American Views Abroad

 
The Petraeus Moment - Imperial Autism by Tom Engelhardt:

Given this line-up of forces how could it have been anything but 'words, words,words' in Washington, even while it was death, death, death in Iraq? What those words do, however, is fill all available space, reinforcing a powerful sense that Washington's importance in the scheme of things is the one unquestionable reality on our planet. The rest of the world hardly registers, except in a mode of frustration.

Is there a single once of humility anywhere in Washington? Can we even imagine that, somewhere on Earth, someone doesn't think about us?

....To grasp the Petraeus moment, you really have to re-imagine official Washington as a set of drunks behind the wheels of so many SUVs tearing down a well-populated city avenue -- and all of them are on their cell phones. They hardly notice the bodies bouncing off the fenders. For them, the world is Washington centered; all interests that matter are American ones. Nothing else exists, not really. Think of this as a form of imperial autism and the Petraeus moment as a way in which the White House and official Washington have, for a brief moment, blotted out the world.
www.tomdispatch.com/post/174835/the_petraeus_moment
- posted by Gloria @ 1:24 PM