Friedman: ‘I Don’t Apologize’ For Believing Iraqi Democracy Could Come From U.S. Occupation
Friedman: ‘I Don’t Apologize’ For Believing Iraqi Democracy Could Come From U.S. Occupation
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman was one of the traditional media’s most vocal advocates for the invasion of Iraq. On Feb. 5, 2003, he said, “I think I get this war, and, on balance, I think it is a risk worth taking.” On March 9, 2003, he added, “Regime change in Iraq is the right choice for Iraq, for the Middle East and for the world. Mr. Bush is right about that.”
As Iraq has deteriorated, Friedman has criticized Bush’s execution of the war and has even called for “disengagement” himself. Yet, he remains steadfast in his initial war support. On the Charlie Rose show yesterday, Friedman stated, “I’m not going to apologize” for his lofty dreams of democratization in the Middle East, alleging that Iraqis “craved” regime change:
ROSE: You wanted to see something that could change the Middle East.
FRIEDMAN: Right, exactly. And I don’t apologize for that. I’m not going to apologize for thinking that if we could find a way to collaborate with people there to build a different future in the heart of that world, which is afflicted by so many pathologies, that that wouldn’t be a really good thing.
Watch it:
Friedman is engaging in a classic version of “the incompetence dodge.” As Matt Yglesias and Sam Rosenfeld wrote:
Most liberal hawks are willing to admit only that they made a mistake in trusting the president and his team to administer the invasion and occupation competently. … The incompetence critique is, in short, a dodge — a way for liberal hawks to acknowledge the obviously grim reality of the war without rethinking any of the premises that led them to support it in the first place. [...]
Left-of-center opinion neither will nor should follow a group of people who continue to insist that the march to Baghdad was, in principle, the height of moral policy thinking. If interventionism is to be saved, it must first be saved from the interventionists.
In the interview, Friedman applauds himself for “checking his politics at the door” and supporting Bush’s grand visions prior to the invasion. Friedman may have softened his criticisms of Bush, but he frequently blasted the judgments of war critics before and during the war.
On Jan. 22, 2003, he attacked liberals for failing to recognize that “regime change in Iraq is not some distraction from the war on al Qaeda.” For years following the invasion, he repeatedly called for undue “six months” of patience in Iraq, giving rise to the now-infamous “Friedman Unit.”
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Friedman is an extremely stupid person and the New York Times must fire him > PERIOD.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:27 pm“A Friedman, a Friedman, we’re going ot have a Friedman! And then we shall have the Oral S*x!”
August 17th, 2007 at 12:28 pmShut up, Friedman.
You should have stayed out of the politics, and you know it. Be a man….
August 17th, 2007 at 12:28 pmAnd now Friedman will be discarded onto the heap along with Liebermann and anyone else who strays from the DFL reservation.
You should have signed-on to the MorOn.org company line and listened like a good little bot, Tommy, youre about to be striped by your liberal brethren.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:29 pmHe’s misrepresenting the U.S. to be a grizzy-bear.
Keep your hands in your pockets, Mr. Friedman.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:30 pmMan can you imagine getting paid that much money to make predictions like Mr. Haney from Green Acres?
August 17th, 2007 at 12:31 pmFriedman would have a wider audience, if he repeated his columns at The Laugh Factory…
August 17th, 2007 at 12:31 pmSomething went terribly wrong for poor little Tommy Friedman.
Somewhere between his facts and his conclusions, a wire short-circuited.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:31 pmCaption Contest:
Friedman: “And then I grabbed Dick Cheney’s waist like this and I said ‘how deep’?”
August 17th, 2007 at 12:32 pmLibTeenie > Friedman is a phony liberal like Lieberman. We do not defend cruds like him on TP threads.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:32 pmFriedman is an extremely stupid person and the New York Times must fire him > PERIOD.
Ewer. Jeroboam. Atramentous
August 17th, 2007 at 12:34 pmWhat’s the problem? He’s playing with the house’s money…other people’s kids.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:35 pmIt takes strong character and humility to admit when you’ve made a mistake or were wrong in your judgement. It is clear that Mr Friedman lacks that quality.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:35 pmHe actually went further than saying the war was a good idea, he also said that it didnt’ matter about the wmd, that “we” needed to show the “arab street” that we were willing to shed american blood. in essence he said it’s ok to lie us into a war as long as we show we’re willing to die, for a lie. he is just one in a lonnng list of frivoless pundits that should be forced into retirement.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:35 pmBush lover trolls defending Friedman proves he is a GOPer agent masquerading as a liberal.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:37 pmI don’t expect to hear an apology and don’t want to. He can be the last man to believe in a lie for all I care. He just needs to be exposed for his incompetence.
