Paul Berman and Nat Hentoff make the critical arguments. Why haven’t more followed them?
BASRA FALLS: With minimal civilian casualties. Another huge victory after less than three weeks of war. The war-critics are now looking as beleaguered as the pockets of Ba’ath resistance.
VON HOFFMAN AWARD NOMINEE: “As the war drags on, any stifled sympathy for the American invasion will tend to evaporate. As more civilians die and more Iraqis see their “resistance” hailed across the Arab world as a watershed in the struggle against Western imperialism, the traditionally despised Saddam could gain appreciable support among his people. So, the Pentagon’s failure to send enough troops to take Baghdad fairly quickly could complicate the postwar occupation, to say nothing of the war itself.” – Robert Wright, Slate, last week.
“U.S. Army troops took control of this city revered by Shiite Muslims today, and once again drew cheers and thumbs-up accolades from thousands of smiling residents… Army officers hope that the relative ease with which Najaf and Karbala fell bodes well for their efforts to gain support from Shiite majority throughout Iraq. A gathering of senior Army officers on Highway 9 in the city late this afternoon drew an upbeat crowd of more than 100, who alternated expressions of appreciation with petitions for help. Among the shouts from the crowd:
‘Thank you very much, Mr. Boss.’
‘We love you United States.’
‘Saddam donkey.’
‘Night and day, no water.’
‘Hospital. No electricity, no food, no medicine.’
‘Very happy. I love you George Bush.'” – Washington Post, this morning.
BITTER, PARTY OF ONE: One of the things that people like me have long under-estimated is the legacy of Vietnam among the boomer generation. I wasn’t even in this country; and others in my under-40 generation in America also don’t get it. But for men like Howell Raines or Johnny Apple or others who command the heights of academia, Vietnam is still the prism through which they see everything. I’m not saying this isn’t understandable; and a sense of history is vital to understanding a chaotic war like the one we have just witnessed. But the bitterness can also cloud judgement. Just look at Allan Gurganus’ essay in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine. The man is still in shock. The visceral hostility he feels to the U.S. government, the Pentagon, or, indeed, any American authority figure stems in part from the experience of that war. I don’t think this is curable. In some ways, it’s pointless to rail against it. It’s just part of the psyche of a generation with enormous power – now, in part, the power to denigrate and undermine any real American military victory. Not all of this generation is hopeless, of course. Some are doing amazing work in this war even now. But for others, it will never recede. It’s their point of reference, their precious. And they will nurture it even more passionately if the world now proves them wrong.
The Dish 