As Tony Blair was bidding farewell to President George W Bush in the Rose
Garden on Thursday, the World Bank was preparing to kick out Paul Wolfowitz
as president. Allies to the left and right in the Iraq war were falling by
the wayside that day.
Was he responsible for Blair’s departure from office, Bush was asked. There
had to be a reason why a prime minister who had never lost an election was
being dumped. “Could be . . . I don’t know,” the president mused above the
distant chant of war protesters outside the White House gates.
And what did he make of Wolfowitz’s likely resignation? “I respect him a lot
and I’m sorry it has come to this,” Bush said, leaving the World Bank head
to his fate.
If Bush and Dick Cheney, his vice-president, are the last men standing with
responsibility for the Iraq war it is only because they are protected by
their four-year terms of office. One former Bush stalwart told me: “If we
had a parliamentary system, Bush would have lost a vote of confidence and
have resigned by now.”
Away from the Rose Garden the funeral cortege for the fundamentalist Rev Jerry
Falwell was being assembled in the heart of Bush country in Lynchburg,
Virginia. The portly 73-year-old televangelist had done his utmost to
assemble the coalition of conservative Christians that went on to provide
Bush with two presidential victories. Now he is dead and the government
sustained by his followers is looking more and more like a corpse.
The writer Christopher Hitchens, a friend of Wolfowitz and foe of Falwell,
says: “The main noise in Washington right now is that of collapsing scenery.
The Republican party is in total disarray. They’ve been dropping their most
intelligent people over the side while the presidential candidates are all
outbidding each other to be nice about the revolting carcass of Falwell.”
Wolfowitz, the cerebral neocon, and Falwell, the braying theocon, had nothing
in common personally. Indeed, Falwell blamed “the pagans and the
abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians” for provoking
the 9/11 attacks, an explanation uncomfortably close to the views of the
Taliban. But the unlikely alliance between their two movements provided the
brains and the brawn behind Bush. Now the neocons have been ousted, one by
one, from their positions of influence and trust while the Republican party
base is desperately thrashing around for a successor to Bush that it can
back in 2008.
The cleavage between the two marks the end of an era in which Bible Belt
conservatives became the surprise champions of radical nation-building in
the Middle East in the hope of crushing terrorism and halting the march of
militant Islam. After Bush, such reforming zeal is unlikely to be repeated.
The fall of Wolfowitz is already entering the annals as a morality fable for
the Bush administration in which the arrogant, narcissistic former Pentagon
official and a handful of his cronies were foisted on an unwilling
international institution until it finally found a way to spit them out. By
this reckoning, Wolfowitz’s appointment as president of the World Bank in
2005 was an “Up yours” similar to the way the Iraq war was imposed by Bush
against the wishes of the international community – with predictably dire
results.
According to Juan Cole, a professor of Middle Eastern history at the
University of Michigan and a persistent critic of the Iraq war: “Wolfowitz
has demonstrated a penchant for cronyism and for smearing and marginalising
perceived rivals as tactics for getting his way. Indeed, these tactics are
typical of what might be called the neoconservative style.”
However, his ousting can also be read as a tale in which the vaunted
international community would prefer the World Bank to allow rampant
corruption to flourish in developing nations than see a reviled neocon
succeed as its president – just as there are plenty of opponents of the Iraq
war who would rather let a murderous civil war rip than give Bush the
satisfaction of seeing democracy take root in place of a dreaded tyranny. In
their own way they are both uncomfortable versions of the truth.
At the heart of the story lies a romance between an American intellectual with
his head in the air and holes in his socks and a secular Muslim Arab
feminist in her fifties with a passionate interest in fostering democracy
and women’s equality in the Middle East. Wolfowitz’s seven-year relationship
with Shaha Ali Riza could have helped to humanise the former Pentagon
official and put paid to the antisemitic slur that he was a Jewish agent of
Zionism who placed Israel’s interests above those of
America and other nations. Instead it led to his downfall.
Riza, a British citizen who was born in the Middle East and educated at
Oxford, had already worked at the World Bank as a Middle East expert for
seven years when Wolfowitz was appointed president. But bank rules forbid
office romances between managers and staff so she had to go.
His reluctant involvement in her transfer to the State Department with a
salary rise of $60,000 to $193,590 – more than Condoleezza Rice’s annual pay
– led bank investigators to complain that “he saw himself as the outsider to
whom the established rules and standards did not apply”.
By the time Wolfowitz was forced out, the ugly side of the World Bank boss was
revealed in a memo in which he vowed in the style of a mafia don that “if
they f*** with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to f*** them too”.
THE affair between Wolfowitz, 63, and his “neoconcubine” was known initially
only to discreet friends. Hitchens, who knows them both, describes Riza as a
“very shy, private person” who was well regarded in Washington as a champion
of democracy in the Arab world.
Wolfowitz taught himself Arabic in the 1980s and had a walk-on part in Saul
Bellow’s novel Ravelstein as an official in the first Bush White House who
was disappointed that Saddam Hussein was left in place at the end of the
Gulf war.
“It is not a coincidence that Wolfowitz has an Arab and Muslim companion
because he has always been interested in those issues,” Hitchens says. It
was Riza who inspired Wolfowitz with confidence that the largely secular
Iraq would flourish once Saddam was removed.
The couple’s professional and personal life became entangled on the very day
the heavy bombing of Iraq began, when Wolfowitz was the number two at the
Pentagon. On March 21, 2003, in the middle of “shock and awe” operations
including the firing of 500 cruise missiles, Wolfowitz’s office found the
time to send an e-mail appointing Riza as an adviser on postwar
nation-building.
There was “interest from Wolfowitz on down” in the matter, e-mails sent by
Pentagon staff noted. Another e-mail claimed the “ering” of the Pentagon,
where top officials are based, was “screaming” for action.
Riza, who first met Wolfowitz when she worked for the National Endowment for
Democracy in Washington, was eminently qualified for the job. But the tone
of the e-mails was an early sign that he was supremely concerned for her
interests even as the Iraq war raged.
By the time Bush was reelected to office, American forces were getting bogged
down in Iraq and Wolfowitz was shunted to the presidency of the World Bank –
a post where he would not have to face difficult Senate confirmation
hearings.
In some circles his appointment was viewed as an inspired choice. David Frum,
a former White House speechwriter, wrote: “Even the president’s detractors
have been constrained to admit that Wolfowitz is likely to prove an
excellent choice – maybe more excellent than is entirely comfortable either
for the bank, for its clients in the underdeveloped world or for its
constituencies in the advanced industrial democracies.”
The presidency of the World Bank was given to Robert McNamara, the former
defence secretary, after the debacle of the Vietnam war; but unlike
McNamara, Wolfowitz had no intention of expiating his alleged sins with good
works. He regarded the bank as a bloated bureaucracy whose financial loans
to developing nations were being undermined by chronic corruption and graft.
But he felt genuinely motivated to help countries to lift themselves out of
poverty.
Writing in The New York Times last week, Nicholas Kristof, the commentator,
said Wolfowitz was sincerely dedicated to his job. But he added: “We should
look at the battle unfolding at the World Bank not as the story of one man
falling to earth, but as a moral tale of the risks the US faces unless the
Bush administration spends more time rebuilding bridges it has burnt all
over the world.” THE appointment of Wolfowitz was opposed by 90% of World
Bank staff from the start. Some opposed his anticorruption drive, arguing
that it penalised the poor for the wickedness of their governments; others
wanted pay-back, pure and simple, for the Iraq war. European governments,
which had already felt slighted by Bush and resented the way the presidency
of the World Bank was always in the American president’s gift, also saw the
chance for revenge.
Wolfowitz’s relationship with Riza provided the perfect opportunity to accuse
him of favouritism and nepotism, rendering him unsuitable to lecture other
nations on the need to clean up their act.
It was unfair, particularly on Riza, who after years of service to the bank
felt downgraded to the status of “girlfriend”. She has been forbidden by her
employers from publishing an article in her defence but has let it be known
in a memo to officials that she feels “victimised” for agreeing to move to a
job that she did not want and “that I did not believe from the outset was in
my best interest”. The public scrutiny had also imposed “personal pain and
stress” on her and her son, she complained.
Wolfowitz has pointed out that he had attempted to excuse himself from
personnel matters affecting Riza and that the bank’s ethics committee had
initially approved her deal. Throughout the controversy he has insisted that
the charges against him were “bogus” and that he was the victim of a “smear
campaign”.
