A Warrior Lays Down His Arms
By John Barry and Michael Hirsh
Newsweek
Nov. 20, 2006 issue
There weren't many people in the Pentagon brave enough
to give bad news to Donald Rumsfeld. Jim Roche, though,
was one. The Air Force secretary ...
In the fall of 2002 it was becoming clear inside the Pentagon
that George W. Bush intended to invade Iraq. A worried Roche
dragooned the then Army secretary, Thomas White, to join him
for a frank talk with Rumsfeld,
"Don, you do realize that Iraq could be another Vietnam?"
Roche asked. ... "Vietnam? You think you have to tell me
about Vietnam?" Rumsfeld sputtered. "Of course it
won't be Vietnam. We are going to go in, overthrow
Saddam, get out. That's it." Then he waved them out of
his office.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
"CUT AND RUN" RUMSFELD
(HAT-TIP TO MOLLY IVINS)
TONY TELLS THE TRUTH
From an interview Tony Blair had with David Frost:
During the interview, Frost suggested that the West's intervention in Iraq had "so far been pretty much of a disaster."
Blair replied: "It has, but you see what I say to people is why is it difficult in Iraq?MORE WINGNUTTIA
This time from Charles Krauthammer. In an op-ed that appeared in my local paper, "Iraq bears responsibility for creating government," he argues that we should have put the exiles in charge right away:
Yup, he wanted the very unpopular exiles put in charge:
No wingnut op-ed would be complete without a blatant lie and here's Krauthammer stepping up to the plate:
Now, can someone ask him to explain these statements from the Bush regime:
"In retrospect, I think we made several serious mistakes ... not installing an Iraqi exile government right away.."
Yup, he wanted the very unpopular exiles put in charge:
"Preliminary results in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad indicate that Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress scored a minuscule 0.36 percent of the votes.
Out of almost 2.5 million voters in Baghdad, only 8,645 voted for Chalabi.
In the Shiite city of Basra, the results indicate he had an equally dismal showing of 0.34 percent of the vote.
In the violent Sunni province of Anbar, 113 people voted for him."
No wingnut op-ed would be complete without a blatant lie and here's Krauthammer stepping up to the plate:
"Our objectives in Iraq were twofold and always simple: depose Saddam and replace his murderous regime with a self-sustaining, democratic government."
Now, can someone ask him to explain these statements from the Bush regime:
"We know for a fact there are weapons there." - Ari Fleischer, Jan. 9, 2003
THE PRESIDENT: Our mission is clear in Iraq. Should we have to go in, our mission is very clear: disarmament. 3/6/03
"But make no mistake -- as I said earlier -- we have high confidence that they have weapons of mass destruction. That is what this war was about and it is about."
-Ari Fleischer Press Briefing 4/10/03
Friday, November 17, 2006
BROOKS GETS OFFENDED
David Brooks, the not-so-esteemed wingnut columnist for the NY Times, is a tad offended at the movie "Borat" because it makes fun of American half-wits, that is, a major part of the GOP base.
(Brooks quotes from EBSCO, "The Heyday of Snobbery," New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Nov 16, 2006. p. A.35 )
He lashes out at the audience - "socially insecure audiences " - for laughing at the hicks.
Here's an interesting Brooks quote that reminded me of Irving Kristol's lament that there are too many educated people in America for wingnut self-righteousness to be taken seriously:
"We've democratized snobbery and turned it into a consumption item for the vast educated class."
(Brooks quotes from EBSCO, "The Heyday of Snobbery," New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Nov 16, 2006. p. A.35 )
He lashes out at the audience - "socially insecure audiences " - for laughing at the hicks.
Here's an interesting Brooks quote that reminded me of Irving Kristol's lament that there are too many educated people in America for wingnut self-righteousness to be taken seriously:
"We've democratized snobbery and turned it into a consumption item for the vast educated class."
Thursday, November 16, 2006
GLENN BECK IS INSANE
From MediaMatters:
BECK: Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania may just be the Winston Churchill of our day, a guy who is willing to stand up for what he believes, because he knows it's just too darn important to ignore. The only question is whether voters will stand up with him.
