Steve
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041018&s=kleiin
These kinds of nuanced distinctions are commonly made in Iraq: Many people I met in Baghdad strongly condemned the attacks on Sadr as evidence that Washington never intended to bring democracy to their country. They backed the cleric's calls for an end to occupation and for immediate open elections. But when asked if they would vote for him in those elections, most laughed at the prospect.
Yet here in North America, the idea that you can support Sadr's call for elections without endorsing him as Iraq's next prime minister has proved harder to grasp. For arguing this position, I have been accused of making "excuses for the theocrats and misogynists" by Nick Cohen in the /London Observer/, of having "naively fallen for the al-Mahdi militia" by Frank Smyth in /Foreign Policy in Focus/ and of being a "socialist-feminist offering swooning support to theocratic fascists" by Christopher Hitchens in /Slate/.
All this manly defense of women's rights is certainly enough to make a girl swoon. Yet before Hitchens rides to the rescue, it's worth remembering how he rationalized his reputation-destroying support for the war: Even if US forces were really after the oil and military bases, he reasoned, the liberation of the Iraqi people would be such a joyous side-effect that progressives everywhere should cheer the cruise missiles. With the prospect of liberation still a cruel joke in Iraq, Hitchens is now claiming that this same anti-woman, anti-gay White House is the Iraqi people's best hope against Sadr's brand of anti-woman, anti-gay religious fundamentalism. Once again we are supposed to hold our noses and cheer the Bradleys--for the greater good, or the lesser evil.