Frum believes that Wolfowitz should have been above reproach in his dealings
with Riza, knowing how many enemies he faced. “The neoconservatives are a
tiny faction and less close to each other than people think,” says Frum.
“They are very isolated within the larger back-scratch-ing community in
Washington.”
The Wall Street Journal alone has come to Wolfowitz’s defence, effectively
taking up his threat to “f*** them too”. In a series of articles it has
blasted World Bank officials for their own ethical and conflict of interest
problems – most recently accusing Tom Scholar, an executive director of the
bank who is tipped to become Gor-don Brown’s chief of staff in Downing
Street, of conducting a relationship with a staffer. He has denied giving
her preferential treatment.
The World Bank may come to regret turning the spotlight on itself, given the
lavish pensions, tax-free salaries and subsidised private school fees that
staff enjoy. But that is beside the point. Wolfowitz’s past was always going
to catch up with him. He is merely the latest in a long line of “gotcha”
casualties of the war that includes Donald Rumsfeld, the former defence
secretary; Douglas Feith, Wolfowitz’s ally at the Pentagon; Richard Perle,
the former chairman of the defence policy board; John Bolton, the former US
ambassador to the United Nations, and Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who is
threatened with jail after being found guilty of perjury in a case involving
the outing of a CIA officer.
Other reputations have been shredded along the way including those of George
Tenet, the former CIA director who told Bush it was a “slam dunk” case that
Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and Colin Powell, the former secretary
of state, who delivered a hopelessly flawed report on Iraq to the United
Nations on the eve of war.
Of all the 2008 candidates only Senator John McCain is bothering to make a
case for supporting the “surge” in Iraq, while his chief rival Rudy Giuliani
is having to fend off constant carping about his pro-choice position on
abortion. And they are all trying to vacuum up the votes of Falwell’s army
of theocon believers.
Hitchens, who has just published God Is Not Great, an attack on religion, is
appalled by the spectacle. He used to tease his neocon friends at
influential publications such as the Weekly Standard magazine for joining
forces with evangelical Christians, many of whom believe in a day of
judgment in which the saved will enter heaven and all nonbelievers,
including Jews, will be slaughtered.
“They would tell me they preferred the moral majority types to secular
liberals because they opposed 1960s liberalism and were willing to stand up
for family values,” Hitchens says. “It was a very self-conscious alliance.”
But he feels the praise being lavished on Falwell has gone beyond a joke.
With the ousting of the neocons, the Bush administration now places currency
only in personal friendship and loyalty. Amid all the farewells last week
one man is still in place after months of controversy: Alberto Gonzales, the
attorney-general, an old ally from Texas who was responsible for approving
the torture of terrorist suspects when he was White House counsel. Hitchens
describes him as a “mediocre time server whom nobody would miss”.
In riveting testimony to Congress last week James Comey, the deputy
attorney-general, described how Gonzales attempted to pressure John
Ash-croft, his predecessor at the justice department, on his hospital
sickbed into certifying that the administration’s domestic spying programme
was legal. “I was angry. I thought I had just witnessed an effort to take
advantage of a very sick man,” Comey said.
Gonzales has been under pressure to resign even longer than Wolfowitz, but he
has not gone yet. If he goes, the air may go out of the Bush administration.
When the president can no longer save his friends, there will be nobody left
to save but himself.
Let's say Jesse Jackson just died: Would you quote someone who referred to his "revolting carcass," and add to it by describing him as a braying theocon?
I don't think so.
Jon Doh, Newburg, AL
The title `Decline and fall of the neocons` leaves the wrong impression. `Decline`? Let me laugh. You mean because of the temporary ouster from the US-Administration and the World Bank ,respectively ,of two neocons, Perle and Wolfowitz? You must be kidding.
The Neocons, speak Zionists or Israel-Firster, are still firmly ingrained in every apect of US society as there are: US-government, Pentagon, justice department, media, univesity, entertainment, art, foreign politics, security, arms industry, finance, political financing and influence peddling etc etc.
Who is going to oust those thousands still chuckling Wolfowitzes, from top to bottom? The ignorant, naive, pretentious and historically/politically blind Americans, the majority of whom does not even know that neocons exist, and who votet for Bush not only once but twice? And who lecture Europe?
Otto Tomasch, Vancouver, BC, Canada
How come we don't have articles like this in the US media??? Most Americans never heard of Neo Cons!!!
They think George Bush is a Conservative.
Jay, Methuen, MA
Once again Dr Mulla in Dar-Es-Salaam (see his comment below) has hit the nail squarely on the head and driven it into the round hole.
P R Douche, Eagle Falls, Wyoming
Dear Matt,
Democracy is no guarantee of peace. Hitler rose to power through democratic elections. Democratic elections in Palestine resulted in the victory of Hamas, which remains dedicated to destroying Israel. Democratic elections in Iraq put Shi'ite religious fanatics in charge. Democracy put Hindu fundmantalists in power in India, who immediately went ahead and started building nuclear weapons. This caused the democratically elected government in Pakistan to respond with its own nuclear arms buildup.
The necon dogma that democracy = peace has no basis in history. Democracy in nations without a tradition of open societies leads to the rise of extreme nationalists, religious fanatics and other thugs. That is what history shows.
Neoconservatism is a false ideology that is used as a cover for aggression and imperialism. May it follow Marxism into the dustbin of history.
Kamran, Los Angeles, CA
Rob, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Hi Rob, I stayed for 6 months in Northwest Cove, in "Dunsworth Country". The whole family lived on the road where I stayed. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone up there was aware of the NEOCON agenda that was adopted by Harper. When I talked to the locals about politics in the US and how it was taking hold in Canada, I got a lot of blank looks. Many were apathetic regarding politics and I soon just kept quiet.
I would love to read the 200 page NEOCON plan for Canada. My sister and I knew it was taking hold up there. You Canadians are much the way America was before this poisonous culture took hold and rotted our Constitution, our economy and every level of our government, educational and economic systems.
When i was there, they boycotted schools during Christmas from Christmas plays for the children because of a few NEOCONS. Fight like hell. I am a dual citizen and will vote against Harper when the time comes.
I will search for the article.THX
Mary F, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, USA
Please don't take this the wrong way but why are there so many americans? what kind of media do you have in america?
Abu, Crewe,
So, "He regarded the bank as a bloated bureaucracy whose financial loans to developing nations were being undermined by chronic corruption and graft".
I always have a guffaw when I hear Wolfowitz or Bolton sounding off about this.
What a shame these two oh-so-upright citizens didn't busy themselves with the VP's business dealings, the missing tens of billions in Iraq etc.
The whole neocon shambles is as bent as it is possible to be.
L. Stewart, Cranbrook, UK
Wolfowitz' fall from grace will have no impact on the Bush/Cheney gang. They are still brandishing swords, threatening Iran from the decks of aircraft carriers, building permanent bases in Iraq, and thumbing their noses at Congress.
The true end to this "ideological era" won't happen unless the Democratic-led Congress starts impeaching people, hopefully starting with AG Gonzoles. Please note the fact that the people running the show now, are the very people who were with the Nixon administration, behind the scenes.
notKeith, St. Paul, Minnesota, US
Wolfowitz could have saved himself a lot of trouble if he had just married the wench! Wonder why nobody thought of that!
JFraser, Columbia, South Carolina
You have 130 comments todate. This man is bad eh???
You did not have 15 on Saddam then as you did ot have the new green colours. well done I say.
Firozali A. Mulla MBA PhD, Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania
An excellent article.
I truly hope that the neocon movement is severely damaged by their performance in recent years. However, I think the Christian movement in the US will remain strong and will continue to push their values on the rest of the world, maybe now with a little more restraint (one hopes)...
Dean, London,
To say that the NeoCons are dead today is like saying the common cold and flu have disappeared forever because it is May and no one has a cold or the flu. The NeoCons are like a disease that will never go away and they are like a parasite throughout the body politic.
Mark Thornton, Auburn, Alabama
spot on! it's sad, but we Americans have to go to foreign sources for the most insightful, truthful journalism about our current political sitaution... most of our press are too scared to rock the boat...
Pete Bogs, Suncoast, FL, USA
"...the antisemitic slur that he was a Jewish agent of Zionism who placed Israel’s interests above those of America and other nations. Instead it led to his downfall."
Why is a demonstrable truth considered anti-semitism?
