Condescending Paternalism

Today, the NY Times reports that Condoleeza has implicitly acknowledged at least the policy of rendition, if not reports of secret CIA jails, but rebuffed criticism with a stupid response that the practices had "save[d] European lives". This is as patronizing as the Bush Administration has been with domestic critics, using the 'you can't criticize us because we keep you safe and if you criticize us, you are helping the terrorists'. Besides being an illogical charge, it fuels the view, held in many places around the world, that the U.S. is arrogant and views other nations as dependent upon it. Besides being ridiculous, it is dangerous because it leads to less cooperation in actually making Americans and our allies safer and instead isolates the U.S. and infuriates potential terrorists around the world.

On another note, Hadley seems confused. The NY Times reports:

"The terror threatens all of us," Stephen Hadley, the National Security Advisor, said on CNN on Sunday. "You had seen terror attacks in Britain, in Spain, in Italy, in Turkey, in Russia, in Egypt, in Jordan, in Saudi Arabia. This is a threat, really, to the civilized world. We need to cooperate together to deal with this terror threat that threatens all of us. We are cooperating with a number of countries."

Since when was Saudi Arabia a member of the 'civilized world'. How can any government official with a straight face call Saudi Arabia a member of the 'civilized world' while ranting about the evils of "Islamo-facism," which would appear to be dictatorship under radical interpretation of Islamic law. Oh wait, there's no conflict as long as Saudi Arabia keeps the oil flowing.