Think Progress

Weekly Standard: Americans should be indifferent to the impact U.S. policy has on al Qaeda recruiting.»

Writing on the Weekly Standard’s blog yesterday, Michael Goldfarb said that he doesn’t “care” if President Bush’s policies have been a “recruiting tool for terrorists“:

As to whether Bush is a recruiting tool for terrorists–who cares? Al Qaeda was recruiting before Bush was in office and they will continue to do so after he’s gone. The important thing is that we keep killing those recruits. Eventually, one side will give up.

Justin Logan at Cato-at-Liberty points out Goldfarb’s flawed logic, noting that it justifies doing anything that is counterproductive because “after all, al Qaeda will continue recruiting whether we do it or not.”

(HT: Matthew Yglesias)

UpdateSpencer Ackerman has more.
70







Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date

68 Responses to “Weekly Standard: Americans should be indifferent to the impact U.S. policy has on al Qaeda recruiting.”

  1. StratRat Says:

    And now look to all the wingnuts to start distancing themselves from the horrible choices they have made. So the idiot doesn’t care if Bush’s policies have created 10x the number of al quaida recruits. Afterall, that guy isn’t fighting them anyway, right? What does he care if your son or daughter is shot and killed?


  2. RUCerious Says:

    We’ll keep killing them, at what cost, chickenhawk?

    That’s like hurling your dog’s shit over the fence into your neighbor’s yard and expecting him to just give up putting it in a flaming paper bag on your porch.


  3. Prytania Says:

    I was hoping that TP would post the story that we got the #1 al-Qaeda man in Iraq today. But attacking the Standard is a more important story.


  4. dbadass Says:

    Prytania:
    My paper says that tale is bunk. What gives?


  5. Badmoodman Says:

    As to whether Bush is a recruiting tool for terrorists–who cares? Al Qaeda was recruiting before Bush was in office and they will continue to do so after he’s gone.

    As to whether Pat Tillman is a recruiting tool for BushCo–who cares? The military was recruiting before Tillman’s death cover-up happened and they will continue to do so after Bush is gone.


  6. belac Says:

    I was hoping that TP would post the story that we got the #1 al-Qaeda man in Iraq today. But attacking the Standard is a more important story.

    Not the Same guy- just the same <a href=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/05/09/ST2008050901972.html” ‘code name’…


  7. Badmoodman Says:

    #3: I was hoping that TP would post the story that we got the #1 al-Qaeda man in Iraq today\\

    - - Maybe TP didn’t because “we” didn’t.


  8. Ms_Joanne Says:

    A new way of saying: SO?


  9. McWars Says:

    Prytania Says:

    Capturing the leader doesn’t collapse the organization. Would Enron still be an economic terror organization if the Skilling and Lay were simply replaced with another lackey down the chain? Definitely so.

    You have to root out the corruption down the chain.


  10. gummitch Says:

    When even the Libertarians call your stupidity out, you know you’re in trouble.


  11. dbadass Says:

    Was that fairy tell about Jessica Lynch a recruiting tool?



  12. impeachcheneythenbush Says:

    Prytania Says:

    I was hoping that TP would post the story that we got the #1 al-Qaeda man in Iraq today. But attacking the Standard is a more important story.

    Perhaps you’d like to post the link for this story?


  13. dbadass Says:

    tale.


  14. barfly Says:

    As to whether Bush is a recruiting tool for terrorists–who cares? Al Qaeda was recruiting before Bush was in office and they will continue to do so after he’s gone. The important thing is that we keep killing those recruits. Eventually, one side will give up.

    This idiot intentionally ignores the fact that Al Qaeda isn’t the only terrorist outfit using Bush as a recruiting tool - and these other organizations didn’t exist before Bush’s invasion.


  15. gummitch Says:

    Prytania Says:

    I was hoping that TP would post the story that we got the #1 al-Qaeda man in Iraq today. But attacking the Standard is a more important story.

    Gee, if the US Army says he’s not the #1 guy, it kind of deflates the story, doesn’t it? Try to keep up.


  16. Ms_Joanne Says:

    dbadass Says:

    Prytania:
    My paper says that tale is bunk. What gives?

    What gives is that we are going to see more and more bull$hit stories like this leading up to the election. The masses will be “shown” how we are winning this “war” and how it’s goopers who will keep us safe in daddy’s arms.

    SO we create more terrorists by our acts and policies.

    SO the US population doesn’t want war.

    SO Who the fu(k do we think we are to have a say in our country? As long as we pay these pr!cks, that is all we are good for.


  17. impeachcheneythenbush Says:

    Prytania - never mind. Just saw where the U.S. military corrected this false assertion.


  18. RUCerious Says:

    Prytania, your doorbell just rang, go answer it.


  19. upside99 Says:

    And we all care what that rag, the “Weakly Standard” and the NeoCon editors says because ……….


  20. gummitch Says:

    barfly Says:

    This idiot intentionally ignores the fact that Al Qaeda isn’t the only terrorist outfit using Bush as a recruiting tool - and these other organizations didn’t exist before Bush’s invasion.

