Hitchens: 13 Reasons Why Bush Is Wrong About Vietnam/Iraq
Christopher Hitchens, accustomed to striking out so often with men on base, does sometimes manage to hit one out of the park:
How do I dislike President George Bush? Let me count the ways. Most of them have to do with his contented assumption that 'faith' is, in and of itself, a virtue. This self-satisfied mentality helps explain almost everything, from the smug expression on his face to the way in which, as governor of Texas, he signed all those death warrants without losing a second's composure.Read the whole thing.It explains the way in which he embraced ex-KGB goon Vladimir Putin, citing as the basis of a beautiful relationship the fact that Putin was wearing a crucifix. (Has Putin been seen wearing that crucifix before or since? Did his advisers tell him that the President of the United States was that easy a pushover?)
However that may be, I always agreed with him on one secular question, that the regime of Saddam Hussein was long overdue for removal. I know some critics of the Iraq intervention attribute this policy, too, to religious motives (ranging from messianic, born-again Christian piety to the activity of a surreptitious Jewish/Zionist cabal: take your pick).
In this real-world argument, there is a very strong temptation for opponents of the war to invoke the lessons of Vietnam. I must have written thousands of words attempting to show that there is absolutely no analogy between the two conflicts.
Then, addressing the convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars last week, the President came thundering down the pike to announce that a defeat in Iraq would be - guess what? - another Vietnam. As my hand smacks my brow, and as I ask myself not for the first time if Mr Bush suffers from some sort of political death wish, I quickly restate the reasons why he is wrong to join with his most venomous and ignorant critics in making this case.
Comments
Ladies and Gentlemen, both the right and left are proud to present today's must read.
This was so good I believe it could only be more inspirational if read aloud -- preferably by English school children, at dawn, aboard an aircraft carrier, on the anniversary of Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech, beneath a banner that now reads, "Lessons Learned," from now until the end of time.
Posted by: Mark Adams
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August 26, 2007 11:08 AM