The argument against our Iraq war, which is now being held widely in America even in conservative circles, is universal in Germany and it is one which is not grounded in hindsight, it is a view which was nearly universal before hostilities commenced. I can think of no one I know in Germany who favored that war. The reaction against it was instinctive, visceral and ubiquitous.
It was difficult then to make headway in argument with them about that war. At the time of the invasion I favored the war however I have publicly recanted that mistake many times on FreeRepublic. Now it is wholly impossible to make any explanation that the Germans find persuasive concerning the Iraq war. And why would one try? The proof is in its failure. The calamity that is presently overwhelming Iraq today is regarded in Germany as final proof, where none was needed, of the folly of that war.
So when America attempts a muscular foreign policy to intervene in the cause of "justice" the reaction in Germany is reflexively negative. That was so before the Iraq war and it is true today.
That being said, we ought to at least note the author is arguing by analogy, the facts of the Iraq war or the Vietnam War may or may not be as he states, I think for the most part he has set them down largely correct, but they guide the perception of the German people. Nevertheless, argument by analogy is persuasive but logically weak..
The author could, for example, have used the analogy of the Munich appeasement and we would then be in a place where we would have to concede that sometimes intervention is in the national interest of the United States and sometimes it is not. One does not get much closer to deciding whether to intervene in a particular case by selectively reviewing other historical cases which suit one's preconceptions.
America must proceed in every case by rightly identifying her national interests and rationally relating those interests to the occasion for potential intervention. This we plainly do not do. Appeals to humanitarian justice are emotionally persuasive but treacherous in the extreme. Likewise, reflexive slogans like "America first" do not get as much closer to aligning policies to American interests.
It is not plain, it is not easy, and often only clear in hindsight.