    Or the simple logic that there would be fewer terrorists to kill, if they weren’t using Bush as a recruiting tool. Of course, this idiot isn’t actually killing anyone, safe behind his laptop somewhere in Virginia.


  21. McWars Says:

    NBC Nightly claimed he was the #1 in Iraq, but I won’t take Brian “My Duty” Williams at his word.


  22. helenahandbasket Says:

    The same logic would state that throwing gas on a fire won’t make a difference, because the fire was burning anyway.


  23. satirev Says:

    Unfortuantely, Goldflab’s drinking Bush’s kook-aid, too. Sure terrorists always existed…the main difference is that Bush has made us less safe by making this country a huge new target. This will be Bush’s legacy. AQ Recruiter.


  24. DallasNE Says:

    I really don’t think AQI is much of a factor and have never been as big of a factor as the Bush administration claimed. Want proof?

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/ news/ 2008/ 05/ military_adds_armor_to_iraq_ve.php

    How can roadside bomb attacks be surging if AQI is the primary source and that they have been pushed back to the Mosul area. From the location of many of these attacks it would seem that the Badr brigade (that we are arming in the battle against the Mahdi Army of al Sadr) is responsible for a sizable percent of these attacks.

    Like so much else, one would be a fool to take too much stock in anything Bush says.


  25. satirev Says:

    McWars: At least Bush is #1 at something: Being the single most hated individual on the face of the planet. Hell, everyone hates us, thanks to the Chimp.


  26. satirev Says:

    Dallas: I suspect that you’re right but Bushitco needed a real “boogeyman” in order to effect his coup on this democracy.


  27. dbadass Says:

    Prytania:
    Being totally pwned isn’t so bad. You can just tell yourself you are more knowledgeable and above all of those who just pwned the shit out of you. Denial is the last refuge of a scoundrel.


  28. Chris L Says:

    Prytania Says:

    I was hoping that TP would post the story that we got the #1 al-Qaeda man in Iraq today. But attacking the Standard is a more important story.
    #####

    Check your facts dude - turns out that story was bogus:

    “A man seized by Iraqi forces is not the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, a senior U.S. military official said on Friday, following an announcement by several Iraqi officials that Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been captured.”


  29. barfly Says:

    At least Bush is #1 at something: Being the single most hated individual on the face of the planet. Hell, everyone hates us, thanks to the Chimp.

    He’s done more than that: he’s exchanged places with the man most hated after 9/11.


  30. satirev Says:

    Prytania or Prytendia…same diff! Another moron troll. Disregard the troll blather. I suspect that as the election nears, the diarrhea of the mouth will reach a fever pitch. Ignoring these fools now will mean that they cannot get any traction with any of us and/or hijack our threads.


  31. upside99 Says:

    Prytania Says:

    I was hoping that TP would post the story that we got the #1 al-Qaeda man in Iraq today. But attacking the Standard is a more important story.

    Maybe the guy they captured was a butt-hole buddy of Jeff Gannon. Another one of Darth Cheney’s “boyz”?


  32. Ms_Joanne Says:

    Michael Goldfarb was a Research Associate for PNAC. I didn’t have his name on the list on my post of who’s who in our government and talking heads, but this is a bomb Iraq, bomb Iran and America takes over the world guy.

    Anyone who doesn’t understand these people in our current political environment, please read my link above. It is a long read but very informative.

    This plan of theirs is not new. They tried to get Clinton to take on Iraq but he wouldn’t. Bush was fully on board. And with the VP and almost every top governmental person and agency having these people in it, our government has been infiltrated by people who have no desire to keep America America but make us rule the world. This plan is 20 years in the making and every American should know that.

    These people are not conservatives, they are neoconservatives - which one could easily relate to neonazis.


  33. RUCerious Says:

    As far as Pretendia is concerned, all them Abu’s are just about the same.


  34. satirev Says:

    Besides, there are many ways to discredit a candidate by innuendo, conjecture, and the like; however, discrediting one due to AGE cannot be countered. McBush is a tired, sick (melanoma), PTSD riddled geyser - end of story and end of the credentials story on McTorture.


  35. gummitch Says:

    Isn’t Prytania going to apologize for his blunder? No? I’m amazed.


  36. satirev Says:

    Hey RU: Could it be possible that Madam Pretendia is our same old piss-soaked troll of yore?


  37. satirev Says:

    gummitch: Pretendia IS the blunder.


  38. upside99 Says:

    satirev Says:

    Hey RU: Could it be possible that Madam Pretendia is our same old piss-soaked troll of yore?

    Which one? We have had more than a few of those in the past. Still some urine stains around here, I do believe!


  39. satirev Says:

    Thanks for clueing us in on Goldflab’s affiliation. WE should have spotted it a mile away - PNAC - Purely Neocon American C–ksuckers!


  40. dbadass Says:

    You Prytania:
    Gimmitch has an interesting point! What say you?


  41. satirev Says:

    RU: I can’t remember some of the pseudonyms the main fool used. Mr. President may have been one of his monikers….He was changing his name faster than he was changing his underwear (obviously).


