Spengler's alter ego David P. Goldman writes in opposition to the appointment of Elliot Abrams as assistant to Rex Tillerson as SecState. I write to concur.
Elliot Abrams is the quintessential neo-con, one of that benighted band who believed we could turn the tribal kingdoms of the Middle East into representative democracies. It has proven to be impossible.
As we have written over the years here at COTTonLINE, nation building is meddlesome nonsense. People select a form of government that works with their culture and values.
However ugly their choice may seem to us given our culture and values, they are the ones who have to live with it and the choice should be theirs. It only becomes our problem if they become an active enemy of the U.S., at which point we should destroy their government and its practitioners mercilessly.
As an unregenerate neo-con, Elliot Abrams has no place in our foreign policy structure. Trump has spoken out against nation building. I hope Trump and Tillerson will reconsider and select someone else.
Afterthought: Nation building is like trying to teach a pig to sing. You waste your time and energies while seriously irritating the pig.
