Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Andrew Sullivan's Thought for the Day
The Daily Dish ^ | 10/4/02 | Andrew Sullivan

Posted on 10/04/2002 11:40:56 AM PDT by Molly Pitcher

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

"With regimes like the Iraqi one, there will be no peace in the Middle East. You cannot contain a regime like Saddam Hussein's. That was a mistake of the West. So the question is: Is America ready to face up to the mistakes it made in '91 and in the '80s? Are the Americans ready to support democracy? Because people like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden grew out of the Middle East.

They are not products of Afghanistan." - Thomas von der Osten-Sacken, a leading German expert and activist on Iraq. This interview is persuasive and riveting, and also puts the lie to the notion that there is a single, unified "German" view on Iraq. It also highlights, I think, one of the weirdnesses of the current debate.

That weirdness is that the anti-war Left's partly justified argument that the U.S. has been implicated in the past in Saddam's disgusting regime leads them nevertheless to argue that we should do nothing today to rectify that. Why not? Aren't we, in particular, responsible? Shouldn't we, in particular, set it right?

It's a telling feature of the anti-war left that they never use their criticism of American foreign policy in the past to advocate a more aggressive and progressive American foreign policy for today. Which leads to the question of whether their horror of tyranny and evil abroad is what really motivates them - or whether hatred of America and what it stands for is their unifying thread.


TOPICS: Editorial; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: antiwarleft; iraq
A liberal tried this "responsibility" line with me yesterday, and I countered as Sullivan suggests...

Responsibility? Maybe...all the more reason to make it right!

1 posted on 10/04/2002 11:40:56 AM PDT by Molly Pitcher
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: dittomom; A Citizen Reporter; ABG(anybody but Gore); acnielsen guy; Angelwood; arazitjh; ...
Today's Daily Dish...
2 posted on 10/04/2002 11:42:06 AM PDT by Molly Pitcher
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

My favorite paper, The Washington Times just hired Sullivan to do a Friday column. So did the New York Sun.

Terrific.
3 posted on 10/04/2002 11:54:02 AM PDT by catonsville
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Molly Pitcher
"the question of whether their horror of tyranny and evil abroad is what really motivates them - or whether hatred of America and what it stands for is their unifying thread."

OMG! You mean, the left hates America? Say it ain't so!

4 posted on 10/04/2002 12:02:28 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Brad Cloven
You mean, the left hates America? Say it ain't so!

Well really, it ain't.

The left hates us. They want us to go away and let them make America exclusively, er...ah, inclusively leftist.

5 posted on 10/04/2002 12:39:37 PM PDT by Rudder
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: catonsville
That's good news...Is the Sun the new paper?
6 posted on 10/04/2002 1:05:14 PM PDT by Molly Pitcher
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Molly Pitcher
The Sun is the new paper
7 posted on 10/04/2002 2:00:22 PM PDT by catonsville
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Molly Pitcher
But why does the left hate what America stands for?

It's a telling feature of the anti-war left that they never use their criticism of American foreign policy in the past to advocate a more aggressive and progressive American foreign policy for today. Which leads to the question of whether their horror of tyranny and evil abroad is what really motivates them - or whether hatred of America and what it stands for is their unifying thread.

8 posted on 10/04/2002 9:59:56 PM PDT by GOPJ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson