Frum & Perle: Twenty-Two
AETE, pg 113: More hatred of diplomats and, indeed, diplomacy itself:At bottom, at absolute rock bottom, our diplomats begin all their work with a fundamental institutional prejudice. It is their business to deal with foriegn governments. The question "Should we be dealing with this government?" is simply alien to their whole professional outlook. Except in very rare cases (apartheid South Africa, for example), our diplomats cannot help regarding all the world's governments, no matter how objectionable, as legitimate.
Lemme break in here to point out that the South Africa reference is a sneer. Wingnuts, and especially neocons, supported apartheid South Africa and tried to paint all those in the West opposed to its government as communist-symps.
The American people do not yearn to charge about the world overturning governments. They understand that American power has its limits and that often the United States will reluctantly have to do business with foriegn leaders Americans dislike or even despise. But we suspect that they feel, as we do, that the legitimacy and authority of undemocratic governments are inherently suspect.
Yes, which is why they, unlike neocons, didn't care for Somoza's Nicaragua, The Shah's Iran, Pinochet's Chile, Suharto's Indonesia, etc.
posted by RETARDO MONTALBAN @ 5:31 PM
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