BECK: Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania may just be the Winston Churchill of our day, a guy who is willing to stand up for what he believes, because he knows it's just too darn important to ignore. The only question is whether voters will stand up with him.
CLINTON VS. BUSH
MORE CRAP FROM MCCAIN
In an address to the wingnut Federalist Society, McCain had this to say about the role of government:
One of the things McCain believes people cannot successfully do for themselves is discriminate against homosexuals and those living "in sin," that is, outside of marriage. McCain endorsed the proposed amendment to the state constitution which would ban not only gay marriages but also straight couples living together outside of marriage.
This endorsement contradicts this other statement he made before the Society:
“Common sense conservatives believe that the government that governs least governs best; that government should do only those things individuals cannot do for themselves, and do them efficiently. Much rides on that principle: the integrity of the
government, our prosperity; and every American’s self-respect, which depends, as it always has, on one’s own decisions and actions, and cannot be provided as another government benefit."
One of the things McCain believes people cannot successfully do for themselves is discriminate against homosexuals and those living "in sin," that is, outside of marriage. McCain endorsed the proposed amendment to the state constitution which would ban not only gay marriages but also straight couples living together outside of marriage.
This endorsement contradicts this other statement he made before the Society:
“We are a nation that limits the reach of government because we understand that no government should have a right to impose itself between human beings and their lawful aspirations to make of their lives what they will. "
WWTFS?
That's "what would the Founders say," especially about religion and politics. Contrary to the claims of Medved, Land and their ilk, the Founders explicitly wanted a secular government.
This is from Federalist Paper # 10, by Madison, arguing for a secular national government:
This is from Federalist Paper # 69, by Hamilton, contrasting the role of the American President with the British Monarch. to the detriment of the Monarchy:
This is from Federalist Paper # 10, by Madison, arguing for a secular national government:
"The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States. A religious sect may degenerate into a political faction in a part of the Confederacy; but the variety of sects dispersed over the entire face of it must secure the national councils against any sanger from that source."
This is from Federalist Paper # 69, by Hamilton, contrasting the role of the American President with the British Monarch. to the detriment of the Monarchy:
"The one has no particle of spiritual jurisdiction; the other is the supreme head and governor of the national church!"
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
MORE ON RUMMY AND POST-WAR PLANNING
(FROM LEXISNEXIS)
Copyright 2006 P.G. Publishing Co.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)
September 9, 2006 Saturday S
BYLINE: STEPHANIE HEINATZ (NEWPORT NEWS, VA.), DAILY PRESS
DATELINE: FORT EUSTIS, Va.
BODY:
Long before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld forbade military strategists to develop plans for securing a post-war Iraq, the retiring commander of the Army Transportation Corps said yesterday.In fact, Brig. Gen. Mark Scheid said, Mr. Rumsfeld declared that "he would fire the next person" who talked about the need for a post-war plan.
Mr. Rumsfeld did replace Gen. Eric Shinseki, the Army chief of staff in 2003, after Gen. Shinseki told Congress that hundreds of thousands of troops would be needed to secure post-war Iraq.
Gen. Scheid, who is also the commander of Fort Eustis in Newport News, made his comments in an interview with the Daily Press. He retires in about three weeks.
Gen. Scheid's comments are further confirmation of the version of events reported in the book "Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq," by New York Times military reporter Michael R. Gordon and retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Bernard E. Trainor.
In 2001, Gen. Scheid was a colonel with the Central Command, the unit that oversees U.S. military operations in the Mideast. On Sept. 10, 2001, he was selected to be the chief of logistics war plans. On Sept. 11, he said, "life just went to hell." That day, Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of Central Command, told his planners, including Gen. Scheid, to "get ready to go to war." A day or two later, Mr. Rumsfeld was "telling us we were going to war in Afghanistan and to start building the war plan. We were going to go fast. Then, just as we were barely into Afghanistan, Rumsfeld came and told us to get ready for Iraq." Gen. Scheid said he remembers that everyone in the command headquarters was thinking: "My gosh, we're in the middle of Afghanistan, how can we possibly be doing two [wars] at one time? How can we pull this off? It's just going to be too much."
