Letter From Ground Zero

Why does the United States--born in a people's war for national independence from the greatest empire of its time--have such a difficult time understanding the people's wars of independence of our day? The example before our eyes is of course the failure to plan for or even anticipate the uprising against the American occupation of Iraq. But the error has a far longer history than that, extending at least as far back as a half-century to the failure to understand the roots of Mao Zedong's revolution in China. In the 1940s, the US government had in its ranks officers who reported fully on the rot that pervaded every level of the Chinese government and warned of Mao's success. Notable among them were Gen. Joseph Stilwell and his political adviser, John Service. However, when their warnings proved correct, they were not congratulated; they were absurdly excoriated for supposedly having caused the result. Then many were hounded out of their jobs in a purge of the State Department. Leading the purge was Senator Joseph McCarthy. In the speech in February 1950 that inaugurated his anti-Communist witch-hunts, he announced that he possessed a list of 205 names "known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party, and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy." He singled out Service for mention. The theme of McCarthy's attack against the Democratic Party is worth noting in our day:

At war's end we were physically the strongest nation on earth and, at least potentially, the most powerful intellectually and morally. Ours could have been the honor of being a beacon in the desert of destruction, a shining living proof that civilization was not yet ready to destroy itself. Unfortunately, we have failed miserably and tragically to arise to the opportunity. The reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our only powerful, potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores, but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this nation.

The idea that a Republican-led America could dominate the world if only weak-kneed, treacherous Democrats did not stand in the way was also to have a long and rich history.

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