Thursday, May 03, 2007

Setting the Table, with All the Options

By Peter Dyer
May 3, 2007

There is a consensus among American foreign policy makers and major presidential candidates: “All options are on the table.” This phrase has been repeated so often by so many that it is now a cliche.

It seems reasonable enough. When faced with a problem, most of us would like to have at our disposal any and all tools available to remedy the problem.

But what do these words really mean when used by the most powerful people in the world’s most powerful country? The bland lanaguage of the cliche masks its implicit terror.

Read on.
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3 comments:

EvilPoet said...

In politics no slogan is left behind. To quote H.L. Mencken: "If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner."

Thu May 03, 05:48:00 PM 2007
Steffman said...

"The United States has the right to invade and occupy any country at all, whether or not we have ever been harmed or even threatened with harm by that country."
Oh really ? That's shocking news! I never thought of that!
And now enough of sarcasm - hasn't that been the standard line of politics for decades ? Or are the USA really the United States of Amnesia ? I believe the only president since WW II who hasn't started a war or inherited one from his predecessor was Carter. And of course there was always good reason for war like the Gulf of Tonkin...

Fri May 04, 06:19:00 PM 2007
Robert B. Livingston said...

Cynthia McKinney is so different from those who drum the phrase "keep all options on the table"-- people who are more concerned with marketing themselves than doing what is right.

Sat May 05, 09:35:00 AM 2007

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