Planning was kept very hush-hush in those early days. "There was only a handful of people, maybe five or six, that were involved with that plan, because it had to be kept very, very quiet." There was already an offensive plan in place for Iraq, Gen. Scheid said. And in the beginning, the planners were just expanding on it. "Whether we were going to execute it, we had no idea," he said. Eventually, other military agencies like the Army's transportation and materiel commands had to get involved. They couldn't just "keep planning this in the dark," Gen. Scheid said. "The secretary of defense continued to push on us that everything we write in our plan has to be the idea that we are going to go in, we're going to take out the regime, and then we're going to leave," Gen. Scheid said. "We won't stay." The general said the planners continued to try "to write what was called Phase 4," or the piece of the plan that included post-invasion operations like security, stability and reconstruction. Even if the troops didn't stay, "at least we have to plan for it," he said. "I remember the secretary of defense saying that he would fire the next person that said that," Gen. Scheid said. "We would not do planning for Phase 4 operations, which would require all those additional troops that people talk about today."He said we will not do that, because the American public will not back us if they think we are going over there for a long war."
Why did Mr. Rumsfeld think that? Gen. Scheid doesn't know. "But think back to those times. We had done Bosnia. We said we were going into Bosnia and stop the fighting and come right out. And we stayed. "Was Mr. Rumsfeld right or wrong? Gen. Scheid said he doesn't know. "In his own mind, he thought we could go in and fight and take out the regime and come out. But a lot of us planners were having a real hard time with it, because we were also thinking we can't do this. Once you tear up a country, you have to stay and rebuild it. It was very challenging."
Gen. Scheid doesn't go so far as to call for Mr. Rumsfeld to resign. He's listened as other retired generals have done so. "Everybody has a right to their opinion," he said. "But what good did it do?" Even if the people who laid out the initial war plans had fleshed out post-invasion missions, the fighting and insurgent attacks going on today would have been hard to predict, Gen. Scheid said.GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Donald RumsfeldLOAD-DATE: September 11, 2006
Copyright 2006 P.G. Publishing Co.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)
September 9, 2006 Saturday S
BYLINE: STEPHANIE HEINATZ (NEWPORT NEWS, VA.), DAILY PRESS
DATELINE: FORT EUSTIS, Va.
BODY:
Long before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld forbade military strategists to develop plans for securing a post-war Iraq, the retiring commander of the Army Transportation Corps said yesterday.In fact, Brig. Gen. Mark Scheid said, Mr. Rumsfeld declared that "he would fire the next person" who talked about the need for a post-war plan.
Mr. Rumsfeld did replace Gen. Eric Shinseki, the Army chief of staff in 2003, after Gen. Shinseki told Congress that hundreds of thousands of troops would be needed to secure post-war Iraq.
Gen. Scheid, who is also the commander of Fort Eustis in Newport News, made his comments in an interview with the Daily Press. He retires in about three weeks.
Gen. Scheid's comments are further confirmation of the version of events reported in the book "Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq," by New York Times military reporter Michael R. Gordon and retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Bernard E. Trainor.
In 2001, Gen. Scheid was a colonel with the Central Command, the unit that oversees U.S. military operations in the Mideast. On Sept. 10, 2001, he was selected to be the chief of logistics war plans. On Sept. 11, he said, "life just went to hell." That day, Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of Central Command, told his planners, including Gen. Scheid, to "get ready to go to war." A day or two later, Mr. Rumsfeld was "telling us we were going to war in Afghanistan and to start building the war plan. We were going to go fast. Then, just as we were barely into Afghanistan, Rumsfeld came and told us to get ready for Iraq." Gen. Scheid said he remembers that everyone in the command headquarters was thinking: "My gosh, we're in the middle of Afghanistan, how can we possibly be doing two [wars] at one time? How can we pull this off? It's just going to be too much."
