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once again have blood on its hands. Never again, in other words, will
become ever again.
IT WOULD be hard to think of a more ardent promoter of this
doctrine than Samantha Power. Power is not just an advocate for
human rights. She is an outspoken crusader against genocide. She has
referred self-deprecatingly to herself as the “genocide chick.” She has
made it her life’s mission to shame American statesmen into action
and to transform U.S. foreign policy. And as she seeks to create a
new paradigm, she is becoming a paradigmatic figure. She is a
testament to the collapse of the old foreign-policy establishment and
the rise of a fresh elite. This elite is united by a shared belief that
American foreign policy must be fundamentally transformed from an
obsession with national interests into a broader agenda that seeks
justice for women and minorities, and promotes democracy whenever
and wherever it can—at the point of a cruise missile if necessary. The
same century-long progressive expansion of the democratic franchise
that has taken place at home is also supposed to occur abroad. She is,
you could say, the prophet armed.
Along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Ambassador
Susan Rice, Power has become closely—and publicly—identified as
one of the advisers most responsible for pushing Obama to intervene
in Libya. It is a stunning turnabout. Power served then-Senator
Obama as a top aide on foreign policy, taking a leave of absence from
the Kennedy School at Harvard. But during the presidential
campaign, Power announced that Hillary Clinton (not yet in Barack’s
employ), who had been relentlessly bashing her boss, was a
“monster.” A furor erupted. Power resigned. Her career with Obama
was Over.
Only it wasn’t. The late diplomat Richard Holbrooke, a close friend,
called her “mesmerizing.” Once Obama was elected, she landed a
post as a senior adviser on the National Security Council, where she
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