Zbigniew Brzezinski: Prevent Israel from becoming like South Africa

[Paschall]

In the last three weeks there were two votes on the subject of the Middle East in the General Assembly of the United Nations. In one of them the vote was 133 to four. In the other one the vote was 141 to four, and the four included the United States, Israel, (the) Marshall Islands and Micronesia.

All of our NATO allies voted with the majority, including Great Britain, including the so-called new allies in Europe in fact almost all of the EU and Japan. I cite these events because I think they underline two very disturbing phenomena: the loss of US international credibility (and) growing US international isolation.

Both together can be summed up in a troubling paradox regarding the American position and role in the world today. American power worldwide is at its historic zenith. American global political standing is at its nadir. Why?

Since the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001 … we have increasingly embraced at the highest official level what I think fairly can be called a paranoiac view of the world. Summarized in a phrase repeatedly used at the highest level, “he who is not with us is against us.” … This phrase in a way is part of what might be considered to be the central defining focus that our policymakers embrace in determining the American position in the world and is summed up by the words “war on terrorism” … (I)t does reflect in my view a rather narrow and extremist vision of foreign policy of the world’s first superpower, of a great democracy, with genuinely idealistic traditions …

Zbigniew Brzezinski was national security adviser under former US President Jimmy Carter. These are excerpts on the Middle East situation taken from a wider-ranging speech he gave on Oct. 28 to a conference titled New American Strategies for Security and Peace and cosponsored by The American Prospect magazine

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/opinion/11_11_03_d.asp

[dudeness]

1. thanks for posting paschall

one for everyone to read

[Paschall]

2. You're welcome

I thought this was particularly interesting as Zbig is usually cited as a source of inspiration for PNAC and the more hawkish neo-cons. A house divided?

[dudeness]

3. yes indeed..

one can only hope..