Planning was kept very hush-hush in those early days. "There was only a handful of people, maybe five or six, that were involved with that plan, because it had to be kept very, very quiet." There was already an offensive plan in place for Iraq, Gen. Scheid said. And in the beginning, the planners were just expanding on it. "Whether we were going to execute it, we had no idea," he said. Eventually, other military agencies like the Army's transportation and materiel commands had to get involved. They couldn't just "keep planning this in the dark," Gen. Scheid said. "The secretary of defense continued to push on us that everything we write in our plan has to be the idea that we are going to go in, we're going to take out the regime, and then we're going to leave," Gen. Scheid said. "We won't stay." The general said the planners continued to try "to write what was called Phase 4," or the piece of the plan that included post-invasion operations like security, stability and reconstruction. Even if the troops didn't stay, "at least we have to plan for it," he said. "I remember the secretary of defense saying that he would fire the next person that said that," Gen. Scheid said. "We would not do planning for Phase 4 operations, which would require all those additional troops that people talk about today."He said we will not do that, because the American public will not back us if they think we are going over there for a long war."
Why did Mr. Rumsfeld think that? Gen. Scheid doesn't know. "But think back to those times. We had done Bosnia. We said we were going into Bosnia and stop the fighting and come right out. And we stayed. "Was Mr. Rumsfeld right or wrong? Gen. Scheid said he doesn't know. "In his own mind, he thought we could go in and fight and take out the regime and come out. But a lot of us planners were having a real hard time with it, because we were also thinking we can't do this. Once you tear up a country, you have to stay and rebuild it. It was very challenging."
Gen. Scheid doesn't go so far as to call for Mr. Rumsfeld to resign. He's listened as other retired generals have done so. "Everybody has a right to their opinion," he said. "But what good did it do?" Even if the people who laid out the initial war plans had fleshed out post-invasion missions, the fighting and insurgent attacks going on today would have been hard to predict, Gen. Scheid said.GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Donald RumsfeldLOAD-DATE: September 11, 2006
THE NUTBAGS AREN'T GOING AWAY...
anytime soon. From LexisNexis:
SHOW: FOX HANNITY & COLMES
9:31 PM EST
November 13, 2006 Monday
HEADLINE: Pelosi Brings Pork Barrel Funds Home
BYLINE: Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes, Juan Williams
GUESTS: Melanie Morgan
MELANIE MORGAN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: ... I am going to spend the next 700 days making sure that the cut and run policies and the tax and spend policies are not enacted by this liberal, very liberal Congress.
[snip]
HANNITY: By the way, Melanie, I'm going to fight with you for the next 700 days. You have my pledge on that.
SHOW: FOX HANNITY & COLMES
9:31 PM EST
November 13, 2006 Monday
HEADLINE: Pelosi Brings Pork Barrel Funds Home
BYLINE: Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes, Juan Williams
GUESTS: Melanie Morgan
MELANIE MORGAN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: ... I am going to spend the next 700 days making sure that the cut and run policies and the tax and spend policies are not enacted by this liberal, very liberal Congress.
[snip]
HANNITY: By the way, Melanie, I'm going to fight with you for the next 700 days. You have my pledge on that.
SHAMMITY GETS SLAPPED DOWN
For once, a FOX NEWS Democrat gives it right back to Shammity:
(From LexisNexis)
SHOW: FOX HANNITY & COLMES
9:00 PM EST
November 14, 2006 Tuesday
HEADLINE: Interview with Karen Hanretty, Bob Beckel
BYLINE: Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes
BECKEL: ... take the money. Look, Sean, you guys got to have a better argument than this. If this is the best you're going to do going into your loss, you got to do better than this. The American people voted down this kind of talk, and they voted down your...(CROSSTALK)
BECKEL: ... they voted down your white flag of surrender...
FOX NEWSHOUNDS has a better transcript and a video clip:
Beckel added, “Look, Sean, you guys gotta have a better argument than this. If this is the best you gotta do going into your loss, you’ve gotta do better than this. The American people voted down this kind of talk. And they voted down your ‘cut and run.’ They voted down your ‘white flag of surrender.’”
(From LexisNexis)
SHOW: FOX HANNITY & COLMES
9:00 PM EST
November 14, 2006 Tuesday
HEADLINE: Interview with Karen Hanretty, Bob Beckel
BYLINE: Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes
BECKEL: ... take the money. Look, Sean, you guys got to have a better argument than this. If this is the best you're going to do going into your loss, you got to do better than this. The American people voted down this kind of talk, and they voted down your...(CROSSTALK)
BECKEL: ... they voted down your white flag of surrender...