  42. dbadass Says:

    sorry gummitch, It is disrespectful to screw up something as personal as ones name. My apologies for my poor keyboarding skills!


  43. satirev Says:

    Mr. P was another…..and then he began his schizophrenic march toward total insanity with a new name an hour.


  44. barfly Says:

    We should establish a critereon for troll response, to save people from responding to squat and trot trolls. I would suggest we set a five minute limit for responding to trolls. If a troll makes a single comment, with no follow up with five minutes, we should assume the troll was only posting inflammatory crap, with no intention of responding to threadsters, and just ignore it.


  45. satirev Says:

    This is another “P” so I presume this troll’s hung up on the letter P….I wonder what Freud would say about that??


  46. satirev Says:

    barfly: I’ll second that.


  47. satirev Says:

    I’m still cogitating on the use of the “P” names….could it be Mr. “Pudgeboy” Himself….KKKarl??


  48. Buckie Boy Says:

    Their recruiting did not need a booster shot, idiots, they are all idiots.


  49. Shayne Says:

    So our “war on terror” is actually a “war to promote terror”? Unless we go for McCain’s version of “the last war for oil”.


  50. MapleStreet Says:

    I can almost agree that we shouldn’t look so hard on if our policies bolster Al Q.

    Instead the moral choice is to stop making the despicable actions that incense the population. But then, lower Al Q recruitment will very likely follow as a benefit.


  51. barfly Says:

    I’m still cogitating on the use of the “P” names….could it be Mr. “Pudgeboy” Himself….KKKarl??

    Or perhaps:

    http://chronicle.com/ forums/ index.php?topic=29648.0


  52. leftcoast Says:

    Is anyone quite sure about that degree from Princeton University? His is a dangerous mind.


  53. RUCerious Says:

    Anyone remember Archbishop of Urine??


  54. misshusseinmolly Says:

    Goldfarb Logic: “You can leave a fire alone, or you can douse it with gasoline and fan it with a bellows — who cares? It’s just going to burn anyway.”


  55. RUCerious Says:

    MissHMolly, don’t forget the tires to throw on it, make lots of nice billowing black smoke, and the smell! Yikes!


  56. Marie Says:

    Goldfarb is an idiot.


  57. Marie Says:

    Prytania Says:
    I was hoping that TP would post the story that we got the #1 al-Qaeda man in Iraq today.

    That story has been retracted by the Pentagon.


  58. MCMetal Says:

    Prytania lyingly claimed in another thread that Valerie plame was not a covert officer in the CIA ; even though her boss at the CIA testified under oath that she was.

    The troll is nothing but a GOP/Chimpy ball monger ……..


  59. ralph the wonder llama Says:

    Of course Goldfarb doesn’t care if Bush’s policies created more terrorists. The Neoclowns NEED more terrorists. The plan doesn’t work without them.

    BushCo’s motto on terrorism: “Kill all ya want. We’ll make more.”


  60. MCMetal Says:

    As to whether Bush is a recruiting tool for terrorists–who cares? Al Qaeda was recruiting before Bush was in office and they will continue to do so after he’s gone. The important thing is that we keep killing those recruits. Eventually, one side will give up.

    Yeah

    Hopefully it will be the GOP……………..


  61. oldtree Says:

    would you please note when one of these statements is made by someone that profits by the war? It makes the case for extreme bias/prejudice without explanation.


  62. Neeko Says:

    These people are so sad. Still fixing the information to fit their (small wiener driven) ideology.

    Why don’t the republicans just buy a big island, spawn their own nation and wage their personal jihad on all the evil-doers that come their way? This would be great! It would totally rid the US of extremism!!


  63. questioneverything Says:

    And Bush and Cheney and Powell and Rumsfeld and Rice and Hadley and all the rest ignored the terrorist threats in 2001 and instead concentrated on Iraq. And they were informed by Richard Clarke, particularly.

    Valerie Plame was outed, her cover company was identified, and they are still stuffing their faces at our expense and thousands continue to die at our expense.

    And Nancy and Harry continue to fiddle away.


  64. jonny Says:

    The Weakly NoStandard. Billy Kristol & Fred Barnes.

    The Liar & the Feeb. Oh, what a frolic.


  65. DieNowForPeace Says:

    Goldfarb.

    Sorry, it just doesn’t get any more Jewish than that.

    Hello AIPAC?


  66. andante Says:

    We should just keep killing them because we fear them and they are evil.

    Genocide.

    There, I said it.


  67. Hawkeye Says:

    How does someone that epically stupid even have a job?? That guys a disgrace to homo sapiens lol.


Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.


Jump to Top

About Think Progress | Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy (off-site) | RSS | Donate
© 2005-2008 Center for American Progress Action Fund
image Register imageimageRSSimageimage imageimage
image
image
View Most Popular
image
image
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
image
image image image
What We're About
image
image
Featured
image
image
Subscribe to the Progress Report



image
image
Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.

Name:
Email:
Tip:
(required)



image
Reports
image
image
imageTopic Cloud
image

image
imageArchives
image

image
imageBlog Roll
image

imageAbout Think ProgressimageimageContact UsimageimageDonateimage