Henri Levy

Saw a discussion on book tv between bill kristol and henri levy (new
book American Vertigo). Excellent exchange. He articulated very
precisely the difficulty and problems he has with the current neocon
position. The three areas of disagreement: that necons have a
messianic belief in the ultimate spread of democracy, much in the same
way that Marx felt about the inevitability of communism. 2. They are
not discriminating. They aren't critical of persons in power if they
agree on one policy issue or another. The third was the need to
support international organizations (UN World Court, etc.)and
government in general. An interesting exchange. Other postions
discussed:Levy feels that we are in a crisis re religion. The
prevalent brand of religion in the US is intolerant and breaking down
the separation of church and state. He feels that there is a major
role for government in lessening the impact of poverty and the support
of urban infrastructure. That effectiveness of government in these
areas has been undermined by the present administration. The reason
for the lack of planning in the aftermath of the Iraq war was the
"messianic belief" that all we had to do was to walk in, establish
democracy and that the rest would simply take care of itself.