A person has to want to change. But society doesn’t have to follow the thickheaded anymore.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:37 pmLibTeenie > Friedman is a phony liberal like Lieberman. We do not defend cruds like him on TP threads.
Bullshiite of the highest order. Joe votes hard-left on EVERYTHING except the war, look at his senate ratings and vote history. You have plenty of other dem pols who also stray on a few issues yet they dont seem to get the “crud” label.
Like I said, ol’ Joe strayed from the reservation on one issue which was obviously enough to get him banished for life.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:38 pmJoe votes hard-left on EVERYTHING except the war
Go away concern troll.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:39 pmBut people will still listen to him and consider what he says to be legitimate. If you got the facts wrong constantly as you did your own job, just how long would you last at that employer? Not long, I suspect. But for the pundits, they always have a ready and willing audience to soak up their wisdom. Wisdom which is most likely wrong. Why don’t people remember this stuff and think about how wrong some of these folks have been? Do we want to be lied to? is that it? Sorry gotta go – American idol is on right now….
August 17th, 2007 at 12:40 pmAmericans must petition the New York Times to fire Friedman. He can find new employment at the Rupert Murdoch owned New York Post.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:40 pmLike I said, ol’ Joe strayed from the reservation on one issue which was obviously enough to get him banished for life.
Comment by LibTeenie — August 17, 2007 @ 12:38 pm
Sort of like prochoice and gay rights under the “big tent”. Wow so much freedom to choose. Two parties both essentially the same pretending to be polar opposites so as to tie up the common folk and maintain the status quo of the rich and powerful
August 17th, 2007 at 12:42 pmBush lover trolls defending Friedman proves he is a GOPer agent masquerading as a liberal.
Yewp. Even now Friedman is sitting in the underground Cheney blogtroll-room getting his marching orders from the VP on what to say next.
And you know what else, jay? I hear Friedman might also be a joo, and you know how deep those jooos have gotten their claws into our systems. 911…thats all Im going to say.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:42 pmOf course he doesn’t apologize. Tom Friedman is an intellectual coward who simply cannot admit that he was wrong.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:42 pmfriedman made two ridiculous claims:
1) that he has spent a lot of time in iraq
2) that he has friends in iraq
August 17th, 2007 at 12:42 pmROSE: You wanted to see something that could change the Middle East.
Once you sign onto the basic premise that you have the right to determine for others what is best for them, you’ve left moral high ground. It’s the Alice Miller, “For Your Own Good”-school of dictatorial authoritarianism. No road after that can lead to democracy. What you’re doing prevents any possibility for it.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:43 pmLibTeenie > cut the crap on here. Lieberman is a Trojan Horse GOPer and Friedman is just like him. Backing the Bush Regime on Iraq occupation makes them both Neocon associates.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:44 pmfriedman is an extraordinarily wealthy, ivy-tower pseudo-intellectual, who writes op-eds on his Dell laptop, in the bars of luxury hotels, while sipping mint juleps.
he has no friends in iraq, and hasn’t spent any significant amount of time on the ground of any arab country.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:44 pmComment by LibTeenie — August 17, 2007 @ 12:34 pm
Our multiple personality troll stays with us, day after day. Mom done your laundry yet, hon’?
August 17th, 2007 at 12:44 pmThe Middle East is not Friedman’s, nor ours, to change.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:44 pmbuild a different future in the heart of that world, which is afflicted by so many pathologies,
He’s talking about the White house, isn’t he??
August 17th, 2007 at 12:45 pmGo away concern troll.
Not concerned in the least, if you had read ALL the comments for context you might understand. I just think its laughable how quickly a solid supporter of liberal issues like Joe can be tossed under the bus because he strayed off-topic on one issue.
Its a good example of the utter derangement infecting today’s DFL; everything is tied to the war.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:46 pmI hear Friedman might also be a joo,…
Comment by LibTeenie
That figures.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:46 pmHe won’t apologize? Then he is even more stupid and disgusting than he was in 2003, spouting neocon lies like he never in his life picked up a history book. Like he never hear of Vietnam. And the bastard calls himself an intellectual, lol.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:46 pmdoes freidman know he’s responsible for the wiki entry “freidman unit”?
August 17th, 2007 at 12:46 pmLieberman is a Trojan Horse GOPer and Friedman is just like him. Backing the Bush Regime on Iraq occupation makes them both Neocon associates.
