WHAT THE LEFT REALLY WANTS FROM HADITHA
Are you curious about what the left really wants to get out of the Haditha massacre?
Carol and the rest of her Bush-defending pals need to go home and take an ethics class. Then they need to ask forgiveness. This kind of argument is shameful. In fact, I’ll go a step further: It’s un-American. Our national identity is based on holding ourselves, and our country, to the highest moral standard on Earth.
And that - rather than this kind of slippery rationalizing - is true patriotism.
The writer, one R.J. Eskow, (another one of the seemingly endless irrelevant and painfully boring paste eaters that Arianna Huffington has writing at Huffpo these days), wants Carol Platt Liebau to apologize for 1) waiting until all the facts are in on the massacre before making an intelligent judgment regarding the guilt or innocence of those involved; 2) not blame the entire Marine Corps for the actions of a few; and 3) taking the left to task for caring more about the rights of detainees at Guantanamo than the rights of the soon-to-be-accused-Marines-who-aren’t-charged-with-anything-yet-but-who-the-left-has-already-convicted-sentenced-and-executed.
And it might be interesting to point out that while Mr. Eskow accused Liebau of being a “Bush defender,” Carol never mentions the President’s name in her piece - which reveals much about what the left is truly seeking in their eager embrace of this story as metaphor for the military, for the war, and for Bush himself. The left wants a public humiliation of their tormentors on the right. Like Escrow, they want an “apology” and an acknowledgement that they, in their infinite wisdom, were right about Iraq and that the hawks were wrong.
It’s an interesting exercise, this, when one considers that for the past few years the left has had to work extraordinarily hard to make their initial rationale for opposing the war come true. And this begs the question; how “right” are you in the first place when you have to actively work to bend history to your will in order for the result to play out according to your prognostications? Does the left seriously believe that they have not undermined the war effort by their words and actions? Are they so myopically stupid that they can’t understand that these words and actions have given enormous comfort and encouragement to the enemy?
Haditha has handed our foreign enemies a propaganda victory. Why does the domestic left have to assist them in this? The answer to that question is simple; because both the insurgents in Iraq who are killing Americans and our domestic left have the exact same agenda; the defeat of the United States in Iraq. Jed Babbin:
First, the left will use every tool at their disposal to ensure that the Haditha incident becomes synonymous with the entire Iraq war. Abu Ghraib proved a propaganda bonanza for the terrorists and nations such as Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia that want us to withdraw from Iraq in defeat. Haditha - regardless of what the facts may turn out to be - will be used ceaselessly and purposefully to eliminate American support for the Iraq war and to demonize anyone who still supports it. Haditha will become the Orwellian centerpiece of the Democrats’ claim that they support the troops. “They’ve been there too long,” Murtha and his ilk will cry. “We have to bring them home before they kill more babies.” And then the Dems, feigning concern for our soldiers, will offer them psychological counseling when they return. The political fallout will be enormous, and it will damage both the ongoing war efforts and our troops’ morale.
Babbin is on to something. Lefties are screaming that the troops are not really to blame; it’s the fault of the President Their reasoning? Since most of our military is on their second and third tour of duty in Iraq, they are all tired and suffering from some fantastic form of battle fatigue. Some of our men and women may indeed have suffered psychological damage as a result of extended tours of duty. But to posit the notion that this is some kind of infection that has engulfed our service people is absurd.
But the focus of the left’s metaphorical attack is not on the troops. It is directed against the will to continue the long, hard, slog in a bloody land with the constant drip, drip, drip of American casualties and political progress measured in the smallest of increments. We may indeed reach a point where the returns on our effort will never match our hopes for a positive outcome on the ground. At that point, a reassessment of our commitment would certainly be in order. But we are not there yet. And the only reason Haditha is bringing us any closer to the day when American troops will indeed exit Iraq is that the left is willing it, not because anything fundamental in a strategic or tactical sense has changed as a result of the massacre.
As for the Iraqi citizens, those Iraqis who are of a mind to will point to Haditha as one more reason for the Americans to leave. They will not give us the benefit of their understanding for investigating and prosecuting the offenders. They will not draw a distinction between the rarity of such a massacre with the commonplace tactics of the enemy who routinely carry out such slaughters as a matter of course. Confidence in American arms will decline and distrust of American assistance will rise. If the propagandists here and in the Arab world have anything to say about it, Haditha will be remembered as the catalyst for American withdrawal not only from Iraq, but from the entire Middle East.
