Dinesh Needs a Session with Webb
| Dinesh, meet James Webb… WEBB on \”Face the Nation.\” |
Dinesh D\’Souza is such a nat of a wingnut. His hypotheses are so wildly netted
together it\’s really hard to believe he knows anything about history, let alone
reality. I\’ve argued this before, as have others, which is why he let fly his latest rant today. Maybe if the blathering little conservative had the courage to actually fight
a war he might know why James Webb and other Democrats take offense at questioning
our patriotism and our allegiance to America with silly little articles like
this one.
Why the onslaught? Just this: In my book, published this month, I argue that
the American left bears a measure of responsibility for the volcano of anger
from the Muslim world that produced the 9/11 attacks. President Jimmy Carter\’s
withdrawal of support for the shah of Iran, for example, helped Ayatollah
Khomeini\’s regime come to power in Iran, thus giving radical Islamists control
of a major state; and President Bill Clinton\’s failure to respond to Islamic
attacks confirmed bin Laden\’s perceptions of U.S. weakness and emboldened
him to strike on 9/11. I also argue that the policies that U.S. \”progressives\”
promote around the world — including abortion rights, contraception for teenagers
and gay rights — are viewed as an assault on traditional values by many cultures,
and have contributed to the blowback of Islamic rage.
Anything to get the Republican base out of political therapy. If you saw or
read about any of the NRO group session this weekend you\’d have learned one
thing. Republicans are depressed. So naturally someone like Dinesh needs to bring
out the blame the liberals meme.
But as James Webb said this morning on \”Face the Nation\”, the military
has all brands of political affiliations, including progressives. Is Dinesh
saying that progressive military types like Webb, Hackett and Wes Clark have
contributed to the \”blowback of Islamic rage\”? Lieberman tried the same drivel today on Fox \”News,\” talking about demoralizing the troops by talk of getting out of Iraq. Last time I looked Lieberman was in the chickenhawk crowd: all talk, no service, while calling dissent un-American. That\’s slapping the troops in the face. Nothing is worse than saying Americans speaking truth to power is wrong. Oh, and another question, what exactly does Dinesh mean by \”measure of responsibility\”?
It\’s really hard to take anyone seriously when they skip over two Republican
presidents and twelve years of neglect, setting his fallacious ruminations only
on Jimmy and Bill. After all, it\’s not like George H.W. Bush was doing anything
about terrorism before he handed off his presidency to Bill Clinton only to
have the World Trade Center bombed months later. Surprise! What about George
W. Bush, who has done more damage to U.S. prestige, interests and influence
in the region than all the U.S. presidents combined? Is it a coincidence that we were attacked by terrorists months after Daddy Bush handed off his presidency, and Junior took office? At least Clinton warned Junior, but both Bush\’s were basically clueless. Never mind that Reagan
deciding to leave Beirut didn\’t exactly help our situation either, but it was
the right move. Then what? Nothing. However, blaming Carter\’s abandonment of the Shah as the reason
for the Islamic revolution in Iran is why letting conservatives run foreign
policy in the Middle East is like throwing a Molotov cocktail into a room full
of firecrackers. The Shah of Iran instituted what many Iranians thought were
anti-Islamic policies, including giving women the right to vote, and replacing
the Islamic calendar didn\’t help either. Besides, the Shah also became king with our help. Iranians were
ready for revolution. You\’d think we\’d have learned by now that America can\’t
stop the people in another country from exacting their will if they\’re willing
to die for the country they want to build.
Unfortunately, we\’re still learning that lesson.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), visiting
Baghdad on Friday in her new capacity as House speaker, that he would like
to see 50,000 U.S. troops leave by the end of the year, Iraqi officials said.
…
No one trusts Maliki. But he wants his country to control its own destiny.
His very survival depends on his ability to do so. We won\’t leave tomorrow or
the next day, it\’s obvious, but planning for a way to end this disaster is where
we need to start.
It\’s annoying that Dinesh has to write another long winded, meandering piece,
this time boohooing his victimhood, but it\’s easily rebutted. Webb did it well
this morning, likely without even reading the rant. I\’d like to see the two of them in a room talking about these
subjects. I doubt if bin Laden or anyone else would doubt who had the upper
hand in the Iraq war debate. Joe could join them!
Credibility is all.
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