Jeffrey Stewart, Cincinnati, Ohio
Mary you are correct, both Isreal and Lebanon have Democratically elected governments, however the battle was not the Isreally army v the Lebanese army it was the Isreally Army v Hezzbollah, a terrorist organisation (in my country at least). Id like to think that if one of my fellow countrymen was abducted by a terrorist organisation overseas, and their incumbent Governement refused or was unable to organise the release of this person, then my government would sort it out (As Isreal tried, but failed miserably).
Mary you conviently brushed over the major tragedies I listed in my comment which killed millions of people and made a poor argument based on a fight involving a terrorist organisation. However I disagree completely with the way Isreal conducted themselves.
Matt, Brisbane, Australlia
Matt from Brisbane, Australia
You'd better catch up with the rest of the world, this neanderthal way of thinking is why Bush and the neocons are hated in every nation on the planet (except maybe Israel).
YOU WROTE:"We are not in the dark ages anymore, the world needs to be democratised. When was the last time two democracies waged war on each other?? I applaud the current administration for attempting to make a difference and I denounce others who attack these efforts whilst sitting back and watching such tragedies take place under their noses."
What?!? Where were you last summer when Israel bombed it's democratic neighbor, Lebanon? And the "current administration " not only applauded it "whilst sitting back and watching such a tragedy take place", but also supplied the bombs! Unless you consider attacks on Arabs a non-issue, then you're nothing but a hypocrit. And it is these racist attitudes and double-standards that are denounced the world round!
Mary F, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, USA
Does anyone think that the neocons in Canada will also fall? Stephen Harper acts like mini-Bush, and there have clearly been close connections between the two.
Harpers party's "green plan" and abandonment of Kyoto was labelled by Al Gore as a "complete fraud designed to mislead the Canadian Public?"
The Canadian neocons are now trying to tack hard to the left to try to pretend they were never neo-conservatives to avoid the wrath that has befallen the neocon project.
Unfortunately for them, a 200 page handbook given to party members was just leaked to the press. The book outlined how to frustrate, obstruct and shut down the Parliamentary process in Canada.
Rob, Halifax, NS, Canada
If it wasn't for the all-volunteer Army, these guys would have been ridden out of town a long time ago. The real issue to be confronted is how easily the inflection of pain and suffering has become a for-profit growth industry. Six-figure salaries for "contractors" (more than 100 killed so far this year), big bonuses for re-enlistment. Big revenue at Blackwater and Halliburton (how come they were so well prepared for a war when 9/11 took place?). Wolfowitz is an easy target to burn. Why bother with him when the real criminals are roaming free? Where is the outrage that would exist if there weren't such big bucks to be made from this war? Picking off the weak and infirm is a coward's strategy when no one is willing to take on the real perpetrators.
irving, new york, new york
Wow. Another article and over 400 comments, and noone mentions the most important word - the centerpiece of all this madness...OIL. Our propaganda machines are running incredibly smooth without mention of that nasty little secret...
xavier lopez, yunnan, china
Dreamer!!
Blair is just as much a part of the NeoCon schema as Wolfowitz or Gonzo or Condida!!
Same stuff, different FACE, is all.
Chaiyah
Chaiyah, San Jose , CA USSA
Thank you, Sarah, for openning the mosaic around Wolfowitz. Tranformation, change by wrecking ball, applied by this administration seems to have extended the chaos of the West Bank, Gaza and Southern Lebanon across the entire Islamic world except for those most feudal in government. It has created a backlash of ire among our international allies and post WWII institutions. It is almost as if the Grapes of Wrath is executing itself upon the last heritage of the New Deal and perhaps this remains pleasing to the top of executive government. Wolfie and the Bank are a side show.
Bill Keller, BASKING RIDGE, New Jersey
Where is George Schultz and the other "kingmakers" who annointed George W. Bush their candidate in the years leading up to the 2000 election? He is their baby, but we haven't really heard from them. Especially now that the going has gotten tough. Bechtel, George Schultz's old company, announced they were pulling out of Iraq last November. Now would be a good time to emerge from the shadows. Let us know what you were thinking, George Schultz.
MH, Los Angeles,
roger of West Frankfort, Il
You guys always come back to the single Sandy Berger incident as if that single incident is the same as all that Bush and your other buddies have done put together. The lengths that you go to ignore the large body of evidence is amazing and surely someone who is able to do that in the defense of something as odious as the Worst President Ever would be much better served defending America instead.
Wake up, dude. If Bush had made a single mistake none of us would be arguing about anything and this article would not even be written.
ron, Lake Forest, Ca
I would disagree heartily with Roger from West Frankfort, Ill. The rogues gallery of arrogant, unprincipled and often just-plain-stupid Bush neocons speaks volumes about the man who appointed them. Roger, would love to hear your argument for why the Iraq war hasn't been an utter fiasco. $500 billion and 3200 American lives plus 20 times as many Iraqi citizens to create many more insurgents than we faced 4 years ago. Another 15 poor US soldiers blown away this weekend...for what?!
Rick Cowan, Putney, Vermont, USA
A well balanced article Sarah. I'm reminded of the proverb, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." I don't see Wolfowitz or Bush as being purposely evil. I do see decisions that had unintended consequences. We have all become a world of critics who hate all to easily.
Some people "hate" Wolfowitz for the way he combs his hair.
The hate shows a lack of sophistication and I am more afraid of haters running the world than people with good intentions making mistakes.
Rock, Cebu, Philippines
People are so hell bent on Iraq. A little 'pre-emptive' action could have prevented tragedies such as East Timor, The balkans, darfur, congo, possibly even world war II. The thing I find really disturbing is that the many people would much rather keep out of such conflicts and hence wipe their hands of any of the responsibility, take Bosnia and Dafur as current examples. All the Bush Adminstration has done is removed their Dictator and exposed radical Islam for what it really is. What exactly are Arabs doing to stop the killing of their fellow muslims in Darfur?? Wake up people, Bush is not the problem!! We are not in the dark ages anymore, the world needs to be democratised. When was the last time two democracies waged war on each other?? I applaud the current administration for attempting to make a difference and I denounce others who attack these efforts whilst sitting back and watching such tragedies take place under their noses.
Matt, Brisbane, Australlia
Interesting article--but, based on the current crop of Republican candidates (with the exception of Ron Paul), it seems that neocons aren't exactly disappearing.
David, Austin, TX
CONCEIT and DECEIT
Sirs, I observe this drama from the other side of the "Pond" I think I'm right in considering that if Wolfowitz had done the decent thing and made his Girlfriend, Riza; respectable by marrying her, then none of this would have ocurred.. Perhaps she had more insight than the rest of us and she is unlikely to even contemplate marriage now.
John Tee., Lagos, Portugal
An albeit naive suggestion for the politicians that make up the World Bank Board and the IMF. To minimize antagonism why not have each submit the names of the top three candidates for the top position to the other body. The IMF board submits the names of the top three tot he World Bank Board and the board passes in the rankings of the three. The World Bank Board in turn submits the top three candidates to the IMF Board and the board ranks them after review and passes back the rankings. While possibly not an ideal solution it would sort of tie-in responsability on the final choice.
In the final analysise looking out for number one is better human relations if it is done by a grouping that includes the whole team and within the parameters that no one is ipso-facto better than the rest. The world will explode if all mankind continues to practice the chimera that Royalty and or being a chosen people is due to divine right.
armand de laurell, little rock, usa
Oh puhlease.. another left wing rant proclaiming the death of conservatives. Anyone can couch history to serve their agenda, but as they say in my part of the world, the proof is in the puddin'. The simple truth that all shades of the left fail to accept is that the threat of radical islam will color global strife for centuries to come. This country should expect to experience the same attacks that are being carried out in countries that have opened a "dialogue" with "insurgents." The only thing that has prevented this from happening already are the very people you choose to pillory in this article. Can anyone doubt that Sandy Bergers' escapade in the National Archives was anything less than removal of evidence that the Clinton administration knew about and did nothing to prevent 9/11? I've seen the liberal response to attacks on this country, and frankly, I'll take a "neocon" (as the far left has so deftly labeled any conservative).
roger, West Frankfort, Il
The fall of Rumsfeld, Feith, Perle, Bolton, Libby and now Wolfowitz reinforces an old warning: pride goeth before a fall. History will firmly note that it was the Bush administration's hubris that destroyed not only those involved, but also destroyed the very basis for American power that the Bushies believed allowed them to behave like a bunch of spoiled five year children.
