C-Span's Book TV, which usually pits ideological adversaries, paired up Clifford May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, with Robert Kagan, author of The Return of History. Sort of like asking the New England Patriots cheerleaders to interview Tom Brady after the last Super Bowl: Kagan treats the Iraq war as a great idea that had been "foolishly" waged for the first few years but is now returning benefits.
And as for the bumps in the road, well, this region has been violent and out of control for a long time. What does peace in the Middle East mean? he said. There has been no peace in the Middle East. I.e., we are making things a lot better. Plus the usual claptrap about Israel being the one pillar of democracy–and meanwhile the necessity of fighting the Muslim Brotherhood–even as we turn Iraq into a religious state.
As usual with the neocons, I wonder how much of Kagan’s ideology comes out of a Jewish identification with Israel that I did not receive with my mother’s milk but most Jews in the U.S. did. Clifford May of course fails to ask. Zero transparency.
Also, I wish the neocons would learn one thing from the Israelis. Over there, you’re not supposed to make decisions about war and misery unless you’ve served in the military. Yes, Israel is too militarized. But here we’ve completely delinked the two areas of service. If only some of these neocons and Bushies had kids in the military, maybe they wouldn’t go on television to chatter about how important it is to spread democracy by force.
