In a country where any miscreant willing to pound out warmongering trash is published and opposition to permanent war is shunned by the mainstream media, it’s nice to know there are still some places to read a bit of it. But I have to disagree with Taibbi about the UN, in fact, this entire situation has illuminated what a feckless whore that institution has always been. Since the UN won’t be undergoing a major restructuring anytime soon, Iraq should not be chained to an overseer that does only what the U.S. allows.
America come out firmly against Israel’s occupation of Palestinians? That would be the U.S. occupation and Israel moves to sugar daddy’s lead, dancing cheek-to-cheek.
In a vital democracy, not the movie, “chaos and authoritarianism” would not be our only choices. Unfortunately for Iraqis and everyone else in our way that’s not happening.
I Spy a Sellout
By Matt Taibbi, New York Press
Andersen’s Feb. 21 Iraq piece in New York, “When Good News Feels Bad,” is the most shameful, vicious piece of horseshit I have seen anybody write about this terrible war. It is sickening not on the level of writing or rhetoric, but on the level of human behavior.
On the surface, Andersen’s piece is a cheeky piece of political self-denunciation, a mock show-trial confession. He confesses to being one of those many New Yorkers who considers himself smarter than everybody else and tends to disagree with the Bush administration “politically, temperamentally, and ontologically most of the time.” But, he says, smart New York people like him – us – have to get real and face the ugly reality of our emotional struggle over Iraq. He then goes on to indict all of us for secretly applauding any bad news that comes from Iraq, and for choosing to ignore in grumbling fashion the “surprisingly smooth and inarguably inspiring” spectacle of the Iraqi elections. If we face this reality, he says, we are then forced to see that “the only way out is to root for Bush’s victory.”
“Each of us has a Hobbesian choice concerning Iraq.” This is horseshit on its face. Even the original Hobbesian choice was horseshit, especially in the eyes of the stereotypical New York liberal Andersen is addressing. We no more have to choose between chaos and authoritarianism than we do between rooting for Bush and rooting for the insurgents. There is a vast array of other outcomes and developments to root for.
We could root for Bush to admit he fucked up and appeal to the world for help in stabilizing Iraq. We could root for a similar admission and a similar appeal to the U.N., only coupled with an immediate American withdrawal. We could root for America to come out firmly against the Israeli occupation of Palestine, which would change the equation in Iraq. We could root for such things as the turning over of Iraqi oil contracts to the United Nations and an end to war profiteering – which, again, would change the equation in the war.