Columnist and Neoconservative Marc Thiessen Wants the U.S. to Support Dictatorships Worldwide

 

By David Starr

 

The right-wing seems to be getting more, bold about supporting insane policies. Washington Post columnist and FOX contributor Marc Thiessen is one of these insane individuals. Thiessen is a neoconservative and was a speech writer for the George W. Bush Jr. regime. He can be called several other things: ultranationalist, imperialist, right-winger, fascistic, etc.

 

In early July, Thiessen made outrageous, and typical, statements in an interview that was shown on Fox “News.”  (Originating from an edition of The Story.)  Michael Luciano, wiring in Mediaite, quoted Thiessen on U.S. support for Saudi Arabia and also supporting other U.S.-backed dictatorships: 

 

“The hardest that we have to do in the U.S. foreign policy–broadly–is balance U.S. interests and our concern with human rights with the fact that we need–sometimes–pro-American dictatorships around the world or pro-American regimes that do not have human rights records that we like or condone.”

 

Pro-American dictatorships. Concern for human rights. Thiessen may not know that he is blatantly contradicting himself.

 

Thiessen goes on, with Saudi Arabia being the subject:

 

“This is Saudi Arabia. It is the only country in the Middle East that is a bulwark against Iran, which is the real threat to American interests around the world and to our ally, Israel. We can’t break our relationship with Saudi Arabia. We need a strong relationship with Saudi Arabia despite the fact that we have major disagreements on human rights.”

 

Again, here’s another U.S. citizen taking an adversarial position against an “enemy.” And he calls Israel “our ally.” Israel, through its’ rabid, right wing control, continues to impose apartheid, repressing the Palestinians.  The United Nations has called out Israel several times over the years for its barbaric practices, but Israel is still not sanctioned or punished for it. That’s because it has an “Uncle,” that is, Uncle Sam to protect it from repercussions. And Thiessen of course ignores Israel’s wrongdoing. No, it is Iran that is looked at as the villain. 

 

Then, Thiessen goes full-board crazy. It appears that the National Basketball Association (NBA) has business going on with China (PRC). Right out of a 1950s with McCarthyite cliches, Thiessen claims that “The NBA has become a foreign agent for the Chinese Communist Party.” Thiessen is dwelling in an outdated past, while embracing delusions in the present.

 

Writing in the Transcend Media Service, Caitlin Johnstone–who calls herself a rogue journalist–took Thiessen to task because of his column in the Washington Post. The title of the piece was “Only NATO membership can guarantee peace for Ukraine.” Another writer, Stephen Biegun, was also involved with the piece. Johnstone notes that Thiessen and Biegun wrote about the idea of claiming that Ukraine must join NATO after the Russia-Ukraine war is over. 

 

Johnstone quoted them: “Almost 75 years after NATO’s founding, the record is clear. NATO doesn’t provoke war; it guarantees peace.” Johnstone made a sharp reply that this “would certainly come as a surprise to the survivors of disastrous military interventions in nations like Libya and Afghanistan.”

 

Johnstone quoted them further: “No serious person advocates NATO membership for Ukraine while the current fighting continues. That would be tantamount to a declaration of war with Russia.” What they don’t say or realize is that NATO membership for Ukraine would still make Russia thoroughly opposed, whether membership was during the war or after the war.

 

In an interview with EWTN’s program, “The World Over,” in January 2010, Thiessen came off as an apologist for the Bush Jr. regime in its use of torture. In Commonweal, editor-at-large Mollie Wilson O’Reilly quoted Thiessen from that interview. Thiessen sounded almost diplomatic in his opinion of then-U.S. President Barack Obama’ State of the Union address: “When President Obama was elected, I think a lot of people in the Democratic Party took this as a mandate for socialism. And I don’t think that’s at all what it was. I think it was an affirmation of the dignity of all people and an attempt to bring, you know, build a bridge between races.”

 

That may be true, but Obama attempted to overly-compromise with the Republicans in the name of “bipartisanship.” Obama, when it comes down to it, is a neoliberal and that means it’s not surprising he would bend over backwards to cater to the GOP. At least in his first term as president. In his second term, Obama attempted to be a little, more, firmer with the Republicans but to a point. He pretty much surrounded himself with former officials of the Bill Clinton administration, which meant, above all, to implement a neoliberal agenda.

 

In understanding what constitutes torture, O’Reilly implied the right has had an unrealistic meaning of what it is, reflecting the Bush Jr. regime’s excuses for it.  “The charitable interpretation of all this is that the producers of The World Over badly need to do some research on the subject of torture and the law.” O’Reilly quoted an example from Thiessen: “It is not torture. We didn’t torture anybody. The techniques do not cross the line into torture.” O’Reilly replied, writing that “he’s not telling the truth, even if you accept the (plainly self-serving) claim that the so-called torture memos were valid interpretations of U.S. law.

 

“Even then, we know that the U.S. has tortured; there’s no reason to accept Thiessen’s assertions to the contrary. In fact, I’d like to suggest that EWTN’s producers also do a little more research on Thiessen before inviting him back. That he’s been given a position at the Washington Post is distressing. That EWTN is given a similar opportunity is appalling.” 

 

The right-wing has shown over and over again that they don’t understand realities relating social and political issues. Quite the contrary, they defy reality with their insane policies and remarks. Marc Thiessen, neoconservative and right-winger, is a real example of this insanity.