America has no appetite for imperialism. The downside of that is that it leaves imperialism to others perhaps more malign. Read all of Mark Steyn's " Now it's up to the Iraqis ":
So what happens when a scrupulously non-imperial country finds itself as the hyperpower in a unipolar world? Well, you get a two-month presence in Liberia and a 15-month colonial administration in Iraq. The first wasn’t enough, the second may well be. But neither settles the credibility issue. Around the globe, America’s principled rejection of conventional imperialism is seen as softness and decadence. As a practical matter, it means that nation-building is invariably left to global agencies and multilateral institutions antipathetic to America and to American values. And, as I wrote before the Iraq war, in such a world it’s easy for the ersatz allies to present each and every American victory as some kind of terrible defeat. As we’ve learnt this last year, if there is a ‘white man’s burden’ in 2004, it’s not the burden of doing one’s bit for the natives, but doing so under a hail of continual sniping from Chirac, Schröder, the Belgian guy, Kofi, Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, the BBC and a gazillion others.
You'll have to click the link to read the slam on Michael Moore. I don't want to encourage that sort of thing here at Wizblog.
Posted by dan at July 3, 2004 12:29 AM