Victor Davis Hanson is an Idiot
Even though VDH wrote a great and important book,
Culture and Carnage, he is very wrong about Gitmo
issues. Here is an article where he:
-says that the Abu Graib and Gitmo prisons "seem
no worse than what we read about in most prisons"
-says that the current war on terrorism is "undeclared"
even though Bush and Bin Laden have repeatedly
declared war on their enemies
-says that the Moussaoui trial was wrong, even though
it was a tremendous success which showed the US
justice system could handle difficult terrorism issues
-says that europeans criticize Gitmo to distract attention
from their own problems, not because of the human rights
issues, without providing any names or quotations
-calls europeans "ankle-biters" (children) and calls
european complaints about Gitmo "nonstop screeching"
to insult them; by using insulting language like this, he
sends the message that his arguments wouldn't work as
well if he used accurate language, and therefore makes
himself look weak
-on the plus side, he does point out that the french and
germans enabled the bad guys by selling high tech equipment
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/
2006/06/scapegoating_guantanamo.html
Culture and Carnage, he is very wrong about Gitmo
issues. Here is an article where he:
-says that the Abu Graib and Gitmo prisons "seem
no worse than what we read about in most prisons"
-says that the current war on terrorism is "undeclared"
even though Bush and Bin Laden have repeatedly
declared war on their enemies
-says that the Moussaoui trial was wrong, even though
it was a tremendous success which showed the US
justice system could handle difficult terrorism issues
-says that europeans criticize Gitmo to distract attention
from their own problems, not because of the human rights
issues, without providing any names or quotations
-calls europeans "ankle-biters" (children) and calls
european complaints about Gitmo "nonstop screeching"
to insult them; by using insulting language like this, he
sends the message that his arguments wouldn't work as
well if he used accurate language, and therefore makes
himself look weak
-on the plus side, he does point out that the french and
germans enabled the bad guys by selling high tech equipment
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/
2006/06/scapegoating_guantanamo.html
posted by Tim at 11:00 PM
1 Comments:
The whole essay is a case study in VDH's lazy tendency to base his claims on selective use of information. How about this doozy:
"The U.S. has been mostly quiet about Europe's own ethical lapses in this war. Americans are in a quandary with Iran in large part because the Europeans - for whom profits trump idealism - sold the theocracy technology needed for the bomb. Nothing new there: Saddam once got his nuclear reactor from the French and his bombproof bunkers from the Germans."
I understand that VDH is trying here to build the case for Europe's hypocrisy, but such a claim is absurd when one considers how the US has been "mostly quiet" on how we too have sold theocrats and thugs their terrorizing technology. By accusing Europe of choosing profits over idealism, he is removing a splinter from their eye while a beam remains firmly lodged in our own.
Besides, this is what the author of our new book would classify as "moral hypocrisy." The profit motive aside, we armed Saddam to contain the greater threat of Iran, as we armed the Mujahadeen to counter the Soviets. Is the policy of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" selectively unacceptable to VDH? It's OK when WE do it, but it's duplicity if the Europeans do it.
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