Paul Nicholas Boylan, Sacramento, California
The main problem is "If America falls another superpower another will take its place." The two with the most economical power to replace it are Russia and China. So you have 2 choices. One who is returning to is political roots (poisoning, censorship and bullying other countries), and another who doesn’t give a damm about anything but its elites continued existence and is beginning to quite literally drown in its own crap. America may be a bastard but compared to the vultures circling overhead, it’s a saint.
Ed, Hamilton, New Zealand
Christopher Hitchens' riffs on the Iraq war and his 'friendships' with the war's
sponsors in Washington are of a piece with his pronounced intellectual incoherence. We'll have to look into his theological rants to see whether he continues to reckon himself to be that which is most godlike.
Raymond White, Columbus, Ohio
Despite their lies about being devoted to democracy, the neocons have persistantly pushed to turn this from a two-party nation to a one-party system. Nearly 200 years after it died away, federalism has once again reared it's pathetically ugly head--and a lot of innocent people--millions of Americans--have dearly suffered from this. The poverty level in the US is escalating at an alarming rate--spreading into hitherto unknown areas such as the sacred middle class.
Health care is an international joke--unless you're rich or employed by the government. Foreign policy--well, we all know how that has been going. The economy--well, depends on what side of the proverbial tracks one lives on, doesn't it?
Yes, the biggest legacy left in the wake of the great neocon disaster is that they've turn us from the "Land of opportunity" into the land of crazed opportunists.
Nancy, Glens Falls, USA NY
It's an ongoing shame that noone with their morals in order is taking inventory of the positions gutted by the group propping up George Bush and making any visible preparations to hoist the Neocons on their own petard.
We need a collection of smaller parties with one or two agendas a piece to perform an unceremonious "undo" on the last fifty years of the life of the US. Collected power is always a bad thing - distributing it among brokers with clear objectives is what the US needs now more than ever.
Kris, Atlanta, GA
Time for the Yellowstone Supervolcano, I say!
C Blackmore, Melksham,
From the beginning the chosen people were a group apart but were in constant need of protection unfortunately came the holocaust.A remedy to salve the wounds of Europe.First the wealth and guilt of Europe was a possible cure but it was not enough.Then the power and might of America was thought sufficient.Wrong again.Would this wealth and power and might be used to build a moat around Israel transforming it into an island much like the sceptered Isle where all live in blessed peace!
sumant rawat, pueblo, colorado,usa
The context of the political furor may help guide our understanding. After all, in both America and Iraq, the religious fundamentalists seek national governance conforming to religious doctrine. Meanwhile, the West again finds itself in a war to the death with Islam, wherein the Islamic terrorists, as of old, pursue the spreading of Islam by the sword, and wherein America and its natural allies must defend themselves, or else perish. Bush II has sensed this East-West conflict as such by his public use of the word “crusade” to characterize it. We dupe ourselves if we ignore the religious nature of the present conflict. Yet, America must act as if the concepts of democracy motivate it, while the Islamic terrorists openly seek theocracy. Both sides fight in the name of religion. Thus, we can expect polarity and fear, not rationality, to color the discourse and to determine action. In time, the bloodshed will give way to moderation and peace, let us hope.
anotherview, Temecula,
A textbook model of a sociopath--with horns attached.
Al Morrison, Sulphur , TX
Ron Paul is a very smart man, yes.
Too bad he is so old.
The presidency, especially the next one, is a very demanding position and I don't think an old guy like him can withstand it.
We need younger presidents. At least under 70, don't you think?
Yellowbird, Los Angeles, CA
I noticed the apology from Hitchens shortly after Wolfie's scandal hit the news. Hitchens did not identify his relationship with the neocons. I will never trust another words from Hitchens. Keith S
keith Schultz, tucson, arizona
To those hoping that this article is published stateside, rest in the comfort of the "internets", as they make such writing from accross the pond available to anyone with a computer and a connection. Watch those neocons though, they'll just scatter when you turn on the lights, but they're still around.
FLorrain., port aransas Texas, United States
I see the biased fantasy of this article echoes the thoughts of many blind, short sited neolibs from across the world. Keep your eyes closed neolibs as your countries (Spain and the UK most notably) collapse into disarray and tragedy. Bush and Blair will be seen by history as brave leaders of great foresight. Leaders willing to face the threat of fanatics bent on mass destruction to further their fascist agenda with the implicit support of spineless liberals willing to bow down at any cost.
Eric Johnson, Terrell, Texas
A needed follow on to this article, is one analyzing the tremendous damage done to the United States by the Bush administration Neocons. They took the immense good will generated by the 9/11 attacks, and proceded to insult, ignore, and attack the rest of the world, until the reputation and respect for the United States was brought lower than it has been for a century. They squandered the American Armed forces and financial resources in an unnecessary war, weakening them terribly during a time of ongoing danger. Their arrogant belief that anyone with an income of less than 6 figures should be at best ignored, and at worst made to pay for the bulk of Federal expenses, led them to ignore the needs of Katrina's victims, even today. They chant "thank you for your service to our country" to our military people as though it is a religious rite, while REDUCING benefits to the non-coms, and covering up the transgressions of the upper officers.
Michael munson, arlington, Virginia
Yes, Bush might well be the worst president in US history, and yes the neocons are almost down and out BUT the military-industrial complex that dominates US politics and the economy is alive and well and will continue to shape US policy internally and externally for a long time to come - until or unless it too is shown the door.
Eddy Canfor-Dumas, Bushey, Herts, UK
The idea that Jerry Falwell was a neocon is nonsense. Neoconservatism was a movement that began in the mid-1970s. Its intellectual godfather was Irving Kristol. Its leading lights included Nathan Glazer, James Q. Wilson, Sidney Hook and Norman Podhoretz. Neocons were generally supporters of Ronald Reagan's foreign poilicy and many--though not at all--were dubious about the Democrats' approach to domestic policy. Neoconservatives were always against the counterculture, but they took no position on religion. In the last decade this has changed, and many neoconservatives have become strong supporters of religion. It's unfortunate that neoconservatism is now almost exclusively associated with the mess in Iraq. Neoconservatism deserves a more nuanced and extensive analysis than the Times has given it.
Stephen Miller, Reston , Virginia
I'm so utterly confused! The people you describe within your article are the bad guys, (Bush, Blair et al), and "Freedom of the Press" (which insures your right to print what you do), has fallen in Venezuela, Iran and North Korea to those whom you probably consider the 'Good Guys?' (Non-NeoCons, for the uninformed)…
Somebody HELP! :lol:
Joe, Hindman, America
The neocons are merely the latest tools of the New World Order. Go on, scoff, then Google Bush Crime Family. If you dare. Or "Who Killed John O'Neil". A high-ranking CIA official who was steered to a job at the WTC complex shortly before 911. Warning! Either of these efforts wil require an open mind.
David McNulty, Chelmsford, MA
I love Bush and appreciate his stand and his obligation to the Iraqi people. It is sad most formulate thier views based on the media in the country that is bent against him. It would be nice if we were inteligent enough to search things out for ourselves.
Nathan, OKC, OK
At last they are going one by one. The neo-con experiment has failed utterly and hundreds of thousands of lives were spent to find out that academic ideas don't always translate to reality. Didn't the fall of communism teach them anything? Their much vaunted 'freedom' is so much empty sloganeering. The war was good for the fatcats in energy and the military-industrial complex so maybe they consider it a success. To the world outside the US, in just a few short years America has lost any support it enjoyed post-911 and it's credibilty as a leader of global institutions. Whoops. What now for the US? Back to the cold war probably, you guys just can't seem to define yourselves without an enemy, why is that?
Teepee, Brighton, UK
Wolfowitz needed to go. But so does the world bank. This is a perfect opportunity to start winding down an institution whose real goal is to continue its bloated bureaucracy. For starters, the US should take the lead by halving its sixteen percent contribution rate.
T. Chakrabarty, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
"Once all you "social justice" fools gain power and witness the end of American Imperialisum" as you call it, you will see the beginning of the end of a free west and the end of mankind.
Ron Pogatchnik, Bakersfield, Ca"
Really Ron? I think you are meerly describing what is happening with American Imperialist goverment is in power. Beginning of the end of freedom and mankind you say? You think causing huge holes in the Earth's crust and contributing to a phenomenon which is capable of destroying the equilibrium between the life processes (which was all incited because a few neocons wanted to maintain their investments in the oil industry) is not ending the world?. Do you think that the Patriot Act, forced enlisting of poorer citizens and the the general fear of the legally protected Uzi, is freedom? It is evident that neocons should look a bit closer to home when they believe that their world is going to end because of beliefs which differ from theirs.
