Samantha Powers
© Associated PressSamantha Powers memory lapses over US war crimes
Yet again, US' 'diplomacy' threatens to further destabilize the Middle East. After NATO murdered Syrian soldiers in broad daylight - an act of war against Syria and, arguably, against Russia - by conducting airstrikes on behalf of ISIS, US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power had the gall to walk out of a emergency UN Security Council meeting on the matter. Instead of responding sanely to Russia's request for information, Power completely side-stepped the issue and, delusional as ever, demanded that Russia pressure Syria to 'push for peace'. Stunned, her Russian counterpart Vitaly Churkin called her walk-out an act of 'unprecedented contempt.'

Churkin went on to say: "What I saw today, unfortunately, was very concerning, as my American colleague Samantha Power behaved very strangely to say the least." It's obvious that things are bad when even seasoned diplomats like Churkin are compelled to comment on the strange behavior of their colleagues. But then, again, Power herself is a unique type of crazy. The 'asthenic' psychopath as described by Lobaczewski is relevant here.

Asthenic psychopaths are, among other things, hypersensitive and full of dreams of reforming the world, seeking to 'save it' in their own crazy way. The result is typically mass murder, which in no way deters them from pursuing their 'ideal world.' They are easily found in literary and political milieus, where they seek to impose their false idealism on others. There's also one to be found inside Samantha Power's head.

Individuals like Samantha Power, who advocated for the 'kill them to save them' bombings of Kosovo, the all-out genocidal 'humanitarian intervention' that led to the destruction of Libya, and more destruction in Syria, definitely fit the bill, as do many other 'neoliberal' warmongerers. But as Dan Sanchez wrote, Power seems to actually believe in her personal 'heroism' despite all evidence to the contrary. She likely does believe it - after all, psychopaths of all types live inner lives of the utmost delusional grandiosity:
Power's savior complex has provided a patina of righteousness to obscure the cynical avarice driving the U.S. empire's rapacious scramble for Africa. This new scramble has been effected through a stealth invasion of the continent. Saving African women and children from terrorists, warlords, ebola, and poverty is the cover story for the drone bases, troop deployments, and built-up proxy armies. But, as always, resource extraction and military dominance are the real motivations.

But Power is to blame for more than merely being a useful idealistic naif. To soldier on with her crusades in spite of so much disastrous failure indicates a staggering degree of self-absorption. To be so oblivious to the men, women, and children who have been run over (sometimes literally) by her do-gooder campaigns speaks of an overwhelming concern with her own "heroic story" at the expense of the actual impact she is having on the lives of others.
The entire fiction that is the US' rationale for waging endless war is falling apart, and so are the 'masks of sanity' worn by psychopaths like Samantha Power. The US has been caught red-handed (yet again) providing air cover for ISIS in the Middle East, while Russia, it appears, has been patiently waiting for opportunities to call them out on it. And now that they have, at the 'highest court in the land', and Little Ms. Sunshine just lost it.