FOX NEWSHOUNDS has a better transcript and a video clip:
Beckel added, “Look, Sean, you guys gotta have a better argument than this. If this is the best you gotta do going into your loss, you’ve gotta do better than this. The American people voted down this kind of talk. And they voted down your ‘cut and run.’ They voted down your ‘white flag of surrender.’”
A LEOPARD CAN'T CHANGE HIS SPOTS...
Kevin Drum calls our attention to a partisan relapse by Pres. Fredo:
BIPARTISANSHIP UPDATE....Let's see....Bolton was renominated last week, then Tomlinson on Tuesday, and today it's a bunch of judges so extreme that even Republicans have their doubts about them. George Bush sure is following up on last week's clarion call for humble bipartisanship, isn't he?
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
"THE GENIUS" SPEAKS
(From LexisNexis)
SHOW: All Things Considered 8:00 PM EST
October 24, 2006 Tuesday
HEADLINE: Rove Sees No GOP Fall in the 2006 Election
ANCHORS: ROBERT SIEGEL
SIEGEL: We're in the home stretch, though, and many would consider you on the optimistic end of realism about -
Mr. ROVE: Not that you would be exhibiting a bias or a (unintelligible). I like that. You're just making a comment.
SIEGEL: I'm looking at all the same polls that you're looking at every day.
Mr. ROVE: No, you're not. No, you're not.
SIEGEL: No, I'm not.
Mr. ROVE: No, you're not. You're not. I'm looking at 68 polls a week. You may be looking at four or five public polls a week that talk about attitudes nationally but that do not impact the outcome of -
SIEGEL: I'm looking at main races between - certainly Senate races.
Mr. ROVE: Well, like the poll today showing that Corker's ahead in Tennessee, or the poll showing that Allen is pulling away in the Virginia Senate race.
SIEGEL: Leading Webb in Virginia, yeah.
Mr. ROVE: Exactly.
SIEGEL: But you've seen the DeWine race and the Santorum race - I don't want to have you call races.
Mr. ROVE: Yeah, I'm looking at all these, Robert, and adding them up, and I add up to a Republican Senate and Republican House. You may end up with a different math, but you're entitled to your math, I'm entitled to the math.
SHOW: All Things Considered 8:00 PM EST
October 24, 2006 Tuesday
HEADLINE: Rove Sees No GOP Fall in the 2006 Election
ANCHORS: ROBERT SIEGEL
SIEGEL: We're in the home stretch, though, and many would consider you on the optimistic end of realism about -
Mr. ROVE: Not that you would be exhibiting a bias or a (unintelligible). I like that. You're just making a comment.
SIEGEL: I'm looking at all the same polls that you're looking at every day.
Mr. ROVE: No, you're not. No, you're not.
SIEGEL: No, I'm not.
Mr. ROVE: No, you're not. You're not. I'm looking at 68 polls a week. You may be looking at four or five public polls a week that talk about attitudes nationally but that do not impact the outcome of -
SIEGEL: I'm looking at main races between - certainly Senate races.
Mr. ROVE: Well, like the poll today showing that Corker's ahead in Tennessee, or the poll showing that Allen is pulling away in the Virginia Senate race.
SIEGEL: Leading Webb in Virginia, yeah.
Mr. ROVE: Exactly.
SIEGEL: But you've seen the DeWine race and the Santorum race - I don't want to have you call races.
Mr. ROVE: Yeah, I'm looking at all these, Robert, and adding them up, and I add up to a Republican Senate and Republican House. You may end up with a different math, but you're entitled to your math, I'm entitled to the math.
WHAT IS THE CONSERVATIVE AGENDA?
Glenn Greenwald has a good post that successfully claims, I think, that the Bush regime IS conservative. He uses an operational definition: conservatism is what conservatives do. (The comments are also worth reading.)