Kamal Singhrao, Sonoma, ca, USA, (British Expat)
It's hard to truly appreciate how much the USA lost its voice during the Bush presidency. The marketing campaign to war required one voice. It couldn't allow for anything else. For the rest of us, it was like the air was collectively taken out of our lungs. All we can do now is give witness to what happened these last 5 years, but least we rebuild from there.
Of course, the Iraqis have it worse. I wish our staying there would help them to find their voices again, but that's not going to happen unless we were some kind of UN-back peace-keeping force in vast numbers, which of course is not going to happen. With God's grace they'll find their voices again after we leave. God help them.
David, Raleigh, USA / NC
Now now dont be soo hard on the poor fellows.
Helen, Boston, US/MA
It is a great justice to see Wolfowitz fall. He and the others have to learn that it is wrong to try to impose democracy (or any other ideal) on people by force. Doing that, you are no better than Hitler and Stalin. Still, because they are responsible for deaths of thousands and thousands of innocent people in the middle east and because they have dragged my country's reputation in the mud I will not be happy until Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and their politics are completly disredited and they personally are tried before a world court for crimes against humanity.
From a loyal American, descended from loyal Americans for the last three hundred years.
Ted Packard, Reus, Spain
Shaha Ali-Reza is not born in the middle east! She was born in Lybia which is thousand miles away from the middle east.
Max, Ann Arbor, USA
Bush owes Americans one more thing - bombing of Iran. After that he can be reasonably dumped into the trash bin, spit on and covered with smear. He deserves it.
But being a fool of fools he could not accomplish this in eight years. Bush is indeed a fool of fools.
Andrey Gleener, Burnaby, Canada
Excellent article. All that we know has been well summarized. I find it so hard to believe there are still intelligent people out there who support this administration. I blame everyone for electing this "BOOB". The Republicans for only voting the party rather than the man (because they were "raised" that way") and the Democrats for offering up such a weak contender for President.
The Media, the Parties, our elected leaders, are ALL to blame for every death, destruction,dollar and angry world citizens that we created going to the wrong place. We are punishing the wrong people. We are losing the war in Afghanistan (the originating source for planning and carrying out the attack) because the Adminstration totally lost focus and had no idea of what they were doing.
The Media and the ruling body (Republicans all), did not offer one ounce or "oversite", because they would be attacked as "unpatriotic". The Administartion ran rampant wherever they wanted to go. History will be unkind to all
RLB, Chicago, IL
So just to let you yanks know you are not alone in all this....
Sadly my own country Australia followed GWB and his neocon's lead. It was obvious Bush was a fool, many of us recognised this. Blair and Howard (Australia's PM) are more to blame as they should have been the counter weight to the USA's political insanity. They stand condemned, given their intellect, background and culture, for their lack of moral strength and cyncial use of neocon policies to feed their on political ends.
My fellow citzens should be doing some navel gazing and pointing the finger at those who lead us to this. I am sad to say I, having seen the majority of my country's supposed fair minded people blindly support Howard, Blair & Bush, am not as proud an aussie as I once was.
hopefully we can vote Howard out this year and the slate will at least start to be wiped clean,
I gathered with hundreds of thousands my fellow aussies in Sydney protesting our govenments position..... I wish we could turn back time!
JD, oxford,
It starts and ends with the administrations lack of humility. Arrogance comes natural to Bush and company.
It's impossible to learn from a fool, and fools we are.
timothy anderson, Winthrop, Wa.
The fewer tools of AIPAC in the Administration and Cogress, the better.
The funding by these Zionists of Congressional members of all stripes has cost this country dearly.
Frank, Pocono Summit, PA
These Neo-cons have brought our country Neo-fascism. They are a military intervention from bringing us full-blown fascism. The questions are how we let them get away with it? and what are we doing to resolve this mess?
Robert Christian, Portland, OR, USA
Don't mess with the daughter of a guy who once ran Baltimore. When the neocons blasted Nancy Pelosi for her behavior during her middle-east trip she put the head of Wolfowitz in the bottom of their beds.
john dunn, tampa, florida
Ron Paul is the only one who can straighten out this mess. The current administration needs to be removed immediately. And we need to RECALL all Congressman and Senators who have proven that they are not doing work in the interest of the People. They attack Ron Paul for getting the TRUTH out, We the People understand that He is the only one to FORCE the Government back under Constitutional Law.
Troy Lawrence, Byers, Colorado
When the truth is distorted, doesnt matter who did it: paul wolfowitz or george bush or me. The people who helped distorting it, will be distorted, we can not fight the truth. we are part of it.
behrouz, Los Angeles, CA/US
This is a rather strongly worded news article.
Should have appeared in the Comment section.
Helen, Cambridge, MA, USA
Liberals are feeling so happy that their enemy made a mistake. Now, ooo now, they can put all their speculative rhetoric to throw as much mud as possible at the rival. This has always been the tactic of the liberal, to warm hands on the mistakes of rivals. Neocons appeared to be the strongest leaders of the nation, the US. What would happen if Al Gore was left to face 9/11? Think about it. Think honestly. What a mess would be the world now? The liberal, French style, mess!
It is easy to criticise, but who dares to take responsibility for what they do? Neocons made mistakes, yes, we all do, but they appeared as good leaders in post 9/11 world.
Alex Spak, Aberystwyth, UK
Once all you "social justice" fools gain power and witness the end of American Imperialisum" as you call it, you will see the beginning of the end of a free west and the end of mankind.
Ron Pogatchnik, Bakersfield, Ca
Unfortunately these neo-cons will probably occupy well paid sinecures at various academic institutions, think tanks etc. well into the future. In their case the punishment hardly fits the crimes.
Stephen Haliczer, Sycamore, Illinois
Comparing Bush to Clinton and Obama belies any knowledge of them or the political system of the U.S. I'm not defending them as being great, I'm merely saying that the comparison and the conclusion are both invalid. Neither of them favors the war, just for starters, although it can be argued that Clinton has very nuanced answers with regard to her vote in favor of the war in the first place. I've never understood a nuanced answer either by her now, or Kerry in 2004. The only answer for why one voted for the war then but now opposes it is "we were deceived". We all were, here in the U.S. We want to believe our president and want to trust him/her. When a president makes a statement that something is a threat to our national security, of course we take it seriously. We trust that he is not going to be misusing his power. which is what happened in this case. However, we Americans not all just accepting whatever the president says as fact, and to suggest that is naive.
Michael, New York, NY
Now lets get Cheney and Bush-they are evil, corrupt and not the least bit interested in the well being of America. Theirs is another agenda.
john, Boise, ID
Why guit a position doing nothing? They would have to drag me out too..More than likely the hardest thing the position called for was to show up occasionally, if you could find time, and know how to shake hands..His subordinates that worked for peanuts more than likely did the work. It's nothing more than another bloated hatched up bureaucracy.Most countries that were supposedly helped were run by crooks. My oppinion.
John Mitchem, Bessemer City, NC
Despite all the noise, there will be no justice until somebody is on trial for crimes against humanity. Millions of people's lives have been ruined. It is not enough just to say "He will be remembered as the worst president ever". Impeach, then indict. Then the American/British/Australian public can all open their checkbooks and start paying to fix what they are responsible for breaking. Hopefully the pain will be so severe that we will never again look the other way while the four branches of the government conspire to commit the ultimate crime.
GregD, Boston, USA
You can write stuff like this..... "Away from the Rose Garden the funeral cortege for the fundamentalist Rev Jerry Falwell was being assembled in the heart of Bush country in Lynchburg, Virginia. The portly 73-year-old televangelist had done his utmost to assemble the coalition of conservative Christians that went on to provide Bush with two presidential victories. Now he is dead and the government sustained by his followers is looking more and more like a corpse.", and it may be true that Falwell helped to provide some glue to the already existent "Religious Right" as the Liberal Media likes to call us, but nothing will change the fact the the U.S. was formed by the strength (with help from God Almighty) of the ancestors of this same group and that this same group who "Protested" for the right to worship in Religious Freedom, helped to provide the freedom you have to write this and will continue to be a force that many will never understand and that is the saddest fact of all........
