Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen (9/5/11) takes the eve of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 to say that he’s sorry:
I went home on September 11 with my shoes dusted with the detritus of the World Trade Center. I felt a hate that was entirely new to me. Soon after, the anthrax attacks began, and I was ready for war—against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, for sure, but against Saddam Hussein as well. I was wrong, and for that I blame myself, but I blame us all for going along with it and then rewarding incompetence with another term.
Wait—we all did what now?
Someone who was really sorry for stoking war fever would be honest enough to point out that not everyone was on board. And of course Richard Cohen knows this—he was writing columns attacking those who weren’t “going along with it.” As he wrote about Dennis Kucinich, “How did this fool get on Meet the Press?”
“I blame us all for going along with it and then rewarding incompetence with another term.”
who is this “us” cohen is talking about…if memory serves bush didn’t exactly win that second term unanimously….
I drove to the tip of Baja listening to Limbaugh sing, “Yackity Yack! Bom Iraq!” in the evenings on AM radio. I planned to sell my truck, and move to the Andes, but I chickened out. This was the most ridiculous war I’ve ever read about (getting drunk on the beach in winter months makes it easy to consider Limbaugh a comedy act).
As a self-described conservative, I just don’t think it makes financial sense to engage in nation building. As a result of this belief, I am told I’m not a conservative; when I mention I believe in active environmental conservation, I am assured I’m not a conservative (this is un-fucking-believable). They changed their names to Republicans, but they are still the Federalists Jefferson talked about.
Despite Cohen’s disingenuous apologia, he is correct that almost everyone (among those he would care about) “went along” with Afghanistan, if not Iraq, isn’t he?
Remember the near-unanimous vote for war? Remember the polls? Remember the cries for “revenge”?
We are never certain of the depth of our humanity and courage until they are truly tested.
Laimer: Gandhi and MLK already showed the way. It makes sense to consider the methodologies they used. Communications are already infinitely better than 20 years ago. My hope is that it’s only a matter of time.
Latimer: Ahem. The typo was unintentional. My apologies.
Went along with? I was there and recall numerous and well-attended demonstrations against both wars. There were many, inside and outside the US government who felt that treating terrorism as an international crime instead of an act of war was a wiser, more justifiable method. In fact, I am presently re-reading John Brady Kiesling’s excellent book Diplomacy Lessons wherein he makes this point with real world examples. Kiesling, one may recall, was the US diplomat who resigned over Bush’s decision to go to war. So many of us did no “go along with” the bloodlust but we were largely ignored by the MSM, as usual. I even wrote Cohen at the time on these very matters. Not that it made any difference, of course, now or at the time.
Mr. Cohen could partially make up for his mistake by publicly encouraging President Obama to bring the troops home and to stop bombing the citizens of those other countries. There are only a few terrorists left in that part of the world. Use the money you are spending on wars for the purpose of security and other things we need right here at home. Stop meddling!
The same way the Cohen TOOL Did!
Just like all the Beltway bloviators, he speaks for “all Americans.” But never bothers to ask the opinions of any of us who aren’t Professional Americans. I’m no genius, but all through the buildup to the Iraq war, it seemed obvious to me that war was what Bush wanted and war was what he was going to get. It was also pretty obvious that they were all lying to get what they wanted. Poor Colin Powell wasn’t too good a liar though–he looked VERY uncomfortable when he did his bit for the team. I figured that out without even any inside information, and I’m sure lots of other real Americans did–though you couldn’t find that point of view in any of the mainstream media (the cheerleader squad) or in any of the Professional Americans.
If you were against the war, and brave enough to say it publicly, you got called a traitor–by the real traitors! One of the ironies of life.
What do you mean “we,” white man? The government didn’t ask the American people if we wanted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan! They did that all on their own! And they are still not listening to us!
The beltway insider schmoozers working in media have shape-shifted into PR agencies for the powers they so desperately want to be loved by and included in their backyard bar-b-ques, beers and tag football; disgusting, fawning, spineless, brain-dead scribes for the wealthy elite and their political valets and handmaidens.
I knew it was a big hoax from the get-go and agreed with Kucinich. Anyone with a brain should not have believed the ruthless Cheney/Bush and their war-loving criminal administration. Geez, how many times did the inspectors come back with evidence Iraq had no hidden weapons of mass destruction? A real no-brainer.
We need to learn to negotiate not decimate. When the only tool you have is a devastating military every problems answer becomes war.
Cohen also got it wrong about rewarding the idiots with another term. GWB never won either election and we’ve paid the price ever since.
Dennis Kucinich was “mentioned” here. He was my first choice for president. Then I discovered he was a vegan!! This means he is a really honest man who looks into the future. But honesty, unfortunately, is not what voters think is a primary requisite for political office. / Having said that, I am really annoyed at the progressives who blew the last election because President Obama didn’t give them instant gratification. Considering the decades that we have spent flushing ourselves down the toilet – where we finally realized we were when Obama came to the White House – expecting miracles in 2 lousy years was MINDLESS. Why is the middle-class (Are we not the majority? Did we not vote for change?) listening to the Special Interest fear-propaganda and shooting ourselves in the foot?
Remember Mission Accomplished? The first time the impersonating President, George Bush, uttered those words, I thought he means he and his pals have accomplished their mission of creating a war.
So because everyone was terrorised by the coreographed Trade Center explosions, we allowed these oilmen to attack and innocent nation in the name of the United States.
These are my reflections.
Is this another attempt to raise the ghost of George Bush into the spotlight of THIS presidential race?Because if it is -you really need to understand we are moving down the road to our second post Bush presidency.At this point -trying to reframe the lead up to those wars on two fronts is part of history.I enjoy everybody singing to the choir, but really folks what gives?YOU (the left)have been in charge for near 3 years.YOU have not pulled out on day one….or to date.And YOU are now involved in a third war(and possible nation building).If Iraq and Afghanistan form lasting Democracies we may at some point be able to soften the blow in our minds of our losses.History will write that chapter.I suppose the same can be said for Libya.
At the time of the wars on Iraq and afghanistan Bush had the blessing of the people,the congress and Senate.Not to mention the UN and a good amount of the world body.Monday morning quarterbacking is fun but unfortunately not a game the president can afford.So the Taliban were an OK bunch of Joe’s, and Saddam was a peach ,and it was their misfortune to run into the evil George Bush.We read ya. And Im glad Richard Cohen had his come to Jesus moment(yawn)I read his article were he said as much.He mentions ONLY the WMDs in Iraq as the reason for that war.As if that were true.So he has returned to the liberal fold…big surpriseLook Rich once said that Israel itself was a mistake.He has been accused of sexual misconduct,and he thinks those that adhere to the constitution(our president?)especially the 10th amendment are…WAKOS!My advice to you libs……..Go get yourself a better cheerleader.And lets get back to this election.Bush is fishing.Heard he has a rod just waiting for Barrack.
It makes little difference to waffle on about it now. The victims are all dead and ther families (millions of them) hate us bitterly. The nation of Iraq is destroyed and Libya is no longer a gleam of hope for Africans, Afghanistan fights on and will almost certainly never stop (perfect for a war of terror). A billion muslims are increasingly radicalised every day. Western culture is exposed as a pretentious fraud and most of us in it – those with any intelligence and integrity – are disillusioned. The war in Afghanistan brings more shame every day. There will only be the psychopaths who own western capitalism left in the wreckage of our collapse and the conditions for that are perfect.
The demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of ordinary U.S. citizens against going to war in Iraq were largely ignored by the mainstream media. Politicians, particularly in the U.S. and the U.K., could ignore their citizens because the mainstream media acted as a cheering section, and marginalized the opposition to going to war. Here we are, 10 years later, with more Americans killed than were killed in the 9/11 attacks, with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed, mostly non-combatants, and $3 – $4 trillion dollars poorer. On this anniversary is the mainstream media carrying on any serious analysis or debate about Iraq — or any of our other wars? No. They are pretending that 9/11 happened yesterday, and that we have learned nothing. Perhaps they haven’t.
I resent Cohen claiming “all of us” reacted as he did. I was at gathering opposing going to war with Iraq & Afghanistan.
A Dennis Kucinich presidency would have changed us in more ways than Franklin Delano Roosevelt did. Which was why we weren’t given a chance to vote for him. Why he was sullied by his own party. He was against what the Republican party and the leadership of the Democrats wanted. But then they are the agents of the oligarchs here who have other things in mind. Including moving us closer to that Global Fascist United States they failed to get in the 1930’s. But they are only one economic collapse away from it by my reckoning in this perfect storm they created.
Well, Cohen’s “all of us” only includes himself and other Beltway courtiers.
P.S.: You’re so right, myra jones.
Prior to the Iraq invasion I clearly remember reading material from periodicals which debunked some of Bush’s justifications. In particular, the “uranium tubes” fiasco, and the continued insistence by UN inspectors that there were no longer any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I clearly remember Hans Blick’s as well as other voices of reason and caution being drowned out by lies.
I would like Cohen to know that his sweeping, all to inclusive “us all” statement did not include me, anyone in my family, anyone in my circle of friends, or any of my 90 co-workers. We were all, in fact, horrified.
I have always wondered if the intel was correct in this situation;and by this I mean that we knew -the weapons were gone,or that his other weapons programs were frozen by our embargos……Would the war still of gone forward.This is not as cut and dry as it would seem.Bush or his VP should be asked that question.And not in a soundbite.I believe he would of had less support certainly.From the world body and from The American people.But there were demands that still would of had to be met to avoid a resumption of war.Namely an adherence to all caveats of his(Saddams) surrender promises(he had broken every one).And an end to the shell game dealing with inspectors over his weapons.A shell game he freely admitted to playing on his “death bed”.Of course there were many other things…. but there are two demands that after 911 Bush was forcing an issue on.Saddam also admitted he had no intention of listening to Bush, or the worlds inspectors on anything.He stubbornly declared he was the lion of Judea.He had the right to reconstitute any weapons program at any time ,even nuclear and to use those weapons as he saw fit.Against the zionists(Israel) at any time.These were not the words he boasted from his balcony.These were said days before he was hung!He was a very ,very dangerous man.
I can understand anyone being against any war.Certainly war brings misery.But I see Saddams death also and the freedom of his people as a positive force upon the world.And that was for better or worse due to George Bush.
Well I’ll be damn…an honest liberal. BTW, Ron Paul was also against ALL of these unconstitutional wars.
Rtaylortitle
Ron paul is about as far from being a liberal as one could imagine.And get real -liberals could give a rats ass about the constitution.It is to them as Obama stated “a mean document filled with things to hamper government”.Ron Paul was against the wars because of his belief that Bush and Obama have not followed the proper procedure as laid down in our constitution to do battle with our enemies.He is a strict constitutionalist.Though his interpretation in these matters have obviously not been backed by the courts.Long discussion for another day.
Our President has never said anything about our Constitution remotely resembling “a mean document filled with things to hamper government”
Obama derangement troll is Obama derangement trollingâ┚¬Ã‚¦..