Kissingerian
by Scott Hardie on November 26, 2006
Another of Fareed Zakaria's perfectly lucid articles today, suggesting the only way out of Iraq: (link)
Five Replies to Kissingerian
Scott Hardie | December 2, 2006
What does this have to do with the article? He is entitled to any defensible opinion regardless of his past. Are you bringing it up only because I mentioned him and you wanted to share it, or are you trying to make a counterargument?
Kris Weberg | December 3, 2006
Well, no, I actually think that element of his past renders most of his opinions on the matter somewhat suspect, since it calls into question both his ability to distance himself from the story and, more directly, taints what he's got to say on the matter with conflicts of interest.
That he's hailing Henry Kissinger's methods as a solution -- expecially given the torturous history of Kissinger's involvement with Vietnam -- likewise gives me a bit of pause. What I dislike about Zakaria's stance, in general, is that he remains committed to the idea that America's intentions and initial efforts were quite right. The problem, you'll note, is never America's in his article: it's still those damned Iraqis, failing to live up to our intentions and become a Western-style democracy as soon as Saddam was gone. And while Zakaria has been quite critical of the postwar efforts of the administration, he was certainly in favor of the military action that got us into the mess in the first place.
To be quite honest, I think neoliberal globalization advocates like Fareed Zakaria, as much as did neoconservative advocates of an American empire, badly misread the situation in Iraq from the start, and are now desperately attempting to find a way to unload the blame for problems there onto anything other than their own flawed assumptions. Thomas Friedman's new column today does pretty much the same thing as Zakaria's essay, except that Friedman's frustration spills over into a thinly-veiled bellicosity in the process. That these ex-war advocates are doing so in the language of moderation does not make them moderates.
Scott Hardie | December 3, 2006
Thanks for the follow-up. I didn't understand what you were trying to point out, exactly.
Amy Austin | December 31, 2006
Scott, why are you choosing to make a blog entry of news topics vs. discussions???
I only ask because it seems (to me anyway) that TC -- by comparison -- has been quite bereft of any good discussion for a while, and whenever I decide to read and catch up on all of these long blog posts, I find myself feeling weird about commenting so long after the fact... moreso when its on current news events. Are you trying to avoid heated discussion on TC???
I guess I'm having a hard time in general moving between the forum-based web and "the blogosphere" -- it's just confusing to me, I suppose.
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
It's All About Me
I regret if my rantings around this site have come across either whiny, as I coped with illnesses and a busy schedule, or hypocritical, as I griped about Christmas cheer while still participating in the holiday. I don't regret if they came across as self-centered. Go »R.I.P. Nicole
You know those memes about how 2020 just keeps getting worse by the month? I didn't like them before because it's been such a very awful and depressing year that I'm not in the mood to joke about it. And now I really don't like them, because for me, June has indeed managed to be even worse: My friend Nicole died suddenly of a stroke on Friday. Go »Game Over
On paper, Game Over doesn't look promising: A vulgar, video-game-themed cartoon series on UPN that only lasted five episodes. But I rented it anyway, and somehow it managed to be entertaining and smarter than it needed to be, but maybe that was just the low expectations kicking in. I think the key to the show is that it actually respected its characters and cared for them as a family unit, instead of using them as empty vessels for punchlines (latter-year The SImpsons) or treating them with unmistakable contempt (Family Guy). Go »Deg-Deg, Sims... Deg-Deg Forever
I really want to enjoy playing The Sims 2. I've logged thousands of hours on the first Sims and hundreds on the sequel. The problem is that I can't even play it in the first place in order to enjoy playing it. Go »R.I.P. Pam
Pam was a co-worker from the 2000s who recently passed away. Kelly worked with her much more closely than I did, sharing a cubicle space with her for years and getting to know her very well, though I had plenty of conversations with her too. She was always ready with a compliment or a joke or a homemade treat, and she was a source of light in a job that could be quite a grind some days. Go »
Kris Weberg | November 26, 2006
Fareed Zakaria ought to know all about the Iraq war, considering that he helped plan it. Not that he told his editors this even as he continued to report on the conflict, usually arguing in favor of the war during the runup in 2003.
His defense? He didn't know his breach of journalistic integrity would be documented in the form of a report. A report that his name was left off of.