Steve, Ft Lauderdale,
The post by Ahmed Hussein must actually be by a Republican spin-meister. One of their tactics is to say "everybody is bad", therefore voters lose interest and only Republicans vote. That is one of the reasons Republicans have messed up this coutry, too many voters say "What's the difference". Well,citizens--------THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.
John Marshall, LA GRANGE , Tx
Excellent article, Sarah.
NEOCONSERVATISM has failed the United States and needs to be replaced, a.s.a.p.
Read Francis Fukuyama's best-selling book - The End of History.
Mohammed, London, UK
Ron Paul is the one to clean up after Bush.
Independent investigating 9/11 will be a start.
Alexander Baldal, Philipsburg , Netherlands Antilles
A brilliant analysis, Sarah, and how moving to see the response from our American cousins. Now, I wonder if some American or other foreign journalists would offer us a similar detached review of the Blair years in this country. We're too close to see the wood for the trees.
Philip Pughe-Morgan, North Devon, England
I like the term 'neocon' because it defines me as one who still has respect for men like Tony Blair and George Bush. Men who had the moral fortitude with right to stand up to the moral decadence and violence engulfing the world today.
Those who label others as 'neocons' think it clever of themselves as they wallow in moral decadence spreading their cancer from within. They all despise authority and all that is good in the world. Bible speaks clearly of those who use the term 'neocons' in a mocking and scoffing manner:
"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 2 Timothy 3:3-5
Bob Elliott, Waco, USA
I can say emphatically that I am glad that the "chickens have come home to roost" as it regards current administration and those who were the power brokers in it; however, I am devastated and greatly dismayed that it has taken such a terrible toll of American and Iraqi for the time it has taken for it to happen. Moreover, the "damage" that has been wrought by the appointment of Neocon/Theocon ideological foot soldiers into various federal government agencies such as the Department of Justice dampens what should be a reason to "celebrate". The damage that they have wrought will take more than downfall of those we have witnessed to be undone. How much protection of our civil liberties and especially the civil rights of people of color, women etc.... can be expected from a civil rights enforcement agency that has been populated with individuals who ideologically opposed to the very concept of "civil rights" as such. There is still a lot of work to do so let us not loose sight of this.
Prof. Saiful-Islam Abdul-Ahad, Cocoa, Florida
Wow. Wishful thinking from so called 'mainstream media'. Kinda makes me think McCarthyism wasn't a bad idea after all. If you guys had your way you'lld line half of America up against a wall and shoot us in the name of 'social justice'..wouldn't you. Think about it.
And I won't even go into how the slim majority enjoyed by Dems has given rise to ZERO liberal legislation...this is an ousting of neo-cons?
Whatever.
Seth Davidson, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Brilliant piece. Highly enjoyable.
Charles Edward Frith, London, UK
Excellent article, but one question remains, who is going to clean up after Bush? All republican candidates are slightly milder versions of Bush. The democrats are as bad, Clinton is an opportunist who is going to follow exactly the same policy as Bush but sugar coated so the American public will be deceived once again. Ditto Obama. As long as Bush and Cheney are not impeached, the coming president knows that he/she can get away with murder.
Ahmed Hussein, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Ah , "the neocons", what a cerebral phrase it is. It wonderfully camaflouges the reality about these people. That they are just all just greedy ,cut throats, ready to do anything to make themselves better off.
Jannice
janice, denver, Co
Ray from Seattle: Excellent piece. Wish I'd written it myself except I can happily say that I did everything I could at both elections to stop Bush. When he won the first time around I hoped with all my heart that he would prove wrong my instincts about him. Unfortunately he has vindicated my worst fears about him and his cronies. He and the Republican congress, with their criminal abdication of their oversight duties, have shown how vulnerable the system is. If the founding fathers had any inkling of what would lie ahead, they surely would have created a parliamentary system instead of what we have. That so much power can be invested in an obvious card-carrying moron is terrifying.
Andrew, Los Angeles, USA / California
The fact that Wolfowitz took it upon himself to learn Arabic and has a lover who is Arabic is not proof of anything more than a quite COMMON fetish among the extreme right (often Republican) ideologs, of actually desiring that which they claim to want to "improve, humanize, and so on". Orientalist to the end, Wolfowitz is indeed not less than pro FOREIGN NATION, pro Israel, not the U.S. but himself, his interests, a foreign nation and he could care less about the rules - and oh yes, RELIGION.
As for budgets and bloated World Bank, and countries making the most of their finances by squandering it: are you seriously even mentionign this when Halliburton and the Iraq War have proven it is our side that is the ugliest of them all, sending private contracters who get protected by our soldiers who don't even have the right equipment - STILL? Wolfowitz will be remembered for spitting in his comb, and putting it in his hair - vulgar.
Arthur, Washington, DC
Thank you for the first of what I hope is an avalanche of truth concerning the apcolyptic, fear-driven, and hidden agenda of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, Gonzales, Supreme(???) Court Appointees, and the lemmings who have become our pied-pipers. As an opponent of both the war and Bush since their appearance on the world stage, I was privledged to attend the 2003 protest that just preceded the invasion of everyone who doesn't agree with "us", as well as the Iraqi civilization, and saw firsthand what democracy looks like according to these sleeping Nixonites. Police looked like they would happily beat you for taking their pictures, they wore riot gear and intimidating attitudes, and were driving motorcycles directly at protesters without regard to the safety or actions of those in the general area. I took pictures only when no policemen were watching me directly. There were police with video cameras recording everything. Greg Wright -Falls Church, Virginia
Greg Wright, Falls Church, Virginia
In Responce to this persian [sic] proverb: "Truth is like the sunshine; it will not remain behind the clouds for ever."
I wonder why noone is quoting this fodder during those illogical, unjustifiably hate-filled flag burning parties so clearly backlit against clear persian skys that we always see on the news.
The neocons and the theocons have had their day. They made some mistakes along the way, most notably in that they targeted the wrong idiots when they went into Iraq. They should have actaully kept going east a few hundred miles. Persia has long suffered from a napoleon complex and now they toy with nuclear weapons.
With madness like this creeping on the horizon, who can blame the neocons and theocons for pushing so strongly their ideals as the counter?
G. Ethos, Dallas, U.S.A
Whew, neocons, theocrats, fanatical Baptists - and oil men and women - still remain occupying the positions of power in the USA. ? Americans should count themselves lucky they didn't have a Calvinistic Welsh Methodist president. I've known since boyhood that C.W.M.s don't believe in God - because 'He' was too lenient.
Erico, Nottingham, U.K.
In Responce to this persian [sic] proverb: "Truth is like the sunshine; it will not remain behind the clouds for ever."
I wonder why noone is quoting this fodder during those illogical, unjustifiably hate-filled flag burning parties so clearly backlit against clear persian skys that we always see on the news.
The neocons and the theocons have had their day. They made some mistakes along the way, most notably in that they targeted the wrong idiots when they went into Iraq. They should have actaully kept going east a few hundred miles. Persia has long suffered from a napoleon complex and now they toy with nuclear weapons.
With madness like this creeping on the horizon, who can blame the neocons and theocons for pushing so strongly their ideals as the counter?
American, Americ,
Beware 'Conventional Wisdom' - it may be 'conventional,' but it's rarely wisdom.
Hominid, Phoenix,
The article's title alone brings me close to tears of happiness and relief. Indeed, the tide is inexorably turning, It means so much for me to believe that the country I love will soon wash away the shameful stain of the past six years of shocking corruption and jaw-dropping mismanagement, and don the mantle of greatness once more.
Ian Murdock, California, United States of America
Good article -- However it is very ironically stated the Riza was so qualified for any position she held, if she was, after all, the person "who inspired Wolfowitz with confidence that the largely secular Iraq would flourish once Saddam was removed." Seems like she got that a bit wrong huh? Weren't millions (literally) of protesters across the globe trying to say that it wouldn't work on the February just before the US invaded Iraq? Finally, one must take issue with these conservative women who are drawn to raw power like vampires to blood calling themselves "feminists." Just because you don't want to take a subservient role doesn't make you a feminist. Were Joan Crawford, Margaret Thatcher or Lucrezia Borgia feminists? One hardly thinks so.
Dave, San Francisco, CA
It's embarrassing, as an American, to see the sorry excuse for politicians that we've had to endure these past six years. Thank goodness their deeds are catching up to them. However, it's good to remember that we elected them, if we're to learn from our mistakes, we need to learn that buying into fear, and voting accordingly, brings dire results.
