Thomas Friedman, Idiot

UPDATE: see this post for a partial retraction. But go ahead and read this one. It is substantially valid.

Thomas Friedman drools all over the pages of the International Herald Tribune today. His article is too long to duplicate here, but let me summarize his main points:

1. Bush is a cowboy without a posse


2. Iraq cannot be liberated and turned into a democracy without the UN


3. Bush's limited diplomatic efforts were a failure


4. so we go to war alone


5. The Bush administration needs an "attitude lobotomy" [his words] and should immediately prostrate itself before the world


6. [Spurious comparison with Israel's Six Day War]


7. America must repeat the success of the Marshall Plan

Point by point,

1) Bush is a cowboy without a posse.

Tommy boy, let me introduce you to the posse.

2) Iraq cannot be liberated and turned into a democracy without the UN.

The examples of history (Germany and Japan, to name the most prominent two) would seem to pretty thoroughly refute this proposition.

3) Bush's limited diplomatic efforts were a failure...

Failure? Bush walked away from the diplomatic process with his principles uncompromised and no one able to stop him doing exactly what he wanted to do. I'd call that a diplomatic victory. A diplomatic trumph (getting the UN to come along on the mission) would have been nice, but it really isn't going to be necessary.

4) so we go to war alone.

See point 1) above. How many effing times does it have to be said? I know, I know, the Left really really really wants the "unilateralism" meme to spread... but it's utterly false, and must be combatted at every turn.

5) The Bush administration needs an "attitude lobotomy" [his words] and should immediately prostrate itself before the world.

A lobotomy might be necessary, but it's not the Bush administration that needs it. Yes Tom, I'm looking at you.

6) [Comparison with aftermath of Israel's Six Day War]

I'm not sure what point he is trying to make here. The US is not in quite the same situation Israel was in back in 1967. Israel was not trying to remake any of its enemies into democracies, it was trying to make its enemies into corpses - that's what hapens when your back is up against the metaphorical wall.

7) America must repeat the success of the Marshall Plan

Good lord... Tommy gets something right! Of course, he is merely belaboring the obvious... but he makes it sound as though without his advise the US might instead topple the Hussein regime and immediately walk away from Iraq. Golly, Tommy, thanks for the help!

Posted by Russ at 06:20 PM, March 20, 2003 in Idiots & Nat'l Security