Why Does Tom Friedman Still Have a Job?

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/40648/

Friedman botched the biggest foreign-policy story since the Cold War but those who got it right are naïve?

New York Times foreign policy analyst Thomas L. Friedman finally has come to the conclusion that George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq -- which Friedman enthusiastically supported with the clever slogan "Give war a chance" -- wasn't such a good idea after all.

"It is now obvious that we are not midwifing democracy in Iraq. We are babysitting a civil war," Friedman wrote. "That means 'staying the course' is pointless, and it's time to start thinking about Plan B -- how we might disengage with the least damage possible." (NYT, Aug. 4, 2006)

Yet, despite this implicit admission that the war has unnecessarily killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and more than 2,600 U.S. soldiers, Friedman continues to slight Americans who resisted the rush to war in the first place.

Twelve days after his shift in position, Friedman demeaned Americans who opposed the Iraq war as "anti-war activists who haven't thought a whit about the larger struggle we're in," presumably a reference to the threat from Islamic extremism. (NYT, Aug. 16, 2006)

In other words, according to Friedman, Americans who were right about the ill-fated invasion of Iraq are still airheads when it comes to the bigger picture, while the pundits and politicians who were dead wrong on Iraq deserve pats on the back for their wise analyses of the larger problem.

[acmavm]

1. And the bigger picture being how much money corporate

America could stuff in their pockets up until the minute we are forced to admit defeat and withdraw?

[MessiahRp]

2. Except we WERE aware of the struggle we WOULD be in...

We knew the "larger issues" and the "big picture" surrounding this clusterfuck to begin with. All of us knew there were no WMDs and that Iraq had nada to do with 9/11. All of us knew the touchy relationship we had with Middle Easterners and that waging another war over there would create strife and disarray.

Why do they keep getting away with saying stuff like, "Nobody could have ever known..." when we all knew?

Rp

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. who fucking cares about friedman..why does bush/cheney/rumsfeld

had jobs?

[atreides1]

5. Because

There are at least 59,000,000 idiots who have the right to vote, but lack the thought process of a single celled amoeba.

[The Stranger]

4. Friedman is a fucking imbecile (but a wonderful self-promoter).

[Me.]

6. Two Words

Billionaire Inlaws.

*shadow government*

[Nozebro]

7. He still has a high-paying job because he's a very effective,

credible (sic) promoter/defender/apologist for the elite power structure that runs the country and half the known physical universe.

[gratuitous]

8. Well, see, you don't understand the subtle shadings and nuances

Not like Tom Friedman, so you're naive. Okay, so maybe you were right from the get-go on Iraq, but that might have just been a lucky guess. Tom Friedman, though, is very serious and very thoughtful, and he writes for the New York Times. Do you write for the New York Times? No? Well, arrest my case, as that great philosopher and humanitarian Bob Boudelang might say.

And the way the major media work, the only people who get to criticize the effort in Iraq have to have been in favor of it back in 2002 and 2003. Anyone who was right all along is just going to go on the teevee and say things like "I fucking told you so, you brain-dead asshole," and that would make guys like Friedman and the baby Jesus cry. So you don't get to say anything about it, lest you make Mr. Friedman feel bad.

Sure, we've flushed thousands of lives and billions of dollars down the toilet in an ill-advised invasion, but how does that compare in any way with the self-esteem of Tom Friedman and his ilk? I'll bet you don't think about that at all, do you, you heartless creeps? You probably laugh at Special Olympians, too. Well, I'm not going to sit here and let you bad mouth a bunch of courageous kids trying their best and exhibiting the true meaning of sportsmanship! Shame on you!

{Stomps out door, humming "America the Beautiful"}

[Jacobin]

9. He's a clueless dweeb and an irrelevant fuck

spewing his mindless drivel for the masses.

He's like the McDonalds of foreign policy observers.

[Armstead]

10. Friedman not alone.There ought to be mass firings over this

I still get angry when I think of how the Media/Political Complex marginalized those who raised so many legitimate and knowledgable objections, as well as those of us who instinctually believed it was wrong and stupid.

"You anti-war fringe leftists are naive and uninformed. Listen to us wise, informed grown-ups" with the subtle message that was being conveyed.

Turns out the "anti-war fringe leftists" were right all along, about almost everything. I'm still waiting for a collective apology from the bozos like Friedman.

[Armstead]

11. PS...they're also wrong about a lot of other things

Friedman is also a big apologist for Corporate Globalization.

How well is that one working out Tom?

[Hamlette]

12. here's where the left loses credibility and a place at the table

there are two problems now: 1. evaluating how and admitting that we got it so wrong so we don't do it again, and more importantly, 2. what do we do now.

If things are as bad as the left says they are in Iraq (yes, I believe they are that bad) what happens if we walk away? We have created a breeding ground for terrorists. Terrorists who want to destroy us and who have all of the wealth (oil, because it has become the life blood of our economy.)

Think. Isn't there something we can do to fix this? Wouldn't dividing the country up ala Galbraith/Murtha be better?

If you don't appreciate how dangerous fundamentalism is, you have not been paying attention. It is not dangerous only in terms of terrorists, but in terms of Bush himself. It is all part of the same thing. It is a type of thinking that allows one to believe god is on his side, he can do no wrong, people who do not think like he does are sub-human (See post of interview by Carter) etc.

Freidman was wrong about the war but not for the same cynical reasons Bush was wrong about the war. Freidman honestly thought the invasion would/could help people of the ME. Who the hell knows why Bush went to war but it wasn't that reason.

There are peace loving people in the ME. Do we leave them to be slaughtered by their fundamentalists? Wouldn't you want someone to help us when our crazy fundamentalists take over and start killing in the name of god?

[Armstead]

14. You miss the point, I think

Who listens to the very reasonable possible solutions of many varieties that come from the left (as well as from the right and center) about this?

It's also NOT OUR PLACE to divide up Iraq. If the Iraqis want to do that, they should do it and we could help themj implement it. But we are not in the position to decide what they should do because IT's NOT OUR COUNTRY.

And the left still keeps being ignored about how to avoid future m,esses.


In fact, the very same drumbeat is now being repeated over Iran. The elites are pounding on the same confrontational message machine and CONventional wisdom as they were during the lead up to Iraq. Anyone who dares imply that we should be attempting to reseolve our differences with Iran through active engagement of diplomacy is dismissed as naive and foolish.

And I'll bet five or ten years from now, the same people people who goad us into a war with Iran will be saying "Oh gosh. How could we have been so wrong about this war in Iran?"

[NNN0LHI]

15. First off I suggest we and our mercenaries stop killing Iraqi people

For every Iraqi man woman or child we kill there are going to be X amount of pissed off friends and family members of these people we kill who will want revenge. Kind of like Americans wanted revenge after 9/11.

I will let the people with more experience and knowledge in these matters suggest what to do next.

But first things first.

Don

Oops, almost forgot. That brilliant idea of stealing the Iraqis oil to pay for the rebuilding of their country that we destroyed isn't going anywhere either. We had better forget that idea and get out our checkbook to pay for that. The idea was silly to begin with.

[DURHAM D]

13. Isn't he on Israel's payroll ? To be honest, I just quit

listening to certain people a long time ago when I figured out they were more about Israel than the US. Example - Joe L.