I NEED A DRINK….It’s stuff like this that almost makes me want to give up sometimes. Here is William Arkin today:
The simplistic story line that the Democrats are pushing is all about and solely about Iraq: withdraw U.S. forces, defeat the Republicans, tidy up foreign policy by giving human rights to prisoners and being nicer in the world, and voila, terror subsides.
I write a blog. That means I make sharp points in very brief posts. But even at that, nothing I’ve written could even be unfairly caricatured the way Arkin does, let alone fairly. Ditto for other liberal bloggers who are even sharper and briefer than me.
Outside the blogosphere, of course, we have the actual Democratic establishment, the one that wields genuine influence. Some of them are in Congress and make floor speeches ? about both Iraq and national security more broadly. Some of them run for president and lay out detailed position papers about how best to conduct foreign policy in an age of jihad. Others host symposia at think tanks or write lengthy articles in places like Foreign Affairs and Democracy. Still others write books covering practically every nuance of liberal foreign policy you could ever hope for.
Some of these liberals think we ought to withdraw from Iraq and some don’t. I think it’s safe to say that virtually all of them believe that a less militaristic and more internationalist foreign policy would be a net benefit. But it’s also safe to say that none of them ? not one ? believes this is all it will take to put a stop to militant jihadism. And yet, after five years of speeches, articles, symposia, and books by Democrats on national security, that’s what Arkin writes.
Jeebus. David Ignatius blames Democrats for not figuring out a solution to Iraq, Michael Kinsley thinks bloggers are lunatics, and William Arkin claims that “being nicer” is all Democrats have to say about foreign policy. I expect this kind of stuff from Charles Krauthammer, not sane people. Is there something in the water?
