But what will we call tapas? Freedom snacks?
Tom Friedman takes a break from extolling the virtues of outsourcing tech jobs to India to pen a seriously stupid attack on the results of Spanish democracy. Kevin Drum (at his new digs) points out the fallacy of his argument.
"The new Spanish government's decision to respond to the attack by Al Qaeda by going ahead with plans to pull its troops from Iraq constitutes the most dangerous moment we've faced since 9/11. It's what happens when the Axis of Evil intersects with the Axis of Appeasement and the Axis of Incompetence.
"Let's start with the Axis of Evil. We are up against a terrible nihilistic enemy. Think about what the Islamist terrorists are doing: they are trying to kill as many people in Iraq and elsewhere as possible so the U.S. fails in Iraq, so Iraq collapses into civil war, so even a glimmer of democracy never takes root in the Arab world and so America is weakened.
"But if they are so bad, why aren't we doing better? It has to do with the pigheadedness of the Bush team and the softheadedness of many allies. Regarding the Bush team, let me say yet again: We do not have enough troops in Iraq, and we never did. From the outset, the Bush Pentagon has treated Iraq as a lab test to prove that it can win a war with a small, mobile high-tech Army. Well, maybe you can defeat Saddam that way, but you can't build a new Iraq -- and control its borders to prevent foreign terrorists from coming in -- with so few troops, especially when you disband the Iraqi Army on top of it."
So, let me get this straight. The Spanish are appeasing al Qaeda because they voted out a government that had lied to them by denying that al Qaeda had launched an attack on the country. They're appeasing al Qaeda because they voted in a government that had opposed joining the Bush coalition -- which the majority of voters had also opposed from the beginning. They're appeasing al Qaeda for deciding to pull out of an occupation the Socialists refer to as a "fiasco." They're appeasing al Qaeda for pulling out of an occupation that is, indeed, a fiasco. They're appeasing al Qaeda for distancing themselves from a Bush administration that is, indeed, pig-headedly screwing up.
The unfortunate aspect of this is that there does not seem to be any attempt on the part of Colin Powell or anyone else in the Bush administration to use diplomacy to convince the Spanish that now is not the time to pull out of Iraq. Only bluster, shocked indignation, and self-righteousness.
Oh, I forgot, those are the three pillars of the Bush foreign policy stool (and "stool" it is).
What's been lost in all of this are the actual words of the Spanish prime minister. He said that they would pull out Spanish troops (and let's keep in mind we're talking 1,500 when we need an additional 100,000) if the UN wasn't put in control of the occupation by June. Isn't that what the Iraqis want, our friend Ahmad Chalabi notwithstanding?
We'll know for sure in November, but at this point in the fiasco, isn't that what the majority of U.S. voters want as well?
Meanwhile, via Eschaton, Spain's al Qaeda cell has endorsed Bush for reelection. It is as yet unclear if the global al Qaeda organization will throw their organizational strength and ability to get out the vote behind the Bush campaign.
Why do Bush administration officials hate America so?
"The new Spanish government's decision to respond to the attack by Al Qaeda by going ahead with plans to pull its troops from Iraq constitutes the most dangerous moment we've faced since 9/11. It's what happens when the Axis of Evil intersects with the Axis of Appeasement and the Axis of Incompetence.
"Let's start with the Axis of Evil. We are up against a terrible nihilistic enemy. Think about what the Islamist terrorists are doing: they are trying to kill as many people in Iraq and elsewhere as possible so the U.S. fails in Iraq, so Iraq collapses into civil war, so even a glimmer of democracy never takes root in the Arab world and so America is weakened.
"But if they are so bad, why aren't we doing better? It has to do with the pigheadedness of the Bush team and the softheadedness of many allies. Regarding the Bush team, let me say yet again: We do not have enough troops in Iraq, and we never did. From the outset, the Bush Pentagon has treated Iraq as a lab test to prove that it can win a war with a small, mobile high-tech Army. Well, maybe you can defeat Saddam that way, but you can't build a new Iraq -- and control its borders to prevent foreign terrorists from coming in -- with so few troops, especially when you disband the Iraqi Army on top of it."
So, let me get this straight. The Spanish are appeasing al Qaeda because they voted out a government that had lied to them by denying that al Qaeda had launched an attack on the country. They're appeasing al Qaeda because they voted in a government that had opposed joining the Bush coalition -- which the majority of voters had also opposed from the beginning. They're appeasing al Qaeda for deciding to pull out of an occupation the Socialists refer to as a "fiasco." They're appeasing al Qaeda for pulling out of an occupation that is, indeed, a fiasco. They're appeasing al Qaeda for distancing themselves from a Bush administration that is, indeed, pig-headedly screwing up.
The unfortunate aspect of this is that there does not seem to be any attempt on the part of Colin Powell or anyone else in the Bush administration to use diplomacy to convince the Spanish that now is not the time to pull out of Iraq. Only bluster, shocked indignation, and self-righteousness.
Oh, I forgot, those are the three pillars of the Bush foreign policy stool (and "stool" it is).
What's been lost in all of this are the actual words of the Spanish prime minister. He said that they would pull out Spanish troops (and let's keep in mind we're talking 1,500 when we need an additional 100,000) if the UN wasn't put in control of the occupation by June. Isn't that what the Iraqis want, our friend Ahmad Chalabi notwithstanding?
We'll know for sure in November, but at this point in the fiasco, isn't that what the majority of U.S. voters want as well?
Meanwhile, via Eschaton, Spain's al Qaeda cell has endorsed Bush for reelection. It is as yet unclear if the global al Qaeda organization will throw their organizational strength and ability to get out the vote behind the Bush campaign.
Why do Bush administration officials hate America so?
posted by John at 10:15 AM
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