A War to Be Proud Of - [Christopher Hitchens at his best]

The Weekly Standard ^ | September 5, 2005 issue | Christopher Hitchens

[Fred Nerks]

Now it's my turn to apologise, that comment was off-topic, but I'm pleased you enjoyed Hitchens.

[okie01]

Some opponents of Gulf War I gave this as a reason to oppose invasion. I wonder how many of these people are now crowing that Bush "lied" about WMD's.

Joe Wilson, for one. As late as January, 2003, Wilson was making speeches about Saddam's arsenal of WMD and how he would use them to combat an invasion.

Then, he was hired by the Kerry campaign...and changed his mind.

[Former Dodger]

Excellent!

Thanks for sharing, Fred!

[roses of sharon]

I had forgotten about Wilson saying that! Amazing how the left has erased the entire decade of the 90's, right thru to the war to disarm Saddam and Sons.

And now that they are disarmed, suddenly when Saddam is no threat, Bush is the threat.

Evil bastards.

[Eva]

bump for later.

[SuziQ]

The President has done what Mr. Hitchens ask many times. It is just never covered by the mainstream media because it doesn't fit their agenda.

[roses of sharon]

Dittos, we need press conferences broadcasted on the major networks in full everyday, of our military and the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The DNC's media will not do it because they want control of the facts on the ground, and the mood.

We should DEMAND it, now.

[FreedomPoster]

Sunday bump. Excellent article.

[okie01]

Evil bastards.

Couldn't have said it better, m'self.

[Tolik]

Christopher Hitchens Nailed It!
Moral Clarity BUMP !

This ping list is not author-specific for articles I'd like to share. Some for the perfect moral clarity, some for provocative thoughts; or simply interesting articles I'd hate to miss myself. (I don't have to agree with the author all 100% to feel the need to share an article.) I will try not to abuse the ping list and not to annoy you too much, but on some days there is more of the good stuff that is worthy of attention. You can see the list of articles I pinged to lately  on  my page.
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[Plymouth Sentinel]

Even for Hitch, a superior article.

Thanks for this and the day's other morally clear messages.

[Shazolene]

"State in one sentence for me one piece of information (hard fact) that will convince a high school drop out that Saddam was aiding and abetting al Qaida to attack the World Trade Center. "

How about two words: Salman Pak.
The training grounds outside Bagdad where they kept a 747 fuselage for the express purpose of training terrorists to take over an airplane using available weapons (ie boxcutters) - the tactic used on 9/11 - and which was visited by at least one of the 19 hijackers.

I would make a lot more of this if I were on W's PR team.

[carton253]

It's a great article, but anyone who listened to the President since 9/11 knows he has made these points over and over again. The President would welcome Hitchens remarks, but he doesn't need Hitchens to speak for him. He has done that - very eloquently - (and I stand by the word) since 9/11.

[carton253]

If I had to opinine, I would say that every time the President tries to tell the American people, the media only relates it to 9/11. It's an argument he is unable to win because of the forces that are allied against him. Not only in the media, but in Congress as well.

Is Al-Queda and Iraq linked together. Absolutely. Just as Iraq and Hamas, Iran and Fatah, and PA and the Egyptian Brotherhood. It's all one big organization (which you are aware of) and not a bunch of independent actors.

[carton253]

I would be interested in how you would suggest that the President should get around the anti-press Bush.

The only way he can do that is by going to the people directly, which he has done since 9/11. Watch any of these speeches on C-Span (when and if shown) or on Fox News... and he lays out a brilliant and inspiring justification for this war.

[Peach]

And the CIA and other intel agencies come out constantly with info to try and "prove" the president wrong every time he tries to make his point.

It's infuriating. And a dangerous game. But I think you're right about what is going on.

Having said that, however, he is the president and as such, the most powerful man in the world. The soldiers are doing their part protecting us and much as I love this president, I would like him to do what he needs to do at home to make sure that people understand why we have GOT to support our soldiers.

And if that means it gets ugly in the press, let it. But if he got up before the American people with charts and articles and various and asundry bits of "proof" that we have here on FR, more people would accept his word than the media's.

Their ratings are in the toilet. 30 odd percent approval ratings. People don't trust the media. More people will trust the president.

Just my opinion and I could easily be wrong. I'm the one who told my husband after meeting him when he ran that he couldn't win because he's great in person but doesn't come across on television :-)

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

"Prison conditions at Abu Ghraib have improved markedly and dramatically since the arrival of Coalition troops in Baghdad."

That line alone deserves a big bump.

[Yardstick]

You're right. I was glad to see his point #10, since it's important but rarely gets mentioned. America's military is now incontestably the world's premier nation-building and counterinsurgency force. Heaven forbid that we would have to undertake anything like Iraq again anytime soon, but if it had to happen, or if we found ourselves faced with some other situation where those skills might come in handy, we'll be the best equipped to do it -- not the UN or Europe or anyone else, by a longshot (an even longer shot than before). We now have a superior understanding of how to build a nation and how to fight an insurgency, because we've done it. We've made plenty of mistakes, but we've gotten our hands dirty and done the hard work and learned (and are learning) from them. We've gained mastery in areas where mastery can be gained only through experience. This is no small thing. It would be hard to overstate the value of having hundreds of thousands of troops and their leaders experienced and hardened in what will no doubt be the prevalent mode of warfare in the forseeable future.

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

It would be admirable if the president could manage to make such a presentation.

Sad but true.

[justa-hairyape]

And since we got to Iraq, we have found so much more information to absolutely solidly confirm the long standing relationship.

The 'Unholy Alliance' was forged in Iraq. Remember how the Marxist cabal within the west went ballistic at even a suggestion that the secular Saddam could work with the fundamentalist islamists ? They were obviously clueless or hiding something more sinister.