Alan, Colorado Springs, CO
Excellent, well written article. Concurrence. Where I see our greatest dangers as Americans is our level of real ignorance of peoples and histories. We are so easily manipulated in our thinking and emotions witout the deeper background, certainly as regards Islam. Without fuller knowledge, we find oureslves ready to pitch our money and our children's lives at every boogyman. Ignorance and forgetting the fundmentals is getting us in even more intractibale foils where a greater willed ignorance may be the only way forward out of lesser ignorances. Terrible.
Now if only Giuliani would drop the Catholic church, become a liberal Lutheran and a conservative Democrat, he'd have the election in a stitch. Read about Islam, please. What is being done in the name of Godliness is in fact perfectly Satanic, for all these power beasts invloved - Christian, Islamic - even Jewish. Read, read, read.
Mark Stone , Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Scathing.
DOT
Los Angeles
David Thompson, Los Angeles, CA
It seems very obvious from many independent news sources, in addition to the many facts and insights here presented, that USA neocons are indeed falling from power in Federal government. I hope this is true, and the sooner the better. But I would like to be more confident of the outcome.
Remember that few here envisioned in 2000 that the now well revealed neocon vision of 'permanent war' (or other fearful concepts) would become our reality in this present. Remember also that the "Defense" industries (aka war industries) now control an ever increasing share of monumental USA governmental deficit spending. And remember that money is a powerful motivator.
Please continue writing such powerful and encouraging articles. And I hope that your good research and insight will continue to find reasons for optimism towards positive change in USA policy and governance. With good luck and good leadership, the damage will take decades to repair, if ever.
Thank you very much.
Walt, Augusta, USA / Maine
Brava, Sarah...
Sulo Turner, seattle, wa
I like this article because it helps explain exactly how totalitarian theocrats such as Falwell and secular cronies aligned to produce a cesspool of corruption and hate. How two different species of Rasputins (I study Russian history independently) puppeteered over the White House and its agencies.
Eric, Oalkand, Christian Republic of America
Reichstag to downfall also took 6 years.
Max, Drogheda, Ireland
How true. There is a proverb in Persian that says, "Truth is like the sunshine; it will not remain behind the clouds for ever."
Amin Kamyar, M.D.
Baton Rouge, LA.
amin kamyar, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
I voted for Bush and supported him up to year or so ago. It has taken a long time, but I now see him clearly for who he is--an arrogant and stuborn mini-intellect who absolutely has no business being the President of the United States. He foists his cronies on us without looking much beyond their loyalty to him. Poor choices, most of them. I believe he is the worst president this country has ever had, and history will undoubtedly confirm it.
Consumed by his power, he expected the world to kneel before him. He thought we would be gullible forever, and stand by him through thick and thin. Yet all he had was pipe dreams, just like we all have now and then. But he had the power to make them real--or so he thought. And then his arrogance and stubborness blinded him further. Well, Georgie, you were wrong wrong wrong, your pipe dreams are nothing more than that.
Ray, Seattle,
I think for myself, that the recent debacles of the Neoconservatives particularly those of the personalities formerly associated with the American Enreprise Institute really showed their colors about 9-10 months ago. When they started a rehabilitative PR campaign which was utterly detached from reality. Whereby the fault of the Iraq war and setbacks in other areas of the overall US foreign interest and fight against terrorism, the guys who sold us the war basically came out and said that "it was not well executed" but otherwise implied that their brand of "weldpolitik" was splendidly conceived, that some unnamed actors within the circle of Bush,Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, somehow had underminded the greater good of neoconservativism that somehow these mystery administrative officials were really to blame. All in all, neocon thought has long since jumped the shark, about the time they start suggested they were righteous and correct in biting the very hand that fed them.
Mark, Wausau, WI
Great article- if only the American media would carry it. Hell, if the American media would've carried honest reporting from the get go this whole Bush debacle may very well never have occurred.
J.M., Fer,
I'd suggest hammering more nails in the coffin. These guys are ruthless, and won't go down without a fight.
GDAEman, Mobtown, US/MD
all this misses the point that W's mission IS accomplished. The New Deal is dismantled, the world now understands what it means to mess with the Bush Clan, and W leaves his Supreme Court appointees to carry on after him.
W's an immensely successful, even pivotal president in terms of what he and his backers wished to achieve. That their goals and values go against everything I believe doesn't blind me to that.
matt, new york, ny
It should come as no suprise that all the close allies of the Bush administration have fallen in disgrace. The thing that still shocks me is that Bush and Cheney haven't been impeached, they have done more to damage America than anyone in my 45 year of life and that does include Nixon.
John Russell, Tallahassee, Fl
The obvious neocons may be departing the seats of powers but, in the last 7 years, the Bush administration has very slowly hired and replaced workers at all levels in the government with conservative christians. They will stay in place for many years after Bush has gone and their combined influence will be felt for decades to come. The after-effects of the Bush administration have yet to be felt by our society.
Philip D, Los Gatos, US / CA
Three generations of emotional commerce through mass media conditioned a voting audience that will find it very difficult to sacrifice their Dopamine for clear, logical, thoughtful decision making. The last six years demonstrate the consequence of earning an elected office purely on the empty calories of emotional appeal and having no substance to back it up.
Fred Slocombe, Springfield, Illinois
You know this already Sarah, but I must say, "You are an excellent writer". And the content and its organization ain't bad either. Thanks.
David Causier, Seal Beach, USA/California
Thank you very much for the superbly written article. It captures the essence of how one nation can be done in by deceitful and corrupt people. We have a lot of work ahead of us to undo the damage done to those in and outside the United States by this current President and his supporters who blindly still stand with him.
John K, Manchester, NH
It was the Bush administration powered by the Religious Rght to create a Republican Theocracy that Democrats couldn't break through for 12 consecutive years. Thank God the tide is finally changing back to government secularism while American theocrats lose their confidence from the mega-failures of the past 6 years.
It has been religious hypocrisy and self-righteousness that has lead to the downfall of this administration and to the destruction of true Americanism.
It's time to re-build our American government through the use of the "American" Bible; the Constitution. Our Founding Fathers were liberal monotheistic intellectuals, not conservative self-righteous theocrats who have ruled our country for the past 12 years.
Joe R., Fort Wayne, IN
It goes to show the flawed government structure that US has. If we had done away with the electoral college system and had a true one-man-one-vote system, Bush would not be where he is now, in the first place. It's like seeing a CEO crashing the company, and the shareholders can do nothing about it - you can't get rid of the CEO; you can't bail out by selling the shares, since CEO holds THE market. There is almost no accountability to the American people of gross incompetence or negligence by the President.
Then again, how do we account for the almost-half of the votes that Bush got? By that extension, there is so much incompetence in the voters in truly trying to understand the competency of a presidential candidate (have they tried to genuinely compare Bush against Gore or Kerry based on their competency?!?) before they cast the vote.
The whole system stinks.
tiddle, nyc, ny
There is a strange change in political disgrace. Whether the US or the UK or elsewhere, when you got caught in the old days with even a whiff of a conflict of interest, you resigned, rather than stain the entire administration. Now, you stand around screaming at other people for your own disgrace. The high-profile scandals in the Bush administration go beyond party loyalty and to the heart of the rule of law. That most republicans have not grasped they have supported fraud in a raindbow of colors is amazing. These issues transcend political party. America's only hope is realizing this, investigating everything and putting procedures in place that it never happens again.
NicholasA, HK,
how refreshing...a slanted view to the left. Thanks!
brian smith, hollywood, ca
I wish you can allow this article to be re-printed in major american newspapers. It is time for the sleepy American public to wake up and see the painful consquencs of this horrific administration actions that will take decades to correct. British Journalists covering America are truly very insightful and delightful to read. Thank you for the Times.
Thabet Swaiss, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
I always felt that the USA responded as any indidual would when attacked, retaliate, but of course, we tend to overreact, as evidenced by the War in Iraq. Truly a foolish and stupid decision. I guess I was still naive, but before the Iraq War, I was willing to believe that someone in Washington knew better than I, they have all the resources and "intelligence", this is no longer true. When has the occupation of a Country been a success? Idealism on any side is the true enemy, I don't care if it is conservative or liberal. It is the idealists that got us into this and only the pragragmatist can get us out. Unfortunately we have another 1 1/2 years of Mr Bush. How he could not be in a personal crisis at this point is inconceivable, but is yet another reason for rationalism.