Would this be so bad?
Screamed about by protesters, shown endlessly on television news, My Lai and the court-martial of one of the perpetrators, Lt. William Calley, provided the final political nail in the coffin of American involvement in Vietnam. We withdrew from Vietnam in 1975, abandoning our allies and hanging our heads in shame. This is the political result the left wants from Haditha, and we cannot allow it to happen for one very big reason. The Vietnam War ended in Vietnam, leaving America incapable of taking action in defense of itself or its allies for decades. The end of the war against the terrorist nations won’t occur in Iraq, and we must be prepared - psychologically and politically - to continue the fight. When we lost Vietnam the enemy didn’t follow us home. Radical Islamists will. If they win, we will literally lose America.
The stakes are indeed high. Back in 1975 there was no internet, not much in the way of conservative views reaching the bulk of the American people. But things are different today. And all of us must make a supreme effort to keep trying to frame Haditha and put it in the proper context. The left loves metaphors. It makes their jobs of undermining the war so much easier. Let’s deny them that propaganda tool by continuing to place Haditha in perspective at every opportunity.
UPDATE
Allah shows up Keith Olberman and links to a couple of interesting articles in Time and WaPo on the cover-up angle. I’m not sure how they can actually charge “negligence” if an officer higher up in the chain of command couldn’t divine a cover up by junior officers based on incident reports. Should such an officer have to follow up on every instance where a civilian is killed?
I’m not sure if there’s a practical way to do it, but one might think that such a regime would instill a little confidence in the Iraqi people.
Also read John Cole’s piece, highlighting the excellent article by WaPo imbed Arwa Damon who Allah also mentions.
The Commissar warns us all about not shrinking from the massacre and its implications while taking a blogger to task for suggesting that we wait until any courts martial verdicts are reached.
The self-policing blogosphere in action.
Indeed. Keith Olbermann said as much on TV last night. I blogged about it earlier.
Comment by Allah — 6/1/2006 @ 4:26 pm
Hate has really evolved to insanity in the left wing. Now we have an elected official in NY saying that Chuckie Schumer would shoot the president between the eyes if he thought he could get away with it. I don’t think this is a casual remark, someone has been discussing this before the speach. Maybe the idiot and Schumer need a through shakedown by the FBI/CIA/NSA and the NY attorney general. Something stinks worse than normal in NY.
It seems the lefties in NY have denied that we are facing a terrorists problem until the Homeland security money is cut and now they’re screaming they’re all going to be killed by the terrorists. LMAO
Comment by Scrapiron — 6/1/2006 @ 5:59 pm
Perspective is the key, but don’t count on the MSM to provide any. Our so-called journalists will do their damnedest to make Haditha the Mai Lai of our age for a couple of reasons. First, nothing draws mouth breathers out of the woodwork like a good scandal. Second, they hate George II and will do anything and everything to undermine the war effort, even it means further endangering the lives of American soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen.
I spent some time in Germany a few years ago and remember talking to an old man who fought in WWII. According to him, by the time the Americans and Soviets reached Germany, a lot of the soldiers were liquored up and angry - a bad combination in any army. In any case, based on what this guy told me, if we’d had the same journalists then that we have now, Hitler would have remained in power at the end of the war and we would have ended up having to fight the Nazis, the Soviets, American journalists and the Democratic party all at the same time.
Reagrds,
-the Canine Pundit
Comment by Sirius Familiaris — 6/1/2006 @ 6:25 pm
The one thing we cannot do from the right side of the blogosphere is shrink from the spectre of Haditha. Keith Olbermann is a buffoon! Tools like him are a dime a dozen. Being forwarned, we must be forarmed. We know the Left will use Haditha as a blunt tool against everything we say about the war. And for this we must be prepared. Counter them point for point. Whatever we do, we do not hang our heads. We accept the wrong that was done and we move on! The Left has actively tried to derail out efforts in Iraq and the GWOT for the last 3 years to the point of treason and I will be damned if I let them take the wheel now.
Comment by SShiell — 6/1/2006 @ 7:04 pm
I think large sections of the right and left have lost perspective on this horror.
The sad fact is that this kind of atrocity is almost inevitable in a conflict like that going on in Iraq. Enough guns, enough stress, enough human beings, enough violence, and incidents like this become almost a mathematical certainty.
