Posted under Interventionism
Wow. Last week, Ann Coulter slapped the grin off Bill Kristol’s face, famously declaring she could no longer support the Afghanistan War: “But now I hear it is the official policy of the Republican Party to be for all wars, irrespective of our national interest.”
Thursday, World Net Daily’s Joseph Farrah, who once seemed to think any sacrifice was worth it to counter the fearsome threat of “Islamo-Fascism,” confessed this in his regular column:
For the life of me, I cannot begin to understand our objectives in either Iraq or Afghanistan any more.
Because I appreciate the sacrifice our men and women are making over there, it is with a heavy heart that I make this proclamation. But enough is enough. We have spent over $1 trillion on these two wars and spilled far too much American blood.
Today, the heel-clicking Day by Day cartoon, which once cheered on anything the government did in the name of anti-terrorism, denounced Obama for using the domestic spying powers that Bush and Cheney bequeathed to the office of Temporary Dictator.
We’ve been sounding that alarm for some time. The ultimate threat to our liberty is not big-government Democrats or big-government Republicans — it’s big government.
John S on 25 Jul 2010 at 7:56 pm #
Farrah makes an obvious but still worthwhile point (among others) — that the left-wing anti-war protesters have all but evaporated since Obama took office.
Either they have truly vanished, or the media is no longer interested in reporting about them, or both.
It goes to show you — those protests (and their blanket media coverage) were never about principle, but simply a stick with which to beat Republicans. Yes, it’s a truism — but with noting all the same.
Paleoconservatives alone have been opposing the way for a genuine ideal, not for political opportunism.
As for Farrah, well, better late than never, and he does flat-out admit that he was wrong, which is good thing for neocons to hear. It might hive off a few people from the fight-to-the-death-for-Israel brainwashing.
HarrisonBergeron2 on 25 Jul 2010 at 8:12 pm #
John S,
Great points. By admitting that he was wrong in supporting the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, Farrah demonstrates an ability no Neocon possesses – not just to admit an error, which no card-carrying Neocon can do – but to admit that reality is more powerful than the Neocon holy writ.
Captainchaos on 26 Jul 2010 at 2:14 am #
For the judeocons to admit that they were mistaken in their at least professed belief that dumbocracy could be exported to the dusky hordes of the Middle East and central Asia would mean by extension the implied admission that if those selfsame people are not capable of creating and maintaining for themselves self-rule in a modern, industrial-technological society over there, then they are not capable of doing same over here sans Whitey’s patronage. Which is why the judeocons insisted with the force of all logical consistency on their side that to imply democrazy could not possibly be exported to all those muds was “racist”. And they cannot countenance the legitimation of race realism, otherwise known as racism, because in the end that outlook would be applied to Jews as well – that Jews do what they do because they are culturally and genetically programmed to do it.
I take it the above was just on the tip of your tongue, Harrison.
courtneyme109 on 26 Jul 2010 at 4:55 pm #
Gentlemen,
While they may have sympathized here and there with certain ideas from time to time, Ms Coulter and Mr Farrar are not neocons.
Mr Farrar’s piece is curious inasmuch as it fails to push beyond his inner personal wrestling match (the most boring of all memes – nicht war?). Indeed, America suffered three thousand casualities every week for 5 years during Civil War time and remained on track to hyper puissance
Perhaps the best debate available for splitting AFPAK or sticking around is this piece by Dr Priller and Col Nagl.
http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=22916
Essentially, it is totally possible to create an Afghanistan that can stand on its own, that ultimately is going to be able to secure its own territory, not provide a safe haven for terrorists, not drag down the security of the entire region.
The recent classified leaks of ancient intell on Land of the Pure’s ISI confirm that Pakistan (and by extension – India, China, Russia and Iran all) believes it possible to create a future Afghanistan.
“There is no safe haven that al-Qaeda covets more than the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, which present a unique opportunity for our enemies and a threat to us.
“Situated in rugged terrain hundreds of miles from any coastline, with weak or nonexistent governance and security services, this region provides both a home to al-Qaeda and possible access to nuclear weapons.”
Sincere thanks for the invite to share
HarrisonBergeron2 on 26 Jul 2010 at 6:21 pm #
Whatever Farrah and Coulter consider themselves, they were, at one time, enthusiastic supporters of the Neocon Wars. More significantly, they were and remain influential pundits. Their opposition to the no-win situation in Afghanistan reflects growing popular opposition to that war, and will generate even more.
Hopefully, the US will pull out of Afghanistan before we’re totally broke — although it may already be too late.
Captainchaos on 27 Jul 2010 at 3:17 am #
Harrison,
I do not foist my perspective on you and those here out of some perverse gratification in so doing. I do it because I am absolutely convinced that for our people to live and not die they must grasp these essential truths which I attempt to relate. If you find fault with what I write then why not attempt a refutation instead of merely consigning it to the memory hole?
For instance, the entire neocon project is but a pretense to advance the group interests of Jewry on a global scale. I know, what BS! And the sky isn’t blue, it’s really green.