A Hoagland classic

Jim Hoagland, MSM’s war-drum-beater-in-chief in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq (on behalf of his trusted pal, A. Chalabi) seems to be running scared… He’s writing in the WaPo today about a “dangerous” transition point having been reached.
Oh my! What danger might that be, Jim?
Here’s what he wrote:

    That dangerous transition point could be glimpsed in this month’s Post-ABC News survey, when 52 percent of those polled said that the war in Iraq was not contributing to American security and 49 percent said they disapproved of President Bush’s handling of the global war on terrorism.
    Polls are snapshots that change quickly, as White House aides quickly pointed out. But this one reflects my own anecdotal sense of a shift that I have been hearing about from politicians and activists in the nation’s capital and elsewhere over the past six weeks. This survey should be treated by the White House as a serious warning.

Here’s more of his diagnosis of this “danger”:

    It is not just the surge of violence in both conflicts in the past month that is shaking support for Bush. It is also the growing concern of middle-of-the-road Americans that they cannot trust the information they are being given by the administration — and particularly by the Pentagon — about the conduct and progress of these wars…
    The failure to discover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has forced the administration to emphasize the moral reasons that underlie the case for regime change, a cause I argued for through four successive administrations. But it is American morality — not Saddam Hussein’s demonstrated lack thereof — that is becoming a defining issue now, however unfair that may seem.

So is he calling for greater morality and accountability for all participants in US political life? That might seem logical don’t you think?
Nah. If our Jimbo were to do that, he might have to face up to to the nefarious role he himself played in having beaten the drums for this war.
He might feel he ought to apologise, at the very least, to the families of the nearly 1,700 US service members killed in Iraq to date– as well as to all Iraqis for the devastation that the war he helped to bring about has visited on their country.
If he were Japanese, then considering the gravity of the suffering he has materially helped to cause in the world, he might consider falling on his sword in repentance.
No, Jim, I’m not recommending harakiri. Some kind of reparative action would be far more useful for the world. (Contact me if you want suggestions. I have plenty.)
But starting out with a full mea culpa, and a clear apology, and a resignation from the extremely high-paid and respected position you occupy in the WaPo could be a good place to start.

21 thoughts on “A Hoagland classic”

  1. Helena, you are dreaming if you think any ‘mea culpa’s’ will be coming from this group. They are beyond all hope of redemption. These are people who have dedicated their lives to ‘rolling back’ a whole decade (the sixties)!
    The fact is, they have gotten exactly the result in Iraq they desired. An ineffectual, dependant, poverty stricken country that poses no threat to Isreal. There is absolutely no empathy towards the suffering in Iraq.
    I live and work amongst the ‘middle’ of America. There is NO sympathy, no remorse, no…well, no anything. As long as that stays true (and I dont see it changing) the administration and its minions will NEVER apologige. A crime has been perpatrated, and America does not care, in fact, does not even think about it. I have never compared Iraq to Vietnam because in a way, Iraq is FAR worse than Vietnam. Not in a military way, but in the context of our time. We should know better, yet we don’t care. In Vietnam, we did NOT ‘know better’.
    They will NEVER ‘mea culpa’ or ‘apologize’ because they will NEVER be held responsible for what they have done. In an age where Chuck Colson (a convicted felon) is called upon by the media to comment on Deep Throat’s ‘moral bearings’ and nobody laughs him off the sound set (let alone mentions his felony convictions) you cannot expect any sort of responsibility.
    We, as a nation, have handed the 9/11 terrorists a far greater victory than they ever could have imagined. We allowed ourselves to become what they said we were all along. Colonialists bent on world domination.
    .

  2. You are exactly right, for Hoagland, and for any others (politicians!) who aided and abetted the prosecution of this war. Nothing less than real apology will serve as a beginning. So we have this embarrassing situation where those who will eventually be required to critique this war have been complicit from the beginning. They will be critiqueing themselves, if they are honest.
    Its not as if the information and skeptics haven’t been out there from the beginning. The DSM, and today’s revelatons in the London Times about knowledge of Bush’s true intentions only underscores the fact that this was a made to order war — with lots of willing cheerleaders, camp followers,and rubber stamps.
    The line is short. Step right up now for those who want to be first to admit their folly (we won’t even require you to admit your cravenness). There is a phrase . . . “when hell freezes over”.

  3. One by one, the worms are turning. NYT reports that Republican Congressman Walter Jones of North Carolina, a fervent backer of the war and member of the proud “freedom fries” coalition, has announced his intention to introduce legislation calling for a firm withdrawal date. This is really good news!

  4. John C.,
    It is good news, yes, but useless unless the withdrawal date is “immediately or sooner”, and unless withdrawal means nothing less than a compalete withdrawal of every element of the occupation from the entire country. If they are talking about troop reduction and/or pulling back troops to those permanent military bases they have finally admitted they are building they might as well forget it. They need to get out completely – troops, mega-embassy, “reconstruction” (read deconstruction/transformation) contractors, and imported puppets. Otherwise it is just another shell game.

