Presidential election, 2016

[Bob Butler 54]

(08-28-2016, 10:31 AM)Anthony Wrote: Maybe Rand Paul is right - that Hillary is a "neocon."

Not as the word was used during the era of "Rebuilding America's Defenses."  The militaristic wing of Bush 43's coalition had faith that high tech would allow America to actively use its armed forces with assurance of victory and low casualties.  They convinced themselves they could fight 'quick victorious wars', often a dangerous habit of thinking.  They were more or less correct in a conventional war, as was demonstrated in the early days of 43's Iraq incursion.  The were absolutely wrong fighting an insurgency, as we learned in Afghanistan, Iraq and later struggles all over the Middle East.  Rebuilding America's Defenses neocon doctrine called for putting troops near the oil, that our Cold War doctrine of keeping forces in Europe was obsolete, that the new center of military and economic interest was the Middle East, and that it was in our obvious economic interest to place troops near the oil.

These neocon theories stated clearly in Rebuilding America's Defenses were put into practice in Bush 43's Iraq war, and most found the approach wanting.

Obama and Hillary are not interested in putting troops near the oil, and are not going to put boots on the ground without a clear achievable end game.  It is true that some Republicans have flip flopped totally from Bush 43's approach.  They are less militaristic than Obama and Hillary right now.  How much this is real, though, and how much is a knee jerk instinct to attack whatever position the Democrats are taking, I don't know. Other Republicans are sticking with the more traditional Republican hawk vision, though I don't know that many of them are actually advocating military adventures at this point.  Meanwhile, Obama's and Hillary's focus is on containing and deterring factions practicing terror in the West rather than on economic factors.

The neocons were originally a militaristic Republican faction.  That faction was so discredited in Bush 43's time that today's Republicans are trying to label Democrats as neocons.  In reality, Obama ran a 'cut and run' campaign against the Republican 'stay the course'.  He took the boys home with Hillary at SecState.  He has avoided returning boots to the ground since, and I've seen nothing to suggest Hillary is going to make major changes in current policy.

The whole "Democrats are neocons" thing is Big Lie at its finest.  It requires a total flip-flop of the meaning of the word neocon.