AUSTIN -- Operating on the theory that what we owe our country
in time of crisis is, among other things, our best thinking, let's continue
to think about what America can usefully do now.
We have a bad national habit of playing the blame game when
something goes wrong. This first thing we ask is, "Whose fault is this?"
We've already got congressional committees trying to figure out who was
asleep at the wheel, who should have known, what should have been done, etc.
Many of our more thoughtful citizens are exhuming years of American policy
in the Arab world, much of which, in retrospect, seems to have been unwise.
Brian Urquhart, the great British diplomat, once suggested the
Israelis and the Palestinians (and practically everyone in the Middle East)
should just blame the British for everything. In the first place, there's
some historic merit to the argument, and in the second place, there's
nothing like a common enemy to unite warring parties. Tony Blair for bad
guy.
Unfortunately, the United States seems to have replaced Britain