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Where do your beliefs most closely place you?

I have been asking myself questions like What is a Neo Con? in an effort to best begin to make statements about my opinions on issues facing America and Americans. The link above helped illustrate for me the apparently prevailing belief in America that great wrongs can and should be committed IF they are part of a larger or single effort against a "Great Evil". Is this policy really that much different from groups that call us the "Great Satan" and train and position suicide bombers to attack our soldiers and their own countrymen?

I think that these statements about Evil have become the thrust of responses to questions of reason and morality, thereby denuding all opposing arguments as coming from people that, knowingly or ignorantly, support Evil. It is a VERY effective defense for those that would not deem us worthy of an explanation for their policies and actions.

I continued looking and found a couple more links for your perusal:
• Christian Science Monitor - Neocon 101
• CS Monitor - A collection of quotes by neoconservatives
I provide these because, more so than any other time that I know, beliefs like these are held by those that have the power, and contend that they have OUR MANDATE, to shape our National Policy and therefore America's Future, around them.

"Change - above all violent change - is the essence of human history."

"It is time to stop pretending that Europeans and Americans share a common view of the world, or even that they occupy the same world."

Ideas like these, I feel, need to be reckoned with as they seek to divide us from the rest of the world, a direction that has certainly been implemented before our very eyes. We have lost the backing of traditional allies, we have encouraged the other largest economies to band together rather than with us. These are things that hurt what is one of greatest strengths; that of the American ingenuity and ability to succeed in Business. It seems foolish to allow those whose family's and relatives have earned this success to make it more difficult for me and my generation to do the same.


So I finally came to this:
• Christian Science Monitor - Are you a NeoCon?
Oooooooh, I had to take this one! There are 10 questions, 4 multiple choice answers for each. I have provided the questions and only my answers.

Be aware that these trite answers are their words not mine but given a limited choice, I was determined to decide to get an answer.

1. Which best describes your attitude about US efforts to secure peace between Israelis and Palestinians?
It's an arrogant fantasy to think the US can "bring peace" to the Mideast. US reliance on foreign oil has embroiled it in crisis after crisis there. The people of the Middle East must set their own course.

2. The US campaign in Vietnam was...
A quagmire. The US had the right strategy - it was important to contain communist expansion into Asia - but executed the wrong tactics. High casualty rates and low public support put the US in an unwinnable war.

3. What type of relationship should the US form with China?
The US should neither appease nor aggravate China. China is a bellicose regional power and its human-rights record is appalling. But it doesn't threaten US interests. The US must stop giving China preferential trade treatment and do more to protect American jobs, but it needn't contain or confront China.

4. How should the US approach relations with Iran?
The US is simply not positioned to stop Iran's seemingly inevitable drive to acquire nuclear weapons. But as it did with the Soviet Union and China before, America can contain and deter Iran's mullahs and their nuclear leverage. Hard-line Islamic rule in Iran is bankrupt and doomed to failure - democratic reformers will eventually seize the day. Patience and pressure, not preemptive war should guide America's approach toward Iran.

5. How should the US deal with the North Korea nuclear threat?
The nature of the North Korea crisis makes the Bush doctrine inoperative. The region is such a tinderbox that military action taken against N. Korea could lead to a full-blown conflagration. However, China, Japan, and South Korea - working together - can apply enough pressure on Kim Jong Il to contain the nuclear threat he poses. For now, the US must rely on multilateral talks while it repositions US forces in the peninsula to make them less vulnerable.

6. The war against Saddam Hussein's regime was...
A political and intelligence farce, a diplomatic disaster, a human tragedy, and now, a growing quagmire.

7. What do you think of America's superpower status?
Unrivaled US power is crucial to America's defense. But using power to "Americanize" the world, act as policeman in the far corners of the globe, or to leverage trade agreements is sheer imperialism.

8. How should the US approach alliances with foreign powers?
The US must march to the beat of its own drum, but its power is sapped when it marches alone. Healthy multilateral relations are vital to effective US diplomacy. America may not always agree with UN policy or even its best allies, but it can't afford to act alone.

9. How can the US win the war on terrorism?
The US should not apologize for spreading American values around the globe, but its imperial behavior helped inspire the terrible Sept. 11 attacks. The US must relentlessly prosecute terrorists and work to undercut regimes that support them, but to prevent another Sept. 11, the US must stay truer to its founding as a republic by protecting the American people and staying out of other nations' business.

10. Does the US have the right balance between foreign and domestic priorities?
The billions spent on homeland security and far-flung bombing campaigns haven't made the US any safer. With the money it wastes killing civilians abroad and chipping away at civil liberties at home, the US government could provide health insurance to all Americans.


They judge me a, hold your breath... A Liberal.

I have provided the 4 classifications that your answers could place you in. Check 'em out... Mouse-over some for commentary...


Definitions of 4 Classes of Broad Belief Systems

Isolationists...

• Are wary of US involvement in the United Nations
• Oppose international law, alliances, and agreements
• Believe the US should not act as a global cop
• Support trade practices that protect American workers
• Oppose liberal immigration
• Oppose American imperialism
• Desire to preserve what they see as America's national identity and character

Liberals...

• Are wary of American arrogance and hypocrisy
• Trace much of today's anti-American hatred to previous US foreign policies
• Believe political solutions are inherently superior to military solutions
• Believe the US is morally bound to intervene in humanitarian crises
• Oppose American imperialism
• Support international law, alliances, and agreements
• Encourage US participation in the UN
• Believe US economic policies must help lift up the world's poor

Realists...

• Are guided more by practical considerations than ideological vision
• Believe US power is crucial to successful diplomacy - and vice versa
• Don't want US policy options unduly limited by world opinion or ethical considerations
• Believe strong alliances are important to US interests
• Weigh the political costs of foreign action
• Believe foreign intervention must be dictated by compelling national interest

Neoconservatives...

• Want the US to be the world's unchallenged superpower
• Share unwavering support for Israel
• Support American unilateral action
• Support preemptive strikes to remove perceived threats to US security
• Promote the development of an American empire
• Equate American power with the potential for world peace
• Seek to democratize the Arab world
• Push regime change in states deemed threats to the US or its allies

So, When George W. Bush says "America didn't ask for this war" and, in the same breath, that "[Saddam Hussein's] regime was a clear threat, and posed a risk we couldn't take"

Think about the 8 NeoCon Beliefs above, and remember that all I am suggesting is that American's vote for people, not parties.




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