There are those on the left that err in assuming that this massacre tells us something we didn’t already know about the Iraq war. Similarly, there are those on the right that refuse to acknowledge either that something sickening and evil happened, or that this kind of tragedy and horror must be considered whenever the decision to go to war is contemplated.
Comment by Geek, Esq. — 6/1/2006 @ 7:19 pm
I’m old enough to remember Keith Olberman from his sports days on TV (ESPN?) He wasn’t very good at that, either!
Comment by Todd Christian — 6/1/2006 @ 7:34 pm
John Simpson of BBC has a video from another town in Iraq where 11 are said to have been killed. We have to wait for the investigations. I certainly don’t rule deliberate shootings out, but I also remember Jenin.
Comment by expat — 6/1/2006 @ 7:59 pm
The town is Ishaqi and I blogged about here:
http://rightwingnuthouse.com/archives/2006/05/27/a-rush-to-judgment-on-haditha/
Turns out, it was probably al Qaeda propoganda aided by some local sympathizers.
AP covered the story extensively when it came out last March (I think). Where was the BBC then?
Comment by Rick Moran — 6/1/2006 @ 8:05 pm
From the Time article:
“There’s no doubt that the Marines allegedly involved in doing this–they lied about it,” said Representative John Kline, a Minnesota Republican and former Marine who was briefed two weeks ago by Marine Corps officials… “They certainly tried to cover it up.”…”This was a small number of Marines who fired directly on civilians and killed them,” said Kline. “This is going to be an ugly story.”
Comment by Citizen DeWayne — 6/1/2006 @ 11:20 pm
BBC Reports: Guns Cause Gunshot Wounds
The media feeding frenzy seems to be in full bloom now.
Trackback by Blue Star Chronicles — 6/1/2006 @ 11:47 pm
Y’know Rick, I’ve been trying to come up with a good word to describe one of your great pathologies - one you share with so many others who share your views.
Its always - the “left” thinks this, the “left” wants that, the “left” blah blah blah. And then it comes down to - one person. Usually someone obscure. Are you just incapable of dealing with the diversity and individuality of human beings? I mean, we all come with names, so it shouldnt be that hard.
You’ve shared with us today the views of one Ms. Eskow. Personally, I never heard of her. I am sure some people agree with her. Others dont. Others sorta do, sorta dont. Why not address her as what she is? One person with an opinion. Is it that people of your ilk are so wrapped up in the project of being ideologically pure that you cant wrap your mind around the concept of people having uniques opinions?
Ms. Eskow speaks for no one but herself, and of all people, it aint you that gets to appoint someone as the spokesperson of “the left”.
Do you really think anyone takes you seriously when you try to do so?
Can’t quite come up with the right word for this tactic. Lets just call it - stupid.
Comment by Tano — 6/1/2006 @ 11:58 pm
Rick says:
Yes.
Comment by Badge 2211 — 6/2/2006 @ 12:38 am
Picking up where Tano left off,
A thought experiment:
Take all of the remarks Rick has made using the words left and liberal and replace them with the word Jew.
What do you get?
Comment by Citizen DeWayne — 6/2/2006 @ 7:17 am
You get Citizen DeWayne banned from this blog.
Comment by Rick Moran — 6/2/2006 @ 7:20 am
Stalin, the quint-essential lefty, said (more-or-less): two dead in a ditch is at tragedy, a million dead is a statistic. Were he in the oval office, he would have blown up the Sunni Triangle a million or so at a time, not 24 at a time.
Comment by tyk — 6/2/2006 @ 8:24 am
I don’t disagree with you, just a slightly different perspective:
The Sheehan’s of the world….the vile repugnant demographic known as the Baby Boomer Left look back on Vietnam as their best day. They’ve taught kids in colleges to revere those days with a myth of ’speakyness truthieness to powerness’ or whatever bumpersticker phrases they’re hocking around today.
I think this presents a chance for them to relive their great victory of My Lai. It helps bring them back to the days where they were in control *or*, in hindsight believe they were in control.
But I believe this is a lose lose situation no matter what. The accusation is as good as a guilty verdict by a tribunal. If the investigation finds additional facts to the case to prove that the troops didn’t do anything (something I find to be more likely than not) then the lefists will jump up and down and, claim Rove conspiracy and pretend like it happened anyway. It will be added to the lore of the EVIL BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND BIG OIL. If they are found to be at fault, this becomes the battle banner, and be added to the lore of the EVIL BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND BIG OIL.
