Tuesday, January 10, 2006

neo-neocon finds a convert

neo-neocon has an interesting post in regards to the following quote from Jonathan Freedman of the Guardian:

For a left liberal like me, it is not easy to commit heresy. After all, we are meant to be open-minded free thinkers, unshackled by taboos. Nevertheless there is one thought so heretical, merely to utter it would ensure instant excommunication. I hesitate even to pose it as a question. But here goes. What if George W Bush was to prove to be one of the great American presidents?...

Today's conventional wisdom, taking in every foreign ministry in the world – including most of the US State Department – holds that Operation Enduring Iraqi
Freedom has been a tragedy of errors. Based on faulty premises, disingenuously sold and incompetently planned, the mission of 2003 is widely regarded as an abject failure.

But the future may not see it that way. The war removed one of the most hated tyrants of modern times, shifting Saddam Hussein from a palace to a prison cell. Couple that with the toppling of the Taliban, a regime of cruelty and brutal philistinism, and Bush's defenders have a powerful opening argument.

Next, they can point further afield. For didn't the war in Iraq, admittedly prosecuted at a high and bloody price, not set in train a wider series of events. Note Libya's rapid decision to come clean...


Lebanon is the clearest example, with its Cedar Revolution leading to an outburst of people power on the streets of Beirut – and the ejection of the Syrian occupier. Tentative moves toward electoral democracy have followed in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait and Bahrain. Even Syria seems, grudgingly, to understand that it lives in a changed region and that it too will have to adapt...

Yes, there are contradictions and hypocrisies, but that shift represents a break from at least 60 years of US foreign policy – and in the right direction. If Washington was to honour this ideal, articulated well by Bush, then the world would be a better place...

...change will eventually come to the Middle East, just as it came, eventually, to Eastern Europe. And, when it does, it is at least conceivable that the man future generations will credit as the pioneer will be none other than George W Bush


baby steps.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Which part? They do the screaming and cussing all day anway.

Syl said...

Seriously, though, I think a lot of the steam escaped the Bush hate when he was re-elected. Many are simply taking a deep breath and looking around.

Unless Bush does something internationally horrifying, I think many more will change the way they look at him and Bush will leave office more popular than when he came in.

And many who hated him will actually miss him when he's no longer president.

buddy larsen said...

I agree, you can sense the sea-change in foreign media, and even many liberals stateside are opting out of the revolving-head act. Mark here will be among the last to catch the drift; no doubt a familiar circumstance.

Doug said...

OT, From the Isle of Peter:
Celebrity Big Brother star Pete Burns could be jailed for wearing gorilla fur, a government minister has warned. The former Dead Or Alive singer has claimed on air his fur coat is made from the endangered animals, angering some of his fellow housemates. ...Burns, glamour model Jodie Marsh and Respect MP George Galloway face the first eviction on Friday. ... Owning a gorilla skin without a permit is also illegal. ... Marsh told the rock singer: "Well, I think it's low that you wear a monkey coat. It offends me every time I see it on your back." ... Burns said he was "thrilled" that the coat offended her. ...Marsh said: "I expected it in a way but I'm still so shocked." Burns did not comment and Galloway announced he was going back to bed.
---
Belmont Club.

Doug said...

"I'm very moved," said Faith McDouglas, a 37-year-old nurse from Omaha, Neb.
"I've understood many things regarding my origins, because I'm a descendant of slaves."
Translation:
'Would you like an antibiotic or can I just slit a chicken's throat for you?'
-- Thousands Gather for Voodoo Day in Benin

American Digest These Just In
BURNING LOVE: A WOMAN who allegedly stabbed her partner six times because he repeatedly played an Elvis Presley song will face a West Australian court today.

Doug said...

"The flames are reaching my body
Please won't you help me
I feel like I'm slipping away
It's hard to breathe
And my chest is a-heaving.
"

Anonymous said...

Syl:

I wonder if going after Iran would be considered horrifying.

Roger Simon has a post about the Indiana Air Gaurd being called up in big numbers. hmmmmmm.

buddy larsen said...

Doug, you better watch that making fun of voodoo bit--pineapples can be got anywhere, and taken home and stuck pins in.