Uh huh, and somehow the man managed to support liberal causes for almost twenty years and even run as a vice-presidential candidate….all while under the control of the nefarious GOP who waited twenty years to activate him as a supporter of the the Iraq war.
Ok then.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:50 pmhe has no friends in iraq, and hasn’t spent any significant amount of time on the ground of any arab country.
Comment by darla — August 17, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
And yet you say that as though it were a bad thing, Darla.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:51 pmall while under the control of the nefarious GOP who waited twenty years to activate him as a supporter of the the Iraq war.
Ok then.
Comment by LibTeenie — August 17, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
HAH! And righties claim we’re conspiracy nuts…
August 17th, 2007 at 12:56 pmits laughable how quickly a solid supporter of liberal issues like Joe can be tossed under the bus because he strayed off-topic on one issue.
Its a good example of the utter derangement infecting today’s DFL; everything is tied to the war.
Comment by LibTeenie — August 17, 2007 @ 12:46 pm
Wasn’t all that quick. Joe strayed from the fold quite some time ago.
“everything is tied to the war…”
Good God, you bleepin’ idiot, that mess over there is a marginal issue, like flag burning or gay marriage. We’re getting frighteningly close to WW III here, and a delusional dry drunk is the man making the decisions. He’s “The Deciderer”, remember?
August 17th, 2007 at 1:00 pmall while under the control of the nefarious GOP who waited twenty years to activate him as a supporter of the the Iraq war.
Ok then.
Comment by LibTeenie — August 17, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
Please tell me that annoying Angela Lansbury isn’t involved. Leave her in Cranberry Cove. So back on topic.. What was Libteenie doing with his hands? BTW: I agree Lieberman may be a loser but no Trojan horse
August 17th, 2007 at 1:01 pmAnd yet you say that as though it were a bad thing, Darla
it is a bad thing if you (friedman) claim to know what the people in that country want, and how they want to achieve it.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:03 pmSure, but will Friedman still refuse to apologize six months from now?
His non-apology is as loaded with as much bull as the opinions that preceded it.
Nobody is asking for an apology for whatever that irrelevant distraction is. The position he is being taken to task for has nothing to do with some fable of collaboration. It is about his support of an unprovoked invasion and occupation that was precipitated by lies.
Detox from Fox: Starve The Beast
August 17th, 2007 at 1:04 pmI watched that interview last night, and while there’s nothing in this post that is incorrect, it’s not exactly in context.
I’m not defending Friedman; he’s a douchebag – but you should revise this to include what Friedman did apologize for in the interview.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:08 pmFriedman must know that he is the subject of mockery with the Friedman unit.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:17 pmI used to read his columns and try to understand why smart people like him were advocating war, and I could not be persuaded to join them. I felt inferior. Now that the facts are available, I see that Friedman refuses to admit he was mistaken – his “superior” ego can’t acccept it. Instead he rephrases his earlier opinions with ambiguity.
Joe Lieberman denounced Bill Clinton on the floor of the Senate.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:22 pmJoe Lieberman was screaming for censorship for a long time.
A DLC darling? Yep.
Hard left? compared to you.
friedman has the blood of many young Americans on his hands.
shamfull, arrogant war criminal
August 17th, 2007 at 1:23 pmMr Friedman, the American democracy hardly functions in many areas. And please don’t confuse capitalism with democracy especially since the middle class subsidizes many of the means toward riches. Why not try your theories on the Rethugs until you get a working model.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:25 pmFriedman, I’m laughing at the superior intellect!
August 17th, 2007 at 1:30 pmOnce you sign onto the basic premise that you have the right to determine for others what is best for them, you’ve left moral high ground. It’s the Alice Miller, “For Your Own Goodâ€-school of dictatorial authoritarianism. No road after that can lead to democracy. What you’re doing prevents any possibility for it.
Comment by Maeven — August 17, 2007 @ 12:43 pm
Orientalism by any other name smells just as crappy.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:30 pmDOPE!

August 17th, 2007 at 1:32 pmWhen Friedman checked his politics at the door he neglected to read up on Iraq such that he failed to know it was a made-up country of religious tribes having no interest in democracy.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:34 pmIn the second Bourne movie, the rogue CIA agent looks the Pamela Landy character in the eye, and says “I’m not Sorry” for his misdeeds… moments before blowing his brains out.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:35 pmWhen Friedman checked his politics at the door he neglected to read up on Iraq such that he failed to know it was a made-up country of religious tribes having no interest in democracy.
