Exceptionalism
Well, I've talked to senior members of the Bush Administration and if the viewing public are asking "Well, why are they behaving this way?" Well, one can say they're just plainly selfish or this is the consequence of September 11 and so on. Not really. It's this---this administration has a view of the special character of the United States, the singular and exclusive character that is new. I've talked to them about it and they make this plain. They say "We are the sole super power, we're therefore the exceptional country, we're outside of international law. Others have to obey the law and obey the rules, but we don't." I mean, I'm not making that up. If they were sitting here tonight, Mark, the people I've talked with would readily agree. They'd say "Yeah, that's right, that's who we are. We are the exceptional country and we don't have to obey the law because we're different."
Former weapons inspector Richard Butler, who, contrary to popular belief was not expelled from Iraq by Saddam in 1998, gave a frightening interview to Australian reporter Mark Davis transcribed at Counterpunch.
originally posted by zagg