I am slowly coming to the conclusion that the essence of conservatism is contained in these 2 "principles":
I am slowly coming to the conclusion that the essence of conservatism is contained in these 2 "principles":
1) Love of power
2) Fear of the world
Monday, November 13, 2006
CONSERVATIVES & LIBERTY
Do Conservatives value liberty? Hayek didn't think so and to judge by their worship of corporations, neither would Jefferson think so:
"I hope we shall... crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." --Thomas Jefferson to George Logan, 1816.
LINK
"I hope we shall... crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." --Thomas Jefferson to George Logan, 1816.
LINK
RADIO TIDBITS
While speaking with a caller, Fats decried the lies and smears used by the Democrats during the recent campaign. His caller then said that the Democrats "hate our troops" and without a pause, Fats agreed with her.
I would hope that at least a few of Fats's listeners recognized the blatant hypocrisy.
I would hope that at least a few of Fats's listeners recognized the blatant hypocrisy.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
MORE 19TH CENTURY WISDOM
As I read more about the neo-conservatives, I am struck by how afraid they are - even hippies scare them.
Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear.
William E. Gladstone
British Prime Minister, 1868-1894
Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear.
William E. Gladstone
British Prime Minister, 1868-1894
THE BARELY WILLING
The Coalition of the Willing sometimes wasn't, according to Bremer.
(From My Year in Iraq, page 319)
1241: Just got word that our CPA compound in Najaf is being attacked by several hundred Muqtada guys. Kosnett is calling for gunships and reinforcements. He says that the Salvadorans' Special Forces are fighting and the Spanish are refusing to fight.
[snip]
1510: ... I got Weber back down. He says the Spanish are still "sitting on their asses." They are taking the position that unless they are specifically fired upon themselves, they will not engage, this despite the fact that Americans and Iraqis are dying under their very eyes. They are sitting in tanks around the compound and doing nothing. It is a perfect outrage—I call it the "Coalition of the not-at-all-willing."
(From My Year in Iraq, page 327)
The Marines had lost eleven men in coordinated professional attacks at the provincial capital of Ramadi. Clearly, the assaults were meant to relieve pressure at nearby Fallujah. ... Ukrainian Coalition forces had withdrawn from the city, leaving our CPA compound at the mercy of Muqtada's fighters. After frantic prodding all night by my British colleague David Richmond, the Ukrainians had finally agreed to go into the compound at 6:00 A.M. to rescue our people and guard the buildings.
[snip]
the Ukrainian commander said he planned to abandon the compound after extracting our people. I called Sanchez at 6:30 A.M. to say that this would be a terrible mistake. It was too late because at 7:15 we learned that the Ukrainians had gone in, recovered our staff, and abandoned the compound, which was immediately seized by Muqtada's men.
(From My Year in Iraq, page 319)
1241: Just got word that our CPA compound in Najaf is being attacked by several hundred Muqtada guys. Kosnett is calling for gunships and reinforcements. He says that the Salvadorans' Special Forces are fighting and the Spanish are refusing to fight.
[snip]
1510: ... I got Weber back down. He says the Spanish are still "sitting on their asses." They are taking the position that unless they are specifically fired upon themselves, they will not engage, this despite the fact that Americans and Iraqis are dying under their very eyes. They are sitting in tanks around the compound and doing nothing. It is a perfect outrage—I call it the "Coalition of the not-at-all-willing."
(From My Year in Iraq, page 327)
The Marines had lost eleven men in coordinated professional attacks at the provincial capital of Ramadi. Clearly, the assaults were meant to relieve pressure at nearby Fallujah. ... Ukrainian Coalition forces had withdrawn from the city, leaving our CPA compound at the mercy of Muqtada's fighters. After frantic prodding all night by my British colleague David Richmond, the Ukrainians had finally agreed to go into the compound at 6:00 A.M. to rescue our people and guard the buildings.
[snip]
the Ukrainian commander said he planned to abandon the compound after extracting our people. I called Sanchez at 6:30 A.M. to say that this would be a terrible mistake. It was too late because at 7:15 we learned that the Ukrainians had gone in, recovered our staff, and abandoned the compound, which was immediately seized by Muqtada's men.
