Old School conservative George Will: Kerry was right re: WOT

[ourbluenation]

and the Middle East...

********************************
snip

Cooperation between Pakistani and British law enforcement (the British draw upon useful experience combating IRA terrorism) has validated John Kerry's belief (as paraphrased by the New York Times Magazine of Oct. 10, 2004) that "many of the interdiction tactics that cripple drug lords, including governments working jointly to share intelligence, patrol borders and force banks to identify suspicious customers, can also be some of the most useful tools in the war on terror." In a candidates' debate in South Carolina (Jan. 29, 2004), Kerry said that although the war on terror will be "occasionally military," it is "primarily an intelligence and law enforcement operation that requires cooperation around the world."

Immediately after the London plot was disrupted, a "senior administration official," insisting on anonymity for his or her splenetic words, denied the obvious, that Kerry had a point. The official told The Weekly Standard:

"The idea that the jihadists would all be peaceful, warm, lovable, God-fearing people if it weren't for U.S. policies strikes me as not a valid idea. do not have the understanding or the commitment to take on these forces. It's like John Kerry. The law enforcement approach doesn't work.

This farrago of caricature and non sequitur makes the administration seem eager to repel all but the delusional. But perhaps such rhetoric reflects the intellectual contortions required to sustain the illusion that the war in Iraq is central to the war on terrorism, and that the war, unlike "the law enforcement approach," does "work."

The official is correct that it is wrong "to think that somehow we are responsible -- that the actions of the jihadists are justified by U.S. policies." But few outside the fog of paranoia that is the blogosphere think like that. It is more dismaying that someone at the center of government considers it clever to talk like that. It is the language of foreign policy -- and domestic politics -- unrealism.

Foreign policy "realists" considered Middle East stability the goal. The realists' critics, who regard realism as reprehensibly unambitious, considered stability the problem. That problem has been solved."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081401163.html

[northzax]

1. the law enforcement approach doesn't work

unless, of course, you want to stop terror attacks from happening in the first place, or punish those responsible for conducting them after the fact. if you're not interested in that, then no, the approach does not work.

assholes.

[JohnnyLib]

2. Thank you; this seems quite important.

I read it this morning, thought maybe I wasn't awake yet.

First Buckley, now Will. Who does that leave in the old-guard tent, just
GHWBush?

Drip, drip, drip, erosion occurs sloooowly.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. That was my thought, too...

My comment was "hell HAS frozen over."

[Tesha]

11. You can probably always count on Cal Thomas...

You can probably always count on Cal Thomas to be in
Bush's camp. I think.

Tesha

[acmejack]

3. How will you have your crow, Mr. Will?

You are few years late there George.

[blm]

5. In other words - Kerry always WAS the best choice as ANTI-TERROR President

if you wanted terrorism countered for REAL, and in a way that didn't INCREASE terrorism.

We tried telling you that since BCCI, George.

[johnaries]

6. Oh. My. God. George Will says Kerry was right?

Maybe we really are living in the End Times!

[Tin Man]

9. Extra, Extra - Hell Freezes Over !!!

...although, as the future home of Bush and his NeoCabal enablers, I'd prefer that hell remain firey hot. :evilgrin:

[MH1]

7. "...the obvious - that Kerry had a point..."

'bout freakin' time someone noticed.

[Lasher]

8. Caught on the losing side, Our Hero tried to join the opposing tribe.

Just shut up, George. Go stroke your chin and try to look wise at a GOP fundraiser. Do you think everyone is going to forget everything you have said before? Try to un-ring a bell.

[JVS]

10. I like Vonnegut's description of him as "the Owlish Nitwit George Will"

[Dob Bole]

12. Well, the American Conservative endorsed Kerry in 2004...

not all conservatives agree with the neocons.

[blm]

14. Which makes the idea that Bush GAINED 11 million new voters without losing

any of his 2000 voters completely IMPLAUSIBLE.

And this is why the GOP made sure to control the media - you control the media, you can tell the people you won while NOT TELLING them that you also control most of the voting machines.

[w4rma]

13. OMG. OMG. George Will's editorial is flawless. It mirrors my own opinion

exactly. The facts are all in place and supported. I had no idea George Will was capable of completely logical analysis.

Has hell frozen over? Are pigs flying? :wow:

[Kolesar]

15. He does not sound as outraged as he should be, though

What we have seen has been reckless lying and warmongering by the bush* administration. Bush* has got our country and the whole world into a totally f--ked and unsolvable situation. The republicans have made the world hugely more unstable. Their errors will result in another century of war, death, hatred and poverty.

[treestar]

16. Law Enforcement and Intelligence operations, not military

Brilliant sound bite of it. Just bombing entire countries does not kill all the terrorists. It just makes people furious at us. People who were not furious at us before.