  5. Oh yes – they will need to leave behind their checkbook to pay for the damage they have done.

  7. Susan,
    I bet Dole would watch it. When I have seen him in action at Vet events, he’s come across as fairly sincere in being willing to understand the cost of war on both sides. I’d be damned if I’d ever vote for his sorry Republican ass, but outside the blinding light of the Beltway I have seen a human being who hasn’t forgotten what he learned as a vet. Anyway, I think it’s worth a shot.
    I’d like to see it too, once I can figure out what I can and cannot get through the censorious movie mavens who inspect packages coming in here to the UAE … (I can get al Jazeera on satellite, but their website is blocked. Go figure) … anyway, thanks for the link.
    wind

  8. Warren
    “they desired. An ineffectual, dependant, poverty stricken country that poses no threat to Israel. There is absolutely no empathy towards the suffering in Iraq.
    Yes you right, I can say US represented by this administration executed war on Iraq on behalf of Israel….., in fact N. Korea its far more dangerous to US and threatening US with nuclear weapons than Iraq

  9. I agree that Hoagland and the other punditocrats will never own up to being wrong about Iraq. What they will probably wind up doing is turning against Bushco for reasons totally removed from Iraq. That way, their readers will forget about their wrong-headedness concerning Iraq and remember only that Hoagland & Co. were “against Bush”.
    Something resembling this happened with Watergate. The burglary and Nixon’s coverup offered a heaven-sent opportunity for people to break with him who never had the guts to challenge Nixon on Vietnam and other policy issues.

  10. A Member of the US Power Elite Explains the US Invasion of Iraq to his Son
    By Janice Walding
    Al-Jazeerah, August 11, 2004
    A: Because war is good for the economy, which means war is good for
    > > America. Also, since God is on America’s side, anyone who opposes war
    > > is a godless unAmerican Communist. Do you understand now why we
    > > attacked Iraq?
    > > Q: I think so. We attacked them because God wanted us to, right?
    > > A: Yes.
    > > Q: But how did we know God wanted us to attack Iraq?
    > > A: Well, you see, God personally speaks to (the President) and tells
    > > him what to do.
    > > Q: So basically, what you’re saying is that we attacked Iraq because
    > > (the President) hears voices in his head?
    > > A: Yes! You finally understand how the world works. Now close your
    > > eyes, make yourself comfortable, and go to sleep. Good night.
    > > Q: Good night, Daddy.

  12. Right wing pundits arent the only ones who need to fess up. Juan Cole should also apologise, for claiming at its outset that the war “would be worth the sacrifices that [were] about to be made on all sides.”

  13. I just tracked down the above quote — not too hard thanks to Juan’s good archive.
    for those who are interested, here it is:
    Wednesday, March 19, 2003
    “*My mind and heart are, like those of so many Americans, focused on the Gulf and Iraq tonight. I am thinking about all those brave young men and women in the US and British armed forces whose lives are on the line, and send them my warm support. And I am thinking about all the innocent Iraqis in the line of fire, who fear what awaits them. I remain convinced that, for all the concerns one might have about the aftermath, the removal of Saddam Hussein and the murderous Baath regime from power will be worth the sacrifices that are about to be made on all sides. The rest of us have a responsibility to work to see that the lives lost are redeemed by the building of a genuinely democratic and independent Iraq in the coming years.”
    Doesn’t make his prescience much better, does it?

  14. Apologies for the off-topic post, but I think every American should take a moment to contemplate the case of Jose Padilla, whose lawyers just failed in their second attempt to convince the Supreme Court to uphold the constitution. This is not a case with complicated facts that only a lawyer or policy wonk can keep straight. Here is all you need to know:
    1. Mr. Padilla is an American citizen.
    2. Mr. Padilla was arrested in Chicago, Illinois on May 8, 2002, and has been held in solitary confinement in a Charleston, SC military brig ever since.
    3. Mr. Padilla has never been charged with any crime, and has never been afforded a hearing on the merits of the government’s allegations against him.
    4. The government has asserted that because George W. Bush considers Mr. Padilla an “enemy combatant, he has no right to counsel, no right to be charged or released, and no right to a trial. Ever.
    Oh, and you might want to review the 5th and 6th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

  15. “According to a theory put forward by Luizard, the coalition itself could have created the Abu Musab Al Zarqawi phenomenon in order to make the Iraqis fight amongst themselves.”
    Sure Salah, and we also created Mohammed Atta, Sheik Omar, Zacharias Mousawi, and Richard Reid. They are all hollywood actors, including the blind New Jersey Imam.
    The brilliant education you alluded to is being betrayed by your narrow conspiratorial mind. Plus you owe us a map you claimed existed and never produced.
    David

  17. Saddam and Bin Laden both they are American created and supported, and the did what they did but still we can ask the fact who create them and who used them and for what? – Salah
    very, very good point.
    And today, we are enabling and supporting the brutal, evil dictator of Uzbekistan. For what? Why do we have a base there, why are we giving him money and arms, why don’t we condemn him for his many human rights abuses? Do we wait until he has put hundreds of thousands in their graves?
    Answer: the US is doing it for the oil, gas and gold in Uzbekistan.
    The US government will start caring about human rights in Uzbekistan when the brutal evil dictator no longer does exactly what they want.
    I have written three letters this year to both my Senators and my Representative.
    And yet, I get told time and time again that a non-violent approach is not practical or workable. By the same people who never lift a finger at the appropriate time! what a bunch of hypocrites!
    The time for the US to do something about Uzbekistan is NOW.

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