[lbo-talk] Hitch: Bombs & Freedom

Dennis Perrin dperrin at comcast.net
Thu Apr 17 11:02:31 PDT 2003


Bombs and Freedom by Christopher Hitchens

Many years ago, when I toiled for the now-Soft on Saddam terrorist appeasers at The Nation (shame on all of them), I reviewed a collection of Charles Krauthammer's columns. This was in the time when Krauthammer had coined the term "Reagan Doctrine," and when I, foolishly, opposed what I now see was a pre-emptive liberation device for the peoples of Central America.

Back then, Krauthammer was seen as a sort of liberal, and his main employer, The New Republic, as somewhat neoliberal, and both often took "unpredictable" stances, like supporting the bombing of other, smaller countries.

I noted that as a socialist, I was completely predictable: I said, don't bomb other, smaller countries.

That was then.

Now, clear-eyed and morally focused as never before, I say bomb, bomb, bomb. Bomb the living daylights out of all those Islamo/Arab black-shirted fascist jackals. Bombs their homes. Bomb their office buildings. Use the kind of bombs that will shred their sun-baked skin and spill their wretched guts all over the dirt of their floors. Bomb them. Bomb them to Paradise. Then bomb Paradise.

In these days of expanding freedom, when the immoral remnants of left-wing jackbooted thugs cry themselves hoarse and mourn Saddam's demise, those of us committed to regime change whenever and wherever it is needed must steel ourselves for the bombing to come.

For it will come. And we must be ready to help support President Bush's campaign for world emancipation and lasting peace by advising those on the fence to keep their nerve and join the side that is winning -- not only hearts and minds (the cover of the recent Newsweek which shows a jubilant Iraqi kissing a US Marine nearly brings a tear to the eye), but a new world. A world of democratic capitalism. Of Internet cafes. Of human rights and human dignity. It is a world that my old comrades on the left fail to understand or refuse to grasp.

I am tempted to pity them, but one cannot pity those who lack self-respect and the ability to discern right from wrong. They are now in the dustbin of history, while we who understand and appreciate things like precision bombing and acceptable levels of civilian dead and wounded are in, if you'll excuse the phrasing, the vanguard. A toast to these glorious days, and burnt toast to inglorious fools. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <../attachments/20030417/c86f9334/attachment.htm>



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