Comment by Hedley Lamarr — August 17, 2007 @ 1:34 pm
I wouldn’t say they had no interest in democracy. More like they had no interest in having democracy forced upon them by an invading army from a country with a long history of assassinating or deposing democratically elected leaders.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:36 pmUnreal. Friedman states that “…if we could find a way to collaborate with people there to build a different future in the heart of that world…”
We found a way to “collaborate,” all right. We’ll collaborate in the destruction of Iraqi society…and we’ll build a new future through civil war.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:56 pmWhat the hell does Lieberman has to do with this post? Stupid trolls always trying to change the subject.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:56 pmThe MSM lives in a world where real people don’t matter, and ‘facts’ are just what the administration tells them they are. Friedman and others like him in the MSM, let down and continue to let down the people of America.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:56 pmPhoney bastard.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:57 pmJoe votes hard-left on EVERYTHING except the war
Comment by LibTeenie — August 17, 2007 @ 12:38 pm
Then explain why Karl Rove and the Republican party are entirely responsible for Lieberman’s reelection.
What? You can’t explain that? Go figure.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:59 pmThe MSM lives in a world where real people don’t matter, and ‘facts’ are just what the administration tells them they are. Friedman and others like him in the MSM, let down and continue to let down the people of America.
Comment by Namtillaku — August 17, 2007 @ 1:56 pm
I have to cut Friedman a little slack. We all know he isn’t playing with a full deck. The man thinks the world is flat, for pete’s sake!
August 17th, 2007 at 1:59 pmWe should stop referring to it as the MSM, and instead refer to it as the Corporate Media (not my idea, I think it was suggested by someone on TPM).
August 17th, 2007 at 2:02 pmHe uses some funny words for a journalist. To suggest that he would “collaborate” with people, to build a different future in the “heart” of the world suggests that the “few” will save the “heart” being Israel.
August 17th, 2007 at 2:22 pmWe know he is smiling that Israel has a new 30 billion in American cash to continue that “collaboration” he so loves.
Military hardware and a one sided approach is his solution.
God this is hard to write!! Take a deep breath–many posters seem to think that Lieberman/Friedman have inexplicably turned their backs on a lifetime of liberalism. Gee, I wonder what could make these otherwise sane people to be conservative when it comes to the middle east? Perhaps its religion?
Some crazy Muslims actually believe American middle east foreign policy was written by NeoCons in the White House, many of whom are Jewish. These Arab nuts also believe some of the White House Staff actually worked for Netanyahu’s election in Israel. Netanyahu’s enjoys the support of the so-called “settlers”, fundamentalist Jews who believe that God gave the Hebrews all of the land from the fertile crescent to Egypt. These nutty Muslims think America, wittingly or unwittingly, is doing Israel’s dirty work in Iraq and will so do so in Iran.
August 17th, 2007 at 2:26 pmYes, those nutty Muslims are being bombed since 1991. Nutty.
August 17th, 2007 at 2:32 pmThese nutty Muslims think America, wittingly or unwittingly, is doing Israel’s dirty work in Iraq and will so do so in Iran.
Comment by Jim — August 17, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
Some might even argue that we’re just paying them back for doing our dirty work in 1973.
August 17th, 2007 at 2:46 pmSHORTER TOM FRIEDMAN (and his ilk): we know what’s good for you and if you don’t like it we’re gonna have to kill you.
August 17th, 2007 at 2:49 pm.
Here’s a quote from an interesting article about one of Friedman’s books:
“After recounting a conversation with another journalist, just returned from Iraq, about the fact that Americans are frequently referred to by angry Iraqis as “the Jews,” a handy moniker for anyone seen to oppress Arabs, Friedman worries that this identification of Americans with Jews and Israel seriously endangers all three parties and makes them vulnerable to Islamic terrorism.”
http://www.counterpunch.org/christison10262004.html
Last I heard, it sounded like Friedman’s not too keen to attack Iran. He’s got that going for him at least.
August 17th, 2007 at 2:59 pmComment by margaret — August 17, 2007 @ 2:59 pm
Aslo from that article:
“The problem for him [Friedman] is not that the woman is being raped, but that the woman’s friends have noticed and are calling attention to the rape.”
Friedman’s not too keen to attack Iran
Of course not, he expects the US military to do the dirty work for him.
August 17th, 2007 at 3:32 pm“I’m not going to apologize†for his lofty dreams of democratization in the Middle East, alleging that Iraqis “craved†regime change:”
Yeah right. Those Iraqi’s just begged us to invade and occupy their country. Thomas Friedman is just like Bush. Unable to admit he made a mistake.
