Can we talk? I mean really talk?

There are a series of questions on foreign policy that I?d like to pose to conservatives while I'm here. I am hoping at least some of the many very thoughtful commentators Dan has attracted rise to the bait not with platitudes or pablum, but with honest insights that help reveal the thinking behind the policies and arguments. In short, if your answer sounds like anything Scott McClellan might say, no need to repeat it here. Like Dan, I think that progressives and conservatives need to learn to understand each other better on foreign policy subjects. We have to move beyond witty soundbytes, gotcha repartee and reductio ad absurdum. Progressives harbor a host of notions about conservative viewpoints that are probably false or at least exaggerated, and that need to be challenged. I plan to post some questions on Democracy Arsenal this week that progressives ought to take a stab at too. If you have questions you?d like to have progressives answer, send ?em over and I?ll take a look. 1. Does the rise in anti-Americanism concern you? If so, do you link it to the Bush Administration?s policies? Even if you don?t think it?s a major issue that should be guiding policy choices, do you think it matters at the margins and can make it tougher to build support for U.S. goals? 2. Do you really think we can make the UN further U.S. interests by criticizing and beating down the organization? Do you believe that John Bolton?s style will enable him to actually accomplish things, or is it more a matter of his standing in the way of the UN doing wrong? 3. Do you believe that in order to effectively promote goals like democratization and human rights around the world, the U.S. must itself be seen as an exemplar of these values? Do you believe that our status as a standard-bearer of justice and liberty is so well-entrenched that revelations like the abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo won?t negatively affect it? 4. What do you really think of the failure to find WMD in Iraq? Do you believe that the Administration was genuinely as surprised as the American people were? Does this make you question intelligence assessments on other matters like North Korea and Iran; why or why not? 5. Do you believe that an international criminal court would be likely to indict U.S. servicemembers for war crimes, notwithstanding the provision that when countries are capable of investigating and prosecuting crimes in their own court systems, an international court will not have jurisdiction? Is this a real fear, or a stand-in for a broader concern over the impact of an international criminal justice system? 6. Do you believe that development aid is important in its own right, or do you see it more as something the U.S is compelled to do for image reasons, much of which winds up being wasteful? How important is the Millennium Challenge Account, in your view? 7. How important is intelligence reform? Is this a real priority, or more a political exigency driven by the 9/11 and Silberman-Robb reports? As the profile of those reports fades, is intelligence reform likely to recede as an issue? 8. How worried are you about China? What about in the long-term? 9. How worried are you about the sagging dollar and yawning balance of payments deficit? 10. What to you is most problematic about the Bush Administration?s foreign policy? If there?s one thing you don?t like, what is it? In case you?re interested, my views on most of these questions can be found over at Democracy Arsenal.