Juan Cole is a Sick Bastard.
Make no mistake - this is exactly why liberals are not trusted on national security.
From Obi Juan:
I can't decide whether I'm more appalled by his remark that "only a few thousand" have been recovered, his projectile stupidity that such a full scale recovery operation could even be undertaken with present conditions, or his willful refusal to admit even to himself that it is the Ba'athists who are currently responsible for the vast majority of Iraqi deaths. Molly Ivins wrote on this earlier, got nailed to the wall for her bad information, and rightly and promptly dedicated a column to its correction and apology. Numerous liberal blogs and news outlets cite Cole as an expert and link to his page.
The fact that Juan Cole is allowed to "teach" anything is a travesty of liberal education. The fact that honest liberals cite him weakens liberalism's crediblity. The fact that he is paid by taxpayers and students to "teach" on the Middle East is a very sick joke.
From Obi Juan:
Iraq Body Count, Reuters says, estimates that 38 Iraqis die in violence every day. Over thirty-five years, that would amount to nearly 500,000 dead. In fact, it is estimated that the Baath party killed 300,000 Iraqis, so the current rate seems to be greater than the Baath rate. (The number of civilians killed by the Baath is probably in fact exaggerated. Only a few thousand bodies have been recovered from mass graves so far.)
I can't decide whether I'm more appalled by his remark that "only a few thousand" have been recovered, his projectile stupidity that such a full scale recovery operation could even be undertaken with present conditions, or his willful refusal to admit even to himself that it is the Ba'athists who are currently responsible for the vast majority of Iraqi deaths. Molly Ivins wrote on this earlier, got nailed to the wall for her bad information, and rightly and promptly dedicated a column to its correction and apology. Numerous liberal blogs and news outlets cite Cole as an expert and link to his page.
The fact that Juan Cole is allowed to "teach" anything is a travesty of liberal education. The fact that honest liberals cite him weakens liberalism's crediblity. The fact that he is paid by taxpayers and students to "teach" on the Middle East is a very sick joke.
posted by JCH | 9:31 AM
9 Comments:
See, here's the thing: We knew going in that the Sunnis had a propensity for violence under Saddam. We knew that history. And in "conquering" Saddam we did nothing to contain that propensity.
Face it, we broke it, we own it, and its our fault that Iraqis and Americans are dying every day.
If you can't grasp the bull by the tail and face that reality, you are one sick bastard.
Well, again, un-intellectual non-factual statements DO NOT HELP THE LIBERAL ARGUMENT.
See, here's the thing: We knew going in that the Sunnis had a propensity for violence under Saddam. We knew that history. And in "conquering" Saddam we did nothing to contain that propensity.
Face it, we broke it, we own it, and its our fault that Iraqis and Americans are dying every day.
OK - I'll buy that Bush didn't prepare for the insurgency, and perhaps even that he and his people (Rumsfeld particularly)were willfully negligent. But your argument has a racist under current. You're essentially saying: "Of course there are deaths happening everyday--the Sunnis are savages, violence is all they know."
Is that really the argument you want to make? Americans and Iraqis are dying every day because certain people are deciding to kill them--people who are perfectly equiped both morally and intellectually to come to a different decision. Bush has done plenty of things he should be held accoutable for, but that doesn't absolve the insurgents of their responsibility for each and every death they cause.
Yes, that's the argument I want to make.
Let me make it as a metaphor: There was a hornets' nest in Iraq. We should have killed it. Instead, we whacked it with a shovel. The hornets boiled out and started stinging.
Now, whether or not you think the hornets should take moral responsibility for their actions makes no difference to the actions of the hornets. Nor does it make a difference to the suffering of their victims. Those victims rightly blame the guy with the shovel.
Going from the metaphor back to reality, we knew that Saddam had weapons caches. We didn't send in enough force to secure them, instead Bush fired Shinseki for saying that we needed more boots on the ground. Any idiot could have foreseen the outcome: The Baathists eneded up with tons and tons of munitions. Thye are amoral killers, and it was our responsibility to consider that, and to plan how to contain them, before invading.
Is there any level on which Juan Cole hasn't been discredited? Yet he's still seen as more credible then Daily Kos or Atrios. Why?
Sure what he said is despicable and illogical, but why is that news anymore? Printing and attacking some vile offense from Cole is like printing and attacking some vile offense from a DU commenter. (Yes, he's also a teacher molding impressionable young minds, but he doesn't stand out all that much there either.)
There was a hornets' nest in Iraq. We should have killed it. Instead, we whacked it with a shovel. The hornets boiled out and started stinging.)
We should have killed it. How, exactly, in this metaphor? Bug spray? gasoline? The metaphorical equivalents are what? Chemical attack? Napalm? And what is "it" in your metaphor? The Sunnis? All, of them?
To make this even remotely accurate methaphor you would have to allow that maybe 75% of the hornets don't want to sting anyone. They have no interest at all in attacking anything. Why kill them indiscriminately? And how exactly would that be explained to the "Wasp" public?
Again, as stated above, your argument is tainted with racism and a suppression of real world details that are crucial to the debate. It is an unintellectual argument that avoids more facts than it acknowledges.
We didn't send in enough force to secure them, instead Bush fired Shinseki for saying that we needed more boots on the ground.
I completely agree that we didn't send in enough troops--our failure to seal the border, secure the weapons and put down any uprisings was a huge strategic blunder by Bush et. al. But SL is right about your metaphor--you seem to be suggesting we should have turned Iraq (or, at least the Sunni triangle) into a parking lot.
Hornets don't know any better--humans, including Sunnis, do. If you want to blame George Bush for getting us into Iraq, go right ahead, but don't let the real killers off the hook.
Make no mistake this is why conservatives are not trusted with logical thought. We made it worse you idiot. That's his point. The proof is in the number dead. And if you consider that the rate of death under Saddam dropped drastically the last 10 years he was in power, it is obvious that we unleashed a hornet's nest. Violence is worse now than under Saddam. More people die now. To ignore that is to be a sick bastard. Try having some empathy for the dead U.S. soldiers and the dead Iraqis. If you want, argue that this Iraq escapade will make things better in the future but don't be blind and say that we haven't made things worse so far.
Come on! Think before you blog.
My impression is Cole knows a lot about Middle Eastern history and politics. I assume you want him censored because he disagrees with you? Or is there another reason? If so, could you give it?
Also, you haven't proven he's wrong.
Can you?
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