August 17th, 2007 at 3:34 pmAnd, Mr. Friedman, I don’t apologize for sizing you up as a self-aggranziding neo-right-wing nutsack who thinks he knows everything but never worked a single solitary blessed day in his entire existence.
August 17th, 2007 at 3:36 pm—-
Friedman: ‘I Don’t Apologize’ For Believing Iraqi Democracy Could Come From U.S. Occupation
—-
It’s not what you believed that counts. It’s what you advocated to the American people. People are free to believe what they want. You pushed for going to war unnecessarily in a country that didn’t attack us and for that YOU WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE!
- Tom
August 17th, 2007 at 3:59 pmI applaud Friedman for sticking to his guns. He has still criticized Bush but never shied away from his original comments. Pay attention Libs, this is a much better stance then, “I voted for it, before I voted against it.â€
August 17th, 2007 at 4:11 pmthis is a much better stance then, “I voted for it, before I voted against it.â€
Comment by Muckraker — August 17, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
I totally disagree. If no-one is allowed to admit mistakes without being accused of “flip-flopping” (I’m so sick of that expression!) then we will pay big time down the road. A real man has the strength to admit when he’s wrong and own up to it!
Mindlessly sticking by every past thought or action to avoid appearing weak is….WEAK! Pride comes before a fall and all that.
August 17th, 2007 at 4:22 pmFriedman’S another one of those jews who thinks its ok to throw bombs on muslims, if it will further israeli interest. oh how they woudl howl if somebody threw a bomb on Tel Aviv. think of all thos dead jewish children!
August 17th, 2007 at 4:27 pmWell, when it comes to dead children in bagdad, they were all cheering loudly, these neocon jews.
Come to think of it, when you support a position that says its ok to bomb the shit out of a city like bagdad and kill 25,000 civilians in the process, then you really are capable of anything. its similar to the nazis when they gassed the jews. only now the jews want to punish the muslims.
August 17th, 2007 at 4:36 pmFunny how the only “Democrats” you can find that still support this war are Jewish: Friedman, Lieberman, Koch.
All three of them need to move to Israel if they want to represent that country.
August 17th, 2007 at 5:17 pmFamous Friedman quotes from the Charlie Rose show 2003:
“I think it [the invasion of Iraq] was unquestionably worth doing, Charlie.
…
We needed to go over there, basically, um, and um, uh, take out a very big state right in the heart of that world and burst that bubble, and there was only one way to do it.
…
What they needed to see was American boys and girls going house to house, from Basra to Baghdad, um and basically saying, “Which part of this sentence don’t you understand?”
You don’t think, you know, we care about our open society, you think this bubble fantasy, we’re just gonna to let it grow?
Well, Suck. On. This.
Okay.
That Charlie was what this war was about. We could’ve hit Saudi Arabia, it was part of that bubble. We coulda hit Pakistan. We hit Iraq because we could.”
August 17th, 2007 at 5:50 pmGosh! He seems so sincere.
cut the crap, sh*t-for-brains!
August 17th, 2007 at 5:51 pmI don’t believe the war was a good idea. But I do believe that Friedman was 100% right when he said, before the war started, that “if we do it right, it won’t matter” whether we should have or shouldn’t have. The fact is the Bush gang ignored the advice and warnings of the State Dept and the established military and did it all wrong. I believe this new documentary film “No End in Sight” will be worth seeing because it focuses on the gross mismanagement of the occupation.
August 17th, 2007 at 6:59 pmGreat insight guns…u think that all up yourself or were you following the leaders.
August 17th, 2007 at 8:15 pmhis view of the middle east was from a balcony of a 4 star hotel. thanks for sharing your manicured hands tom.
August 17th, 2007 at 8:26 pmI love Friedman’s rationalization:
“And I don’t apologize for that. I’m not going to apologize for thinking that if we could find a way to collaborate with people there to build a different future in the heart of that world, which is afflicted by so many pathologies, that that wouldn’t be a really good thing.”
What Friedman fails to recognize (or mention) is that adding anymore “pathologies” to that region could not help but make things worse, especially with the wingnuts in the Bush administration, being so pathological (or should I say psychopathological), just afflicting that region with one more pathology.
Too few troops.
CPA.
Paul Bremer.
Canning all the Baathists, leaving millions unemployed, driving them into the arms of the insurgents.
Wingnut economic “nation building” schemes: flat tax, privatization, denial of government services, etc.
