Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Iraq: At last, something we can't agree on


It is often said that Republicans never met a war they didn’t like. That is usually said by Democrats.
Republicans say Democrats never met a war they like didn’t like.
Leon Trotsky [Unlink] says everyone says he hates war but war loves him.
Weapons can be seductive. Once you have them you want to use them.
Some viewers must have been confused the other night, no matter how they feel about war. No doubt they thought they were watching Jon Stewart [Unlink] on Comedy Central.
But it was Glenn Beck [Unlink] saying that Liberals were right that the Iraq war was wrong.
"From the beginning, most people on the left were against going into Iraq. I wasn’t.... Liberals, you were right. We shouldn’t have,” he said on his radio show.
Of course liberals wouldn’t have heard it because they only listen to FM, and usually Public Radio.
"Not one more life. Not one more life. Not one more dollar, not one more airplane, not one more bullet, not one more Marine, not one more arm or leg or eye. Not one more," he said. "This must end now. Now can't we come together on that?" said Beck.
The next thing you know drones will go on strike.
Obviously the answer is no. If we stopped wars there would be less work for pundits. Just like if we legalized marijuana there would be less work for law enforcement and the cartels.
Besides, America has lost its ability to agree on anything.
On Politico, commentator Barry Posen said, “Here we go again. Whenever there’s a crisis anywhere in the world, you can count on America’s pundit class to demand action—usually of the military variety. Don’t just stand there, bomb something! After more than two decades of unchallenged American hegemony, Washington keyboards seem almost programmed to call for intervention halfway around the globe.”
He suggested a different approach _ restraint.
Posen came up with all sorts of reasons why restraint might cost less than intervention in Iraq. The MIT professor paid special attention to safe havens, though he did not go as far as saying terrorists could find one on their laptop on Google.
He did not even mention that at this time we do not need their oil.
The US is now the leading producer of fossil fuels in the world. Put that in your pipeline Putin.

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