Posted on 12/06/2006 9:08:30 PM PST by dennisw
Smug, Arrogant, Insufferable [Bill Bennett]
I’ve now read the report, and I can’t add much beyond what Andy McCarthy and Rich Lowry have written about its contents and internal contradictions. For a report to identify the outside agitators (which happen to also be the worst terrorist-sponsoring states in the world — Iran & Syria) as “provid[ing] arms, financial support, and training for Shiite militias within Iraq,” i.e., fomenting war, and then say we should negotiate and offer incentives to those countries is simply too much to bear. Insult is added to injury with the absurdity that Iran and Syria then become members of something called the Iraq Support Group. Committeeism simply got out of control here.
But bear this report we have — for many months in the making. The denouement of the report may not be, however, the contents themselves (we had a pretty good idea of what was coming) but the behavior of the commissioners and the media.
James Baker opened his thoughts today by saying Iraqis “have been liberated from the nightmare of a tyrannical order only to face the nightmare of brutal violence.” So much for any moral distinction between a terrorist sponsoring dictatorship and an embattled, weak, effort toward self-government. The distinction between permanent darkness and days of light and darkness both, and a hope for dawn was lost.
Here’s what I observed from the press conference and subsequent commentary on cable news.
One reporter got it exactly right in his question: “[T]ell me, why should the president give more weight to what you all have said given, as I understand, you went to Iraq once, with the exception of Senator Robb. None of you made it out of the Green Zone. Why should he give your recommendations any more weight than what he's hearing from his commanders on the ground in Iraq?”
Who are these commissioners and what is their expertise in Iraq — or even foreign policy? Ralph Peters has made the point, “Washington insiders pretend to respect our troops but continue to believe that those in uniform are second-raters and that any political hack can design better war plans than those who've dedicated their lives to military service.” The entire report is contemptuous of the military, spoken of as pawns on a chess table, barriers, observers, buffers, and trainers. Never as what they are trained to be: the greatest warriors in the world. Would it have been too much to ask that one general, or even one outspoken believer in the mission from the get-go, be on this commission?
I’ve heard again and again — at the press conference and on subsequent interviews — variants of “this is how a commission should work in Washington,” “this has been great bi-partisanship,” “it’s too bad we can’t operate this way more,” “if any message is to be sent it’s the message that five Republicans and five Democrats of goodwill sat down since March and put together a remarkable document.”
This is the triumph of the therapeutic, where bipartisanship — a hug across the aisle — has become a higher value than justice. The crisis of the house divided has been inverted; we no longer are worried about the crisis but the House, the moral, the good, and the just take a backseat to collegiality. Does history really give a hoot about bipartisanship? Who cares whether they are getting along? The task is to do the right thing, especially in war. But, when relativism is the highest value, agreement becomes the highest goal, regardless of right and wrong. And, woe to those who disagree, they will be sent whence they came — the outer reaches of “extremism.” This is the tyranny of the “best people” today’s equivalent of the Cliveden set.
One reporter asked if the president would accept this “edict,” as if there's force of law here. (the press has bought into the tyranny already). Another asked how hard it would be for the president to give up his power, “to take his hands off the wheel.” Do we all need a civics lesson? I’m tempted to go on about knowledge of American government, but for brevity, can we just say the president is the commander-in-chief and in charge — because he is elected by the people.
Perhaps the most systemic problem with the report is it didn't tell us how to win; it answered how to get out. The commissioners answered the wrong question, but it was the one they wanted to answer.
In all my time in Washington I've never seen such smugness, arrogance, or such insufferable moral superiority. Self-congratulatory. Full of itself. Horrible.
Posted at 4:20 PM
Jesus said that prostitutes and tax collecters were better then pharisees.
Keep that in mind next time you want to judge someone.
Disregard my last comment. Apparently, he served on the NSC under Reagan before becoming AG, so he does have some serious FP experience.
Still, it's not his focus exactly.
Keep that in mind next time you want to judge someone.
Will do...next time I squander a God-given $8 million and then turn around and try to lecture others on behavior.
Will do.
I pity you. You actually think your sin is less then his. It's not. You seem to be intent on committing the worst sin of all: Pride.
Johnny Cash sang a song about you. It's called "God's Gonna Cut You Down."
I honestly just pray it doesn't hurt too bad.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
I never wasted $8 million on slot machines!
What's wrong with slot machines?
Nothing at all...I just have this idiotic notion that it's somehow morally wrong to blow $8 million on them for your own selfish pleasure.
If someone blows $8 million on a yacht, at least they're keeping the boat-building community in business....
"nightmare of brutal violence"
Sure, like that d@mn civil war the Iraqis never seem to find.
Another punchline in the long list of jokes called "pronouncements that have no bearing to the reality in Iraq". Just as well. The Iraqis need all the laughs they can get. God forbid, it might be their last if these @$$clowns have their way.
Just one more reason to thank the "moral" conservatives who didn't vote last November out of sheer spite.
Surprisingly .. it was a CNN Reporter
Hey -- Bill Bennett did his bit to keep the gaming industry in business.
I work in the gaming business, in marketing, so I appreciate that.
Also working in the gaming business are waitresses, bellmen, change people, clerks, mechanics, technicians, IT people, maintenance and sanitation workers, bookkeepers, accountants, dealers, pit bosses, executive officers, security personnel ... on and on ...
This is an industry like any other. We give a service, people buy it. We treat our customers well.
I agree .. it's delusional and never going to happen
"The Saudis bought and paid for this report."
Doesn't make sense. What would the Saudis gain by us leaving Iraq, are they buddies with Iran and Syria or something?
If Iraq were left in chaos the Saudis would get plowed by Iran and Syria, they would do what Saddam wanted to do in 1991.
If the Saudis were smart they would align with the new Iraq and the US, it is their only hope of surviving.
Mine too!
I find Bill Bennett a chore to watch and listen to, but his words are frank and forceful.
Well said, Mr. Bennett.
The "blue ribbon panel" is an All-Star team of blowhards. Baker. Hamilton. O'Connor. Panetta. I expected nothing less.
Great article...Bennett got it exactly right.
This idiotic idea of "winning the peace" is politics at its worst; sloganeering a war in order to win elections via the media. You don't fight wars to "win the peace", you fight them to destroy the enemy, and these morons in DC don't have the intestinal fortitude to do that.
We're screwed.
Why is it your business what a person does with his or her money?
Did he get the money illegally?
Did he do something illegal with it?
Do we get to scrutinize how you spend your money?
Did God finance George Soros as well?
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