The “pathology” of the wingnuts merged into a lethal brew once this pathology mixed with all the pathologies in that region…and our soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens are paying for this wingnut pathology.
Oh, and Friedman is probably still a supporter of Ahmad Chalabi, making them two pathological liars in a pod, both of whom thought removing Saddam Hussein would be a cakewalk and the best thing for that region and it’s citizens.
Strange, back in mid-2002, I was certain that the “pathological” Bush administration was going to attack Iraq as soon as they could, just as I was certain that attacking Iraq would turn out the way it has…and I’m not even a “genius” like Friedman.
August 17th, 2007 at 8:50 pmFriedman and HIS family should be “LIBERATED”…
…Bush-Cheney-style…
August 17th, 2007 at 9:20 pmFreidman is just a dreamer. He dreams of globalization and the wonders thereof.
He never deals seriously with the darkside of globalization (i.e. dependence on essentially slavery and dependence on repressive governments). he just thinks that Democracies will magically pop up.
August 17th, 2007 at 10:36 pmOracle….
Yes Paul Bremmer was the biggest idiot that ever could have been in charge of the interim govt.
Things would have been better had Jay Garner been left in charge at that time, but he was telling Rumsfeld that his plans were not realistic….so he had to go.
In the end, Iraq may still have descended into the state it is now. However, a little competence early would have gone a long way to maintaining societal infrastructures.
August 17th, 2007 at 10:41 pmThomas Friedman is a sane lib and does not suffer from BDS.
Darla,
TF has spent lots of time in the ME and know a bit about it. While I may not agree with him on many things, you’re dead wrong about him.
Btw, John Burns [the NYT's top Iraq reporter] has spent a heck of alot of time in Iraq. The following link is an interview of JB by a conservative lawyer/show host. Get past who is asking the questions and read the answers w/an open mind.
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/talkradio/transcripts/Transcript.aspx?ContentGuid=5bdb3520-d829-4fdb-a2bc-6611d80faba4
Clearly Iraq is a mixed bag but there is reason for some hope.
The liberal German mag Der Spiegel is on the same page.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,druck-499154,00.html
I could post a dozen other links from left leaning media that all say the something similar. As much as many don’t want to accept it for partisan [and BDS] reasons, the Petraeus COIN stategy is working.
Give the good General Petraeus a chance instead of bashing him.
August 17th, 2007 at 11:23 pmThere was some reason for hope after the Hindenburg exploded. But if Friedman doesn’t want to apologize for his complete stupidity, big deal. He ‘aint gonna have to go there and die, no sweat off his brow.
August 18th, 2007 at 12:33 amThis policy of spreading democracy by force in Iraq was a poor policy. It didn’t work because it is a flawed idea. A democracy can never come out of an occupation which is what we have in Iraq. This civil war is Bush’s mess and now he is unable to clean it up. All he can do is to withdraw all troops out of Iraq.
August 18th, 2007 at 2:08 amSince when was Thomas Friedman a liberal?
August 18th, 2007 at 5:17 amReply to Toliver post 84
“Give the good General Petraeus a chance instead of bashing him.”
Give him a chance to do what? Kill more innocent people who were NOT inolved in 9-11 and did not have any means of destroying the United States (unlike Israel which actually maintains an offensive nuclear arsenal)?
August 18th, 2007 at 5:22 amGive Patraeus a chance to spread a wider war for the benefit of Israel (which just received an additional $30 BILLION in aid from the United States thanks to Steny Hoyer) while more American soldiers die for ZERO gain to themselves and their country?
Friedman stated, “I’m not going to apologize†for his lofty dreams of democratization in the Middle East, alleging that Iraqis “craved†regime change
Well la-di-da. Friedman should consider apologizing to all the people who have lost loved ones in this debacle, as should everyone who cheerleaded us into it on such thin evidence. Hey Tom, you were wrong. Deal with it.
August 18th, 2007 at 8:56 amand whats with patraeus wearing his military fatiques when posing for photo ops with bush instead of a regular uniform or a suit? did he decide he might need to trapse off into the desert after meeting with bush? either he’s increibly stupid or he know he’s being used a prop to make it look like bush is listening and responding to an “average soldier”
Unlike Gates, I havent heard a single word come out of Patreaus’s mouth that disagrees with the administration’s official line. If patraeus says something that doesnt jive with the pre-aranged BS the white haus has been shoveling, then I’ll start thinking hes something more than a parrot/puppet..
August 18th, 2007 at 9:07 am