Delusions of Progress (George Will's Burkean Rant)

New York Post ^ | July 18, 2006 | George Will

[dinoparty]

July 18, 2006 -- 'GROTESQUE" was Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's characterization of the charge that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was responsible for the current Middle East conflagration. She is correct, up to a point.

Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Rice called it "short-sighted" to judge the success of the administration's transformational ambitions by a "snapshot" of progress "some couple of years" into the transformation. She seems to consider today's turmoil preferable to the Middle East's "false stability" of the last 60 years, during which U.S. policy "turned a blind eye to the absence of democratic forces."

There is, however, a sense in which that argument creates a blind eye: It makes instability, no matter how pandemic or lethal, necessarily a sign of progress. Violence is vindication: Hamas and Hezbollah have, Rice says, "determined that it is time now to try and arrest the move toward moderate democratic forces in the Middle East."

But there also is democratic movement toward extremism. America's intervention was supposed to democratize Iraq which, by benign infection, would transform the region. Early on in the Iraq occupation, Rice argued that democratic institutions do not just spring from a hospitable political culture, they also can help create such a culture. Perhaps.

But elections have transformed Hamas into the government of the Palestinian territories, and elections have turned Hezbollah into a significant faction in Lebanon's parliament, from which it operates as a state within the state. And as a possible harbinger of future horrors, last year's elections gave the Muslim Brotherhood 19 percent of the seats in Egypt's parliament.

[dinoparty]

George Will's latest "blame Bush" and "blame neocons" rant.

[The Lumster]

I think he makes some good points. We have plenty on our plate as it is

[dinoparty]

Perhaps we should not have entered WWII in Europe, either, seeing as though we so much on our plate in the Pacific theater.

[maine-iac7]

"Back seat driver". "Armchair expert". "Ignoramus." "Socialist Twit." (feel free to jump in anytime....;o)

[new yorker 77]

The 'Token Conservative' Position has gone the way of the buggy whip.

[JHBowden]

George Will has me convinced. There was no war or violence in the Middle East before we took down Iraq. Saddam Hussein is a person who wears sandals, likes flowers, and cherishes peace, and would never kill 300,000 of his own people, or start two wars that would lead to over 1,000,000 deaths.

[claudiustg]

Democracy bad for Arab. Fire good!

[rhombus]

George has boxed himself in and now every world even will have to self-fulfill his prophecy.

[zook]

He's searching for "strange new respect" from libs. Sometimes divorcing your wife and taking a new younger one will do that.

[Rummyfan]

BFLR.

[Huck]

William Kristol is full of hubris. He's an inside-the-beltway fembot and a perfect example of what a chicken hawk neocon looks, acts, and sounds like. He's a Manhattan prep school nancy boy, a Harvard alum, and Dan Quayle's former chief of staff. I'm no big fan of George Will, but neither am I that hot on Bill Kristol. Why anyone would listen to anything Kristol has to say is beyond me.

[el_texicano]

George Will has dropped considerably in my estimation. I had considered him at one time quite a deep thinker, but now all he has to offer is a large vocabulary. What is wrong with this man??? Perhaps he is suffering from an "inside the Beltway mentallity".

All this is just crap.

[rhombus]

He's searching for "strange new respect" from libs. Sometimes divorcing your wife and taking a new younger one will do that.

I hadn't realized that. Has he bought himself a shiny red hybrid corvette yet? ;-)

[The South Texan]

George Will and David Brooks are two "conservatives" that I just ignore now.

The are the perfect example of the elitist Conservatives that Rush is always talking about. They never step foot out of DC or NYC unless it's to some exclusive resort they can directly fly in and out of.

[subterfuge]

Hezzbollah, Hamas, Palestinians, Fatah, Syrians; it doesn't matter. They're all the same. What is the common denominator? Islam.

I can't even read Will anymore.

[rhombus]

William Kristol is full of hubris. He's an inside-the-beltway fembot and a perfect example of what a chicken hawk neocon looks, acts, and sounds like. He's a Manhattan prep school nancy boy, a Harvard alum, and Dan Quayle's former chief of staff. I'm no big fan of George Will, but neither am I that hot on Bill Kristol. Why anyone would listen to anything Kristol has to say is beyond me.

But tell us what you really think. Geez Huck, could you come up with any more names there?

[Thom Pain]

George Will has clearly gone over to the Dark Side.

[dinoparty]

You mean, like EVERYONE in Washington listened to him when he rallied the forces against Hillary Care in the early 90s?

[Irontank]

George Will is right on. If the war on Iraq was designed to weaken Iran (and I believe that was one of the primary reasons based on writings and policy papers in the 1990's from those who became top Bush Adminstration officials and proponents of the war)...it failed completely.

Neoconservative advocates of American military involvement in the Middle East have a lot to learn about the doctrine of unintended consequences.

The US government should continue what its doing now....let Israel do what it needs to do...without any more US involvement...either attempts to restrain Israel or efforts to support it

[zook]

It was several years ago. Must have taken time to kick in. I doubt he bought a Vette. More likely a souped up PT Cruiser.