You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Fifth Column
Why We Must Leave Iraq
2004-09-24
by Jonathan Schell, Harold Willens Peace Fellow at the Nation Institute and the author of The Unconquerable World (Metropolitan Books) as well as A Hole in the World, a collection of his "Letters from Ground Zero" column for The Nation magazine.
Yeah, yeah, I know, violating the by-line rule, but look how hilarious pretentious this one is.
Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, once a supporter of the war in Iraq, has been rethinking his position. The day after Senator John Kerry's speech at NYU attacking the President's war policies, Cohen wrote, "I still don't think the United States can just pull out of Iraq. But I do think the option is worth discussing." Well, let's discuss it.
As in, "let me lecture you."
And now, for the shocking and completely unexpected postion of the Harold Willens Peace Fellow:
The United States should just pull out of Iraq.
We know, the Rantburg editorial staff was surprised too.
I love these discussions. Really. You learn so much...
There are many issues in politics that are very complicated.
Wow! That's a new one on me! How long did it take you to research that?
The war in Iraq is not one of them. Common sense in regard to this war rests on two rock-solid pillars:
(1) The United States should never have invaded Iraq.

(2) Now it should set a timetable to withdraw and leave.
Since I'm utterly lacking in common sense, neither of those statements makes any sense to me.
These two propositions go together particularly if your brain is small enough that your ears touch. The litany of reasons why it was wrong to invade Iraq — that there were no weapons of mass destruction in the country, no ties to Al Qaeda and only the dimmest prospect of democracy — are the same as the reasons why it is now wrong to remain there.
Let's just ignore for now that even the 9/11 Commission found ties between Sammy and al-Q, it would ruin Jonathan's party. And don't mention the upcoming elections.
For the love of Allan, do not speak of the elections!
The fact that we seem to have found the mother lode of terrorists is quite beside the point...
Posted by:Steve White

#12  Hey, back off, man! I'm a Peace Fellow!
Posted by: Jonathan Schell   2004-09-24 7:48:15 PM  

#11  Isn't that the same Richard Cohen who blathered on about Bush's TANG experience while stating that he himself had done many of the things Bush was accused of in one of those self-righteous "good for thee, but not for me" yappty-yaps.

Who cares what these dino's think. God bless the blogs where guys like this get the respect they deserve.
Posted by: 2B   2004-09-24 2:55:25 PM  

#10  Why can't you all understand that if the Iraqis choose dictatorship that's their business?

And then when they choose to have the dictator step aside they...err...ummm...ask the United States to come back and remove him?

As an aside, I guess that mean's The Nation's official position is now that since Chileans wanted dictatorship Pinochet's regime was a-okay.
Posted by: Dreadnought   2004-09-24 1:07:18 PM  

#9  #5 FYI, Schell wrote a number of anti-American screeds for the New Yorker during the Viet Nam War. Now this neo-Marxist apparently has a new life with the war in Iraq. Believe me, only poisen comes from his pen.
Posted by: Tancred   2004-09-24 11:48:00 AM  

#8  Why We Must Leave Iraq

I can only suppose he's referring to how the Geiger counter makes that annoying nearly continuous clicking sound.
Posted by: Zenster   2004-09-24 10:47:28 AM  

#7  An inhabitant of an alternate universe apparently, since he is to stupid for this one.
Posted by: JerseyMike   2004-09-24 7:17:13 AM  

#6  No those particular wankers in Dallas need to be hunted down and taught some manners. These wankers need not be hunted down. They can be avoided. They have names amd faces
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2004-09-24 4:17:37 AM  

#5  by Jonathan Schell, Harold Willens Peace Fellow..

This is all I needed to see, and nothing more. A large majority of these "peace" types are nothing more than low-class wankers. (see incident in Dallas for an example)
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-09-24 1:49:35 AM  

#4  
If the people of Iraq slip back into dictatorship, it will be their dictatorship. If they choose civil war, it will be their civil war.
When the terrorists come over here again and kill you this time, it will be your death.

Yeesh. Wotta pretentious maroon.

Another victim of craniorectal inversion syndrome. Must be a DemocRat.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-09-24 1:14:15 AM  

#3  What a bunch of wanking Kerry ass kissers. Education truly is no sign of intelect or intelligence.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2004-09-24 12:55:09 AM  

#2  Jonathan Schell and the Nation magazine: selling out America to the Marxists Communists Nazis? Islamists for 140 years and counting.
Posted by: ed   2004-09-24 12:44:51 AM  

#1  If the people of Iraq slip back into dictatorship, it will be their dictatorship. If they choose civil war, it will be their civil war.

Wotta goof. I stopped reading at this point.
Posted by: Rafael   2004-09-24 12:34:14 AM  

00:00