<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4916.2300" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Peter K wrote:</FONT></DIV> <DIV>I didn't say critics "admired OBL." I said opponents of the war on <BR>the Taliban were "objectively" pro-al Qaeda. I'd appreciate it <BR>if you wouldn't change me words.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>--I didn't change any words on you I'm afraid, I was referring to Hitch's claim that critics of the bombing of Afghani civilians admired OBL...I could go back and find the quotes where Hitch has made that claim numerous times.  I think I could make the same argument that you are "objectively" pro-al Qaeda if you supported the US bombings of Afghanistan. I find such an argument pointless though, the larger point is what was the goal of the bombings and have they unintentionally made the world even less safe as a result and what were the other motives behind the bombing campaigns aside from cleaning out Al Qaeda.  None of these questions are unimportant and people who disagree with Hitch's support of Bush are not as he would have it supporters, objectively or otherwise, of OBL for asking them. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>If the Taliban were still in power, Afghani kids still wouldn't be able to fly <BR>kites or listen to music and al Qaeda probably would have killed <BR>many more American civilians</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>--George Bush or Peter K here?  Gimme a break, read the NYT or watch TV reports on Afghanistan 1 year later...even the most optimistic reports end up distinguishing from little kabul and the rest of the lawless domain known as post-bombing Afghanistan:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <A href="http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=6804">http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=6804</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <A href="http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/279/nation/Amid_the_ruins_of_war_Afghans_tread_warilyP.shtml">http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/279/nation/Amid_the_ruins_of_war_Afghans_tread_warilyP.shtml</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <A href="http://rawa.fancymarketing.net/north3.htm">http://rawa.fancymarketing.net/north3.htm</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A href="http://hrw.org/backgrounder/wrd/afghan-women-2k2.htm">http://hrw.org/backgrounder/wrd/afghan-women-2k2.htm</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <A href="http://rawa.fancymarketing.net/womenstill.htm">http://rawa.fancymarketing.net/womenstill.htm</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <A href="http://www.womankind.org.uk/documents/balance.htm">http://www.womankind.org.uk/documents/balance.htm</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>I don't see how Hitchens can be playing for both mainstream cred <BR>and for right wing, conspiracy theorist cred. You detractors and <BR>heresey hunters can't all be right. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>--I didn't know we were accusing him of heresy, I thought it was Hitch who was accusing those who disagreed with him and Bush of supporting OBL...or worse.   I don't think anyone can tell exactly what direction Hitch is going in, aside from getting more mainstream pubication space for attacking the left.  He seems to be more and more into a kind of libertarianism of some as yet undecided sort...</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>