from Steve Clemons @the Washington Note

Excerpt:

And to be clear about my views of Rumsfeld, I think that the Abu Ghraib disaster so completely undermined America's ability to wage a hearts and minds campaign that Bush's failure to demonstrate the importance of accountability and fire Rumsfeld, as well as Rumsfeld's reluctance to accept responsibility by resigning, multiplied this disaster by an order of magnitude. But Rumsfeld is not a neocon. Neither is Condi Rice -- who I think is taking loyalty to her president and this administration to perverse levels that I would have hoped her character and intellect would not have allowed.

The trigger for my thinking today is a superb review of an interesting book in the Washington Post's Book World by Stanley Kutler titled "On How Neocons Grabbed the Opportunity to Create a New World Order." Kutler is reviewing America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and The Global Order by Stefan Halper and Jonathan Clarke. I recommend reading the review for its own merits, as well as the book. more....