Soros - U.S. in the hands of a few extremists

The US is now in the hands of a group of extremists

Fundamentalism has spawned an ideology of American supremacy

By George Soros

The Guardian (UK) January 26, 2004

The invasion of Iraq was the first practical application of the
pernicious Bush doctrine of pre-emptive military action, and it elicited
an allergic reaction worldwide - not because anyone had a good word to
say about Saddam Hussein, but because we insisted on invading Iraq
unilaterally without any clear evidence that he had anything to do with
September 11 or that he possessed weapons of mass destruction.

The gap in perceptions between America and the rest of the world has
never been wider. Abroad, America is seen as abusing the dominant
position it occupies; opinion at home has been led to believe that
Saddam posed a clear and present danger to national security. Only in
the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion are people becoming aware they have
been misled.

Even today, many people believe that September 11 justifies behaviour
that would be unacceptable in normal times. The ideologues of American
supremacy and President Bush personally never cease to remind us that
September 11 changed the world. It is only as the untoward consequences
of the invasion of Iraq become apparent that people are beginning to
realise something has gone woefully wrong.

We have fallen into a trap. The suicide bombers’ motivation seemed
incomprehensible at the time of the attack; now a light begins to dawn:
they wanted us to react the way we did. Perhaps they understood us
better than we understand ourselves.

And we have been deceived. When he stood for election in 2000, President
Bush promised a humble foreign policy. I contend that the Bush
administration has deliberately exploited September 11 to pursue
policies that the American public would not have otherwise tolerated.
The US can lose its dominance only as a result of its own mistakes. At
present the country is in the process of committing such mistakes
because it is in the hands of a group of extremists whose strong sense
of mission is matched only by their false sense of certitude.

This distorted view postulates that because we are stronger than others,
we must know better and we must have right on our side. That is where
religious fundamentalism comes together with market fundamentalism to
form the ideology of American supremacy.

We may have more difficulty in perceiving the absurdity of pursuing
supremacy by military means, because we have learned to rely on military
power and we particularly feel the need for it when our very existence
is threatened. But the most powerful country on earth cannot afford to
be consumed by fear. To make the war on terrorism the centrepiece of our
national strategy is an abdication of our responsibility as the leading
nation in the world. The US is the only country that can take the lead
in addressing problems that require collective action: preserving peace
and economic progress, protecting the environment and so on.

Whatever the justification for removing Saddam, there can be no doubt
that we invaded Iraq on false pretenses. Wittingly or unwittingly,
President Bush deceived the American public and Congress and rode
roughshod over our allies’ opinions.

The gap between the administration’s expectations and the actual state
of affairs could not be wider. We have put at risk not only our
soldiers’ lives but the combat readiness of our armed forces. We are
overstretched and our ability to project our power has been compromised.
Yet there are more places where we need to project our power than ever.
North Korea is openly building nuclear weapons; Iran is doing so
clandestinely. The Taliban is regrouping in the Pashtun areas of
Afghanistan. The costs of occupation and the prospect of permanent war
weigh on our economy, and we are failing to address festering problems
both at home and globally. If we ever needed proof that the neo-cons’
dream of American supremacy is misconceived, Iraq has provided it.

It is hard to imagine how the plans of the defence department could have
gone more awry. We find ourselves in a quagmire that is in some ways
reminiscent of Vietnam. Having invaded Iraq, we cannot extricate
ourselves. Domestic pressure to withdraw is likely to build, as in the
Vietnam war, but withdrawing would inflict irreparable damage on our
standing in the world. In this respect, Iraq is worse than Vietnam
because of our dependence on Middle East oil.

Nobody forced us into it; on the contrary, everyone warned us against
it. Admittedly, Saddam was a heinous tyrant and it was a good thing to
get rid of him. But at what cost? The occupying powers serve as a focal
point for attracting terrorists and radicalising Islam. Our soldiers
have to do police work in full combat gear.

And the cost of occupation is estimated at a staggering $160bn for the
the fiscal years 2003-2004 - $73bn for 2003 and $87bn in a supplemental
request for 2004 submitted at the last minute in September 2003. Of the
$87bn, only $20bn is for reconstruction, but the total cost of
reconstruction is estimated at $60bn. For comparison, our foreign aid
budget for 2002 was $10bn.

There is no easy way out. The Bush administration is eager to get the
United Nations more involved but is unwilling to make the necessary
concessions. We have no alternative to sticking it out and paying the
price for our mistake. Eventually a different president with a different
attitude to international cooperation may be more successful in
extricating us.

The US is not the only country at the centre of the global capitalist
system, but it is the most powerful and it is the main driving force
behind globalisation. The European Union may equal the US in population
and gross national product, but it is far less united and far less
comfortable with globalisation. In military terms, the EU does not even
qualify as a power, because members make their own decisions.

Insofar as any nation is in charge of the world order, it is the US.
That is not to suggest that other countries are exempt from having to
concern themselves with the wellbeing of the world. Their attitudes are
not without consequence, but it is the US that matters most.

If Bush is rejected in 2004, his policies can be written off as an
aberration and America resume its rightful place in the world. But if he
is re-elected, the electorate will have endorsed his policies and we
will have to live with the consequences. But it isn’t enough to defeat
Bush at the polls. The US must examine its global role and adopt a more
constructive vision. We cannot merely pursue narrow, national
self-interest. Our dominant position imposes a unique responsibility.

(c) George Soros 2004

This is an edited extract from The Bubble of American Supremacy, by
George Soros, published on Thursday by Weidenfeld & Nicolson at #12.99.
To order a copy for #10.99 plus p&p, call the Guardian book service on
0870 066 7979

Guardian Unlimited (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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