If the judicial system cannot impose restrictions on the abuses generated by concentration of power, and if it cannot hold responsible those who have gone too far, then we will all be at the mercy of American power in every corner of the world.
Obama’s words emphasize the search of what his opponents try to divide: the Democrat from the Republican, the American from the Muslim, the conservative from the liberal, the Latin from the African-American, the Asian from the white and so on and so on.
The question now is to what extent the U.S. and U.K. can sustain a long-range offensive to occupy and pacify a country where, historically, all other major world powers have failed.
The degree of violence in Iraq during the next months will be determined by the ability of the Arabs and Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis to successfully manage the conflicts that have brought them to the verge of civil war.