Tuesday, August 15, 2006
'The triumph of unrealism'
George Will parks another one, connecting events in Lebanon to Iraq. He also: A.) takes a justified slap at the blogosphere and its clever phrases that end up being mouthed by senior administration officials as official policy statements and B.) defends John Kerry. I'm not about to embrace the latter. What John Kerry says one day always has to be weighed with what he says the next day. What he said about police action has to be weighed with his vote for the war. Etc., etc., etc. ...
... I was all set to say that Hezbollah may have suffered a bigger blow than previously believed, based on the comments at the very end of this report. Then reality hit me: President Bush has all but declared 'mission accomplished' in Lebanon. ... Back to the Hezbollah post, Seymour Hersh is probably overreaching again. I know, I know. I'm supposed to worship the guy. But I've learned to take some of what Hersh says with a grain of salt. Still, the president's own language -- and that of his advisers -- clearly indicates a showdown is looming with Iran and probably Syria. By their logic, the violent status quo in Iraq can only be changed by change elsewhere. They can't admit they may have blundered in Iraq. No, it has to be something else -- and one step farther has to be taken to finish the job. Now, one can argue with the theoretical logic of widening the conflict to salvage Iraq. I personally think it's nuts. But ask yourself: Do you really want this administration to handle such a momentous undertaking? ...
Update -- The Israelis don't sound like they just won -- not even the prime minister.
George Will parks another one, connecting events in Lebanon to Iraq. He also: A.) takes a justified slap at the blogosphere and its clever phrases that end up being mouthed by senior administration officials as official policy statements and B.) defends John Kerry. I'm not about to embrace the latter. What John Kerry says one day always has to be weighed with what he says the next day. What he said about police action has to be weighed with his vote for the war. Etc., etc., etc. ...
... I was all set to say that Hezbollah may have suffered a bigger blow than previously believed, based on the comments at the very end of this report. Then reality hit me: President Bush has all but declared 'mission accomplished' in Lebanon. ... Back to the Hezbollah post, Seymour Hersh is probably overreaching again. I know, I know. I'm supposed to worship the guy. But I've learned to take some of what Hersh says with a grain of salt. Still, the president's own language -- and that of his advisers -- clearly indicates a showdown is looming with Iran and probably Syria. By their logic, the violent status quo in Iraq can only be changed by change elsewhere. They can't admit they may have blundered in Iraq. No, it has to be something else -- and one step farther has to be taken to finish the job. Now, one can argue with the theoretical logic of widening the conflict to salvage Iraq. I personally think it's nuts. But ask yourself: Do you really want this administration to handle such a momentous undertaking? ...
Update -- The Israelis don't sound like they just won -- not even the prime minister.