It’s for that reason, that I’ve got no intention of getting ahead of this argument by saying “Well if it’s true they should be punished”. The other side isn’t adding “if/then’s” to this argument, thus neither should we. They haven’t done shit, even if you can prove they’ve done shit your proof is crap and they still haven’t done shit.
Comment by dan l — 6/2/2006 @ 8:27 am
You misuse the word pathology when you apply it to Rick when he makes general observations. In this case, a “great pathology†would be a life threatening medical condition. On the other hand, it is entirely appropriate to use “great pathology†properly, just use it correctly, say as it applies to Leftism.
In all this contorted nonsense, you still manage not to personally disavow your own self from Eskow.
Ah, to the crux of the dilemma. So now we can’t comment on a writer’s post on a heavily trafficked left metablog because we haven’t properly determined her pedigree as a spokeswoman. Well, the Left ain’t the AKC so we will just go with the usual practice of commenting on any blogpost in anyway we see fit. Its there to make a statement and neither side has the ability to quantify its support, just the ability to make use of it as wont without so much as an as you please, to you. But if there is some sort of sign of who is a bona fide spokesperson, say the bestowal of the “absolute moral authority†merit badge as determined by the inestimable MoDo, do let us know.
You keep coming back to contribute your opinions in a serious manner, question answered.
Be careful with sharp adjectives, you might hurt yourself.
Comment by Badge 2211 — 6/2/2006 @ 12:01 pm
Speaking of Big Oil. I wonder how many liberals are mad because Hugo Chavez has been promoting raising the price of gasoline since coming into power in 1999. The way he planned to do this was reduce production. This would create shortgages. I think we are fortunate that OPEC ixnayed that idea earlier this week. I find it funny, because lunatics on the left receive more adoration on the right. For example, take the comparison between the Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They both hate America. They both really dislike Jews. They believe in nationalizing of industries. They both see Bush as either as Hitler or Great Satan. Yet, Chavez is the worshipped by Harry Bellefonte, Danny Glover, Cindy Sheehan, and by British Progressive MPs. Why is that? I think this kind of goes with what dan l is talking about. It is that blind sense of rebellion against establishment. My father remembers when he came to the US in the ’60s. There were many students who sang the praises of Chairman Mao and Che Guevara. They forget that those leaders were inept or even to a certain degree vicious. It didn’t matter because those individuals promoted the rebellious progressive ideal. I suppose in some minds the end justify the means.
Comment by Svenghouli — 6/2/2006 @ 12:06 pm
No Sven, it has nothing to do with Hugo Chavez, and everything to do with me and my big ass 24 cyl, 4WD, SUV with a vanity LP reading BUSHRULEZ.
Comment by dan l — 6/2/2006 @ 3:27 pm
Sorry guys
but the line that reads:
I find it funny, because lunatics on the left receive more adoration on the right.
should read:
I find it funny, because lunatics on the left receive more adoration than the crazies on the far right.
and Dan l:
You are wrong. It has to do with ManBear Pig.
Comment by Svenghouli — 6/2/2006 @ 7:40 pm
I like how O’Reilly was lying about the WWII massacre and saying “well this happens all the time.” Sorry but Olbermann let him have it for that.
And Rick, theres no evidence that people at Guantanomo did anything. They have no legal representation and aren’t charged with anything. Alot like holding the Jews.
Comment by Matt — 6/2/2006 @ 10:34 pm
Let’s Be Clear About Our Motives, Shall We?
Rick Moran at Right Wing Nuthouse illuminates an important point about the developing reaction to the Haditha affair: Haditha has handed our foreign enemies a propaganda victory. Why does the domestic left have to assist them in this? The answer…
Trackback by The Bernoulli Effect — 6/2/2006 @ 10:46 pm
Geek, Esq. (#5). Very well said. It’s reality. The definitive statement in this vein is from the brilliant Callimachus at “Done with Mirrors”, who simply says, “If you only want to fight perfect wars, first you have to invent perfect warfare.”
This doesn’t justify autrocities; it merely recognizes that autrocities happen in war. We prosecute them as crimes under the military’s code of justice, affording due process to the alleged murders. Get over it.
Comment by kreiz — 6/3/2006 @ 6:30 am
Haditha
I did predict this. The investigation is not complete, but the assumption of guilt is clear despite military investigators concluding the other massa …
Trackback by Chris At Home — 6/4/2006 @ 2:10 am