I think what's new is that there is such broad and profound disagreement amongst them within only 48 hours of the launch, and partners are already pulling out. You may recall Bush did Iraq right - at least nine months of preparing the 'generation of consensus' amongst allies through lies at the UN, co-opting the media, buying many country's UN votes through foreign aid, throttling dissent, etc. Obama and his advisers apparently are neophytes and grossly underestimated the need to manufacture consent. On the other hand, they will have plenty of time to work on this error - many years, if my assumptions are correct. -PF
On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 8:12 AM, Marv Gandall <marvgand at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> My impression is that the US military and foreign policy establishment,
> like everyone else, was taken wholly aback by the consecutive mass eruptions
> in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, and it has since been running to catch up.
> That may explain why it appears to have not thought through the long term
> implications. To the degree possible, I think it has tried to do so. But it
> has had to continually assess and reassess its policy because of the speed
> of events, which is characteristic of revolutionary outbreaks, as Paddy
> Apling and others have noted.
>
-- Peter Fay http://theclearview.wordpress.com