Donald Rumsfeld again hurt the feelings of European diplomats on Friday by ignoring their sensitivities about their relative lack of power and consequence and accusing them of being powerless and inconsequential.
You may recall, the Euros felt that taking action against the fascist police state in Iraq was unwarranted because Saddam Hussein was only a threat to his own people and therefore not worth jeopardizing lucrative oil and weapons contracts. Some even hinted that the status quo wouldn't be as bad as the arrogant Americans winning again.
"There were prominent people from representative countries in this room that opined that they really didn't think it made a hell of a lot of difference who won," he said, nearly shouting. "Shocking. Absolutely shocking."
Even worse:
”I know in my heart and my brain that America ain't what's wrong in the world," he said.
How could he say such ridiculous things? Doesn’t he understand that he’s been roundly criticized at cocktail parties all over the world for being insensitive and drawing attention to the fact that many in the governing elite would rather talk about difficult challenges to international security rather than actually do anything about them?
Some European participants said they were stunned by what they called Mr. Rumsfeld's arrogance, especially in light of the apparent intelligence failures in Iraq. "His view is, `We're right, they're wrong, and we'll continue to be right,' " said Christoph Bertram, director of the German Institute for International Politics and Security in Berlin. "It was a performance of `We know better.' "
What a scandal this is! Rumsfeld believes he is right and actually says so . . . right in the faces of the very same people who believe they are right! Why, that means he must think those who think they are right are actually wrong.
And what’s worse, Rumsfeld doesn’t even concede that it is someone else’s turn to right. He’s planning to be right again and again. That’s not fair!
If you follow Rumsfeld’s simplistic reasoning to its absurd extremes then he’s in effect saying that the cowboy Bush administration “knows better” than the European elitists about the proper response to Islamofascism.
Why that’s absurd! I mean, France alone has millions of alienated and violent Muslims living side by side in peace and harmony with alienated and cowering French people. Obviously we must not provoke them. Rather we must win them over with our cynical cowardice.
Only then will they understand that we know better. Unlike those arrogant Americans.
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