KRISTOL IN HIS OWN WORDS
(from his collection of essays "Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea")
ON LEO STRAUSS ("An Autobiographical Memoir", pp. 6 & 8):
The two thinkers who had the greatest subsequent impact on thinking were Lionel Trilling in the 1940s and Leo Strauss in the 1950s.
[snip]
What made him so controversial within the academic community was his disbelief in the Enlightenment dogma that "the truth will make me free." He was an intellectual aristocrat who thought that the truth could make some minds free, but he was convinced that there was an inherent conflict between philosophic truth and the political order, and that the popularization and vulgarization of these truths might import unease turmoil, and the release of popular passions hitherto held in check by tradition and religion—with utterly unpredictable, but mostly negative consequences.
ON THE COMMON MAN:
(From "An Autobiographical Memoir", p 13)
My wartime experience in Germany, however, did have the effect of dispelling any remnants of antiauthority sentiments (always weak, I now think) that were cluttering up my mind. My fellow soldiers were too easily inclined to loot, to rape, and to shoot prisoners of war. Only army vigilance kept them in check.
(From "My Cold War", p. 483)
In any case, my tepid loyalty to "democratic socialism" did not survive my experiences as an infantryman in the army. I entered military service with a prefabricated set of attitudes: The army was an authoritarian, hierarchical, mean-spirited, mindless machine—as later described by Norman Mailer in The Naked and the Dead—while the common soldiers, for all their human imperfections, represented the potential for a better Future. Well, it turned out that, as a provincial from New York, I knew nothing about the American common man and even less about the army as an institution. Again and again, and to my surprise, I found reasons to think better of the army and less well of my fellow enlisted men. It is true that, since I was inducted in Chicago, my regiment was heavily populated by thugs or near-thugs from places like Cicero (Al Capone's old base), so my impressions may have been extreme. Nevertheless, my army experience permitted me to make an important political discovery: The idea of building socialism with the common man who actually existed—is distinct from his idealized version—was sheer fantasy, and therefore he prospects for "democratic socialism" were nil.
ON LEO STRAUSS ("An Autobiographical Memoir", pp. 6 & 8):
The two thinkers who had the greatest subsequent impact on thinking were Lionel Trilling in the 1940s and Leo Strauss in the 1950s.
[snip]
What made him so controversial within the academic community was his disbelief in the Enlightenment dogma that "the truth will make me free." He was an intellectual aristocrat who thought that the truth could make some minds free, but he was convinced that there was an inherent conflict between philosophic truth and the political order, and that the popularization and vulgarization of these truths might import unease turmoil, and the release of popular passions hitherto held in check by tradition and religion—with utterly unpredictable, but mostly negative consequences.
ON THE COMMON MAN:
(From "An Autobiographical Memoir", p 13)
My wartime experience in Germany, however, did have the effect of dispelling any remnants of antiauthority sentiments (always weak, I now think) that were cluttering up my mind. My fellow soldiers were too easily inclined to loot, to rape, and to shoot prisoners of war. Only army vigilance kept them in check.
(From "My Cold War", p. 483)
In any case, my tepid loyalty to "democratic socialism" did not survive my experiences as an infantryman in the army. I entered military service with a prefabricated set of attitudes: The army was an authoritarian, hierarchical, mean-spirited, mindless machine—as later described by Norman Mailer in The Naked and the Dead—while the common soldiers, for all their human imperfections, represented the potential for a better Future. Well, it turned out that, as a provincial from New York, I knew nothing about the American common man and even less about the army as an institution. Again and again, and to my surprise, I found reasons to think better of the army and less well of my fellow enlisted men. It is true that, since I was inducted in Chicago, my regiment was heavily populated by thugs or near-thugs from places like Cicero (Al Capone's old base), so my impressions may have been extreme. Nevertheless, my army experience permitted me to make an important political discovery: The idea of building socialism with the common man who actually existed—is distinct from his idealized version—was sheer fantasy, and therefore he prospects for "democratic socialism" were nil.
MORE ON IRVING THE K
I am over half-way through his collection of essays and I've noticed a blatant contradiction: Kristol doesn't trust the common man yet claims the common man has the great wisdom to reject the liberal agenda.
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