Jimmy Carter slams US exceptionalism

Have found it curious on many occasions, how the US and much of it's populations seem oblivious to what the US is doing in the world. Like what they're doing is right because they are Americans, exceptional people, better than other people of the world. You know, those of us who are so unfortunate as to not have been born in that rarefied atmosphere that obviously must permeate the nation. I am one of those outside this exceptional nation. Does that mean therefore that because I'm not from the US then I am not exceptional? As Spock would say, logic dictates that that is the case.

For example. What action would the US take if a foreign power from the other side of the world started drone bombing on the community in an undeclared war? On US soil. Rightly so there would be outrage across the west. Yet many people within the US seem to think that if they are the ones doing the bombing then it's OK. The outrage by the Pakistani community living under the drones seems to be dismissed almost as bleatings from the enemy. The justification for killing a houseful of people, some of them women and children, is simply "collateral damage" and part of war. This despite the much vaunted accuracy these drones supposedly have. 

Among other things, Carter is interviewed about his thoughts on the US penchant for war. I think he's got it pretty accurate from here in Sydney:

You very clearly call out the speed with which the United States jumps into military action. You write that, “more than any nation in the world, the U.S. has been involved in armed conflict and has used war as means of resolving disputes …” 

That’s correct, and I list some of the wars. I listed 10 or 15 and I could have listed about 10 or 15 more. 

We also rarely acknowledge the loss and suffering that our policies have caused around the world. You’re specifically critical of our drone wars, and of the innocent people we’ve killed as almost collateral damage. You’ve traveled to so many countries through the Carter Center: At home, we talk of American exceptionalism, of this duty to bring our great democracy to the rest of the world. Do we see ourselves accurately and understand our own history? And how does that square with how the rest of the world perceives us? 

(laughs) No. The rest of the world, almost unanimously, looks at America as the No. 1 warmonger. That we revert to armed conflict almost at the drop of a hat — and quite often it’s not only desired by the leaders of our country, but it’s also supported by the people of America. We’ve also reverted back to a terrible degree of punishment of our people rather than the reinstitution of them back into life. And this means that we have 7.5 times as many people now in prison as when I left the governor’s mansion. We’re the only country that has the death penalty in NATO; we’re the only country in this hemisphere that has the death penalty, and this is another blight on our country as far as unwarranted, unnecessary and counterproductive violence are concerned. 

John Kerry goes on “Meet the Press” after the Russian actions in Crimea and says, with a straight face, that “it’s the 21st century, you can’t just invade another country anymore.” And I think a lot of us said, “Well, wait a second. That sounds a lot like something we did in Iraq, you know, during the 21st century.” 

Right. We did. We do it all the time. That’s Washington. Unfortunately. And we have for years. more at Salon