[lbo