> "Fraternally Yours, Chris":
> Hitchens as Model Apostate
> By NORMAN FINKELSTEIN
This part was as superb:
> On one page Hitchens states that the world
> fundamentally changed after September 11 because
> "civilians are in the front line as never before," but
> on another page he states that during the 1970s, "I
> was more than once within blast or shot range of
> the IRA and came to understand that the word
> 'indiscriminate' meant that I was as likely to be
> killed as any other bystander." On one page he
> states that, even if the U.S. doesn't attack or
> threaten to attack, "Saddam Hussein _is not going
> to survive_. His regime is on the verge of implosion"
> (emphasis in original), but on another page he states
> that "only the force of American arms, or the
> extremely credible threat of that force, can bring a
> fresh face to power." On one page he states that the
> U.S. seems committed to completely overhauling
> Iraq's political system, but on another page he states
> that replacing Saddam with "another friendly general
> might be ideal from Washington's point of view." On
> one page he states that "_Of course_ it's about oil,
> stupid" (emphasis in original), but on another page
> he states that "it was not for the sake of oil" that the
> U.S. went to war. In one paragraph he states that the
> U.S. must attack Iraq even if it swells the ranks of
> al-Qaida, but in the next paragraph he states that
> "the task of statecraft" is not to swell its ranks. In
> one sentence he claims to be persuaded by the
> "materialist conception of history," but in the next
> sentence he states that "a theory that seems to
> explain everything is just as good at explaining
> nothing." In the first half of one sentence he argues
> that, since "one cannot know the future," policy can't
> be based on likely consequences, but in the second
> half he concludes that policy should be based on "a
> reasoned judgment about the evident danger."
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