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December 19, 2005
Cohen on Syriana
I haven't linked to a good liberal column in a while so here goes. Richard Cohen seems to be one of the more sensible liberal writers out there who does not seeth with hatred of all things Bush. I do not agree with him most of the time, but he seems to respect conservatives enough to listen to them rationaly and sees the flaws in his own side as well. Here is a good example of this in his take on the movie Syriana:
Still, if it is going to say anything, then it ought to say something smart and timely. But, ``Syriana's'' cynicism is out of time and place, a homage to John le Carre, who himself is dated. To read George Packer's ``The Assassin's Gate'' is to be reminded that the Iraq War is not the product of oil avarice or CIA evil, but of a surfeit of altruism, a naive compulsion to do good. That entire collection of neo and retro conservatives -- Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and particularly Wolfowitz -- made war not for oil or for empire, but to end the horror of Saddam Hussein and, yes, reorder the Middle East.They were inept. They were duplicitous. They were awesomely incompetent and, in the case of Bush, they were monumentally ignorant and incurious, but they did not give a damn for oil or empire. This is why so many liberals, myself included, originally supported the war. It engaged us emotionally. It seemed ... well, right -- a just cause.
It would be nice if Hollywood understood that. It would be nice if those who agree with Hollywood -- who think, as Gaghan does, that this is a brave, truth-to-power movie when it is really just an outdated cliche -- can release their fervid grip on old left bromides about Big Oil, Big Business, Big Government and the inherent evil of George Bush, and come up with something new and relevant. I say that because something new and relevant is desperately needed. Neoconservatism crashed and burned in Iraq, but liberalism never even showed up. The left's criticism of the war from the very start was too often a porridge of inanities about oil or empire or Halliburton -- or isolationism by another name. It was childish and ultimately ineffective. The war came and Bush was re-elected. How's that for a clean whiff?
Cohen does seem to think now that it was worth it to free the Iraqi people from the dictatorship of Saddam and let the Iraqi people vote in free elections, to end the end the oil for food corruption in the UN, to help spark democratic revolt in Lebanon and give hope to those in oppressed countries who yearn to breath free, to stop Iraq's funding of terrorism, to scare Lybia out of its WMD program, to make sure Saddam never had a chace to use WMD again etc., but at least Cohen understands what motivated those who do think it was worth it.
In related news the Democrats announced last week that have a plan for coming up with a plan for Iraq at some point (maybe):
Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said on the day Murtha offered his plan, "As for Iraq policy, at the right time, we'll have a position."
Now there is a coherent policy that shows the party of FDR and JFK has a forward looking vision for national security.
Posted by Pete at December 19, 2005 07:54 PM
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