NOTHING to be said in favor of the current illegal conquest and occupation of Iraq. We need to keep track of the fact that international law forbids the invasion of one sovereign nation by another without threat or provocation. This is why they needed the WMD lie back in the spring. Now that we are committed and it's become an issue of national pride and therefore patriotism, they can peel away the wrapping and say that they were really out to get Saddam Hussein (in terms that make overthrowing another country's government sound noble, of course).

Ask yourself (better yet, ask a war apologist) whether we are prepared to invade Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, or China (to name three out of about 45) just because they are ruled by evil dictators.