What Would Machiavelli Do? The Attack On Hillary

Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman recently issued a harsh statement about Hillary Clinton's request for a troop withdrawal plan:

"Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia," Edelman wrote. He added that "such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks."

Whenever you hear or read an official statement coming from the Bush administration, it is important to decode the message from a Machiavellian point of view. Given the Machiavellian strategies of the Bushies, I suggest that the attack on Hillary benefits both Hillary and the Republicans. And since Bill Clinton is the master of political strategy, let's try to get the real meaning of this attack since Bill is a friend of the Bush family and may have helped stage this press release.

The views expounded by Machiavelli in The Prince may seem extreme. However, his whole life was spent in Florence at a time of continuous political conflict. Accordingly, the main value that Machiavelli emphasized was the need for stability in a "prince's" domain. According to Machiavelli, moral principles must yield to every circumstance, especially in such cases where sordid, inhumane actions may be required. It is imperative that the prince be willing to do anything necessary to maintain power; however, Machiavelli asserts strongly that above all, the prince must not be hated. He does give a concise answer on whether or not a prince should be feared or loved, he states, "..a wise prince should establish himself on that which is his own control and not in that of others; he must endeavor to avoid hatred, as is noted." He also says "It is best to be both feared and loved, however, if one cannot be both it is better to be feared than loved."

That said, the plan of the Republicans would be to elevate Hillary to a kind of martyrdom so that she may be viewed more favorably by the left wing Democrats who are her most alienated group. This would be in the hope that she gets the nomination. Clearly, from the Republican point of view, she is the most vulnerable of the Democratic candidates. And Bill Clinton probably told the Bush family that the best strategy for both of them is for Hillary to go on the attack aggressively and get the Republicans to attack only Hillary. It is interesting that the attack against Hillary did not include the other candidates who have been at least as aggressive in their desire to withdraw our troops from Iraq. It is important to not take any statements coming from the Republicans at face value. You must be able to decode all of their releases, and when you do say: What would Machiavelli do?