In my travels about the intertoobz today I found this excellent essay by Jonathan Cutler from 2006 entitled Beyond Incompetence: Washington’s War in Iraq in which he lays out the basic policy differences between the traditional conservatives that made up the administrations of Bush the elder, smarter (and for that matter, the Clenis) and the neo-conservatives that crafted dubya’s disastrous drunken cowboy foreign policy.

According to Cutler, it all boils down to Israel and oil. (Doesn’t it always?) For the neo-cons, whom Cutler labels Right Zionists, the US should use Israel and Iraqi Shiites as proxies to protect our interests and police the region. For the traditionalists from Poppy Bush’s era, the Right Arabists, oil flows more easily from the region by protecting the Saudi regime and Sunni Arab dominance. For either side in this debate, there is never a question whether the US should be forcing it’s will onto the Middle East, only how it should be done. Cutler finishes with this paragraph:

The Left would do well to remember that there are at least two imperialist camps in Washington -- one Right Arabist and one Right Zionist. Both are "sensible," within the framework of imperialist statecraft. Neither deserves our embrace. Will Sistani -- like the Shah before him -- collaborate with Israel and police US interests in the Middle East? Or will the Baathists and Saudis patrol the region for the US? These are urgent questions for US imperialism. Not so for the anti-imperialist Left. Our demand is simple: Bring the troops home. Now.

Yes. Ben Franklin said "Power does not make right." One of my great (probably false) hopes for Michelle’s husband is that he will not continue to run roughshod over the rest of the world merely because we have the largest army.