Great article BTW, I'll have to find some of your other articles.
Paul, Hop, Ma
You made me think: could Bush nominate Tony Blair to head the World Bank?
professorai, massachusetts, usa
Now is the turn of the next scapegoat for Bush administration, I mean "John Bolton"
abijoon, Tehran, Iran,I.R.
Interesting, informative and well written article ... for a conservative paper!
marco, London,
I think there's some truth to this article, but the fact remains that nine of the ten Republican presidential candidates are basically Bush clones (except for Ron Paul).
I fervently hope that if one of them is nominated, they lose in the general election, and that this second defeat will cause the GOP to seriously reexamine neoconservatism – as reportedly happened after 2006, but judging by the candidates apparently did not. But sadly, I don't think we can be sure that will happen.
Zach A, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
> It does not break my heart that they will soon be gone and I hope
> never heard from again!!!!
I feel this is not going to happen as long as Dobson & his ilk still believe their ill-fated viewpoints are correct. As long as they still hold sway over the GOP...their bad behavior & mistaken beliefs will keep coming back & haunting up. Hopefully...their rapture will get them out of the way & give them a reward they are not expecting & so richly deserve.
Don, Laughlin, NV USA
Is this supposed to be a fair article? Because it is most definately not. P.S. Tony Blair belongs to the British Labour party (center left). He is not a conservative! Also, what about the conservitive victory in the French presidential elections?
Don, San Diego, CA
Waited for a while to read this 'orbituary' of the neocons...excellently and judiciously put...
gurahaa, dunedin,
This is only the tip of the iceburger-Great article...
Haas, santa cruz,
This article pulled all the elements together into a cohesive unit. It helped me understand more of what is going in this administration.
Whoever is the winner of the next election, they will have to do a great deal to undo the damage this administration has done and doing what Bush hasn't done in relation to global warming. Even now Bush wants cutting of greenhouse gasses to be voluntary.
What has me really proud to be an American right now is the courage shown by so many in this nation in opposing the Bush administration and standing up to say so.
Ruth Beazer, New York City, USA New York State
you who would believe this neocon period is over are wrong. the fundamentalist movement, a league of "christians" mired in the old testament rather than the teachings of Christ, still control the republican party, and the new candidates seek their approval. the united states still faces the theocratists and, with the shift in the courts under the bush administration, the advent of unverifiable voting, the outcome is uncertain.
john, pawcatuck, ct
I've always felt that this was an illegitimate administration and will believe both elections were stolen until I push daisies up. With that said, I have to admit the guilty pleasure of imagining Rove waking up in the pokey, frantically looking for his teddy bear. I really thought that most people felt like the Raygun/ Bush1 years had taught us enough about what the GOP will do when put in charge of government
Your last paragraph is dead on, if the ag goes then all hell breaks loose. No one is really sure how far Cheney will go to save his presidency.
Phil, Nashville, Tn/ United States
The chickens have finally come home to roost. I believe all of this ---- the Iraq War; the Patriot Act (nothing but an onslaught on the basic liberties of all US citizens under the guise of security); Rumsfeld and Cheney their cronies; Tony Blair, etc , are by products of the coup d'e'tat in 2000. Yes, it happened in America, except the clothing was expensive business suits instead of GI uniforms.
Whoever heard of an election decided by the state governed by the sibling of the winner (under suspicious circumstances) and certified by appointees of the winner's Father? The people of the USA should never again refer to another country as a "banana republic". This will be one of US history's most shameful administrations.
Thanks for the well written and informative article. I don't always agree with Christopher Hitchens, but he is great at sizing up issues and people.
AnneArkey, Secane, PA
The lives of many thousands of Iraqies and Americans are the victums of nation- building by "neocons". May God bless their souls
Glen Parker, Glendora, CA
This neocon bush era will go down as the most disgraceful in american history. What's worse, it's a direct reflection of the incredible dumbed down condition of america to have let it happen.
High definition entertainment will surely have as its result high definition moronicness, rooted in america and growing tentacles around the world.
We're simply not smart enough as earthlings to handle progress anymore.
Walter Devore, Idaho Springs, Colorado, US
excellent article....the time for change has long past,,,,....
mal., nowra, australia
Good stuff, nobody puts it quite the way you Brits do:) Thanks for keeping me informed about what's going on in my country!
Prissy, Ohio, USA
Well said, Sarah Baxter. I look forward to reading more of your essays.
Linda Witt-King, Yorba Linda, CA
All I can say is how did ever come to this? Decades from now, when even more truth come out, historians will be brutal on Bush and the Neocon movement. Frightening group who have set US relations back a generation.
Micho Tanabe, Council Bluffs, IA / USA
One can only hope the we are seeing the demise of the neocons. They are hateful and divisive. Their reign has been a disaster for America and the rest of the world. It will take decades to undo the damage they have caused the Middle East. Good riddance I say and when you are leaving don't let the door hit you on the bum on your way out.
Bruce Northwood, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C
Why, exactly, must citizens wait for these top political figures to "decline and fall?" It always seems it's up to a leader whether he wants to resign or not. Instead of dragging a political scandal from here to breakfast, and actually giving corrupt leaders the option to resign or stay on, can't they just be FIRED? Wolfowitz should have been fired a long time ago! Gonzales needs to be fired NOW! Why exactly must we wait for a resignation?
Joe in CA, Stockton, CA
What wonderful news that one of the last newcons was being kicked out!
Boss, Chantilly, VA
Sarah Baxter has written a powerful article. Thank you for verbalizing the concise and thorough demise of our common day war mongers. Amid the ashes and ruin, my relief is that it only took the Bush Administration 6 years to cannibalize their own. My joy is in sensing shortly, very soon, I will not be doomed to cringe with embarrassment in the privacy of my home while wondering what the world must be saying about America's leaders.
Carol Hagen, Nashville, USA
Now that Mr Wolfowitz is gone, what is going to happen to his girlfriend salary/raise?
Hung Le, Phoenix, AZ
Sarah Baxter, I don't know who you are, but thanks for a very well written article, not without a good handfull of chuckles. I would add only that we have not seen the last of the neocons. They have appointed successors, namely the Clintons.
Anna Maria Knapp, San Rafael,
Be careful not to view the Iraq war as an isolated exercise. Pres Reagan has been largely vindicated by the lens of history, and Pres G W Bush may well be also.
J A, Farmington, Mi USA
Sarah, you write brilliantly! Hope that brightens your day.
Nice job.
Norel Tucker, Keewatin, ON
It is about time for the hell and torment of the Bush/Cheney cabal to come to and end!! The nation and the world will be much better off when the entire NEOCON cabal is over and done with!!! Bush and his cabal have been the most tragic thing to happen to the United States of America and the entire world since WWII. It does not break my heart that they will soon be gone and I hope never heard from again!!!!
Ron Peete, Gardnerville, Nevada
It is sad that Wolfowitz was not able to stay and root out all the corruption in developing nations. Kinya has a positive future now primarily because its government is the least corrupt in Africa. No one wants to give away money to have it siphoned into the personal pockets of corrupt officials.
Why shouldn't people in developing nations be penalized if they allow a corrupt government?
It is too bad Wolfowitz's apparently abrasive personality got in the way of his success at the World Bank, but that should be a lesson for all managers.
At this point, we can only hope that Wolfowitz's appointed successor shares his hate for public corruption. World Bank staffers who opposed the Wolfowitz appointment may find that the devil you know is better than the one you haven't yet met.
Walter, Vancouver, USA / Washington State
Excellent article.
Sarah exhibited knowledge and depth of the whole situation gamut being monitored worldwide. Her analysis is comparable to those of professional intel analysts at national security levels.
I must congratulate Times online for the excellent journalism. Such good writers provide readership with a fresh confidence in Western media that has lost its value and essence and badly degraded since the low-grade US media became more dominant.
Frank L. Chen
Retired Diplomat and
Former Ambassador of China to Middle-Eastern Countries
Frank Chen, Shenzhen, China
I look forward to these people not only being permanently banished from positions of power, but being brought to account for their crimes -- although I may have to wait for the Court of History to pass judgment and sentence rather than any contemporary judicial system....
Skip Mendler, Honesdale, PA
Music to my ears!!!
Tom Tricarico, Yorktown Heights, New York
A lucid article on the state of affairs in DC.Looks like only two people left on the sinking ship,GWB and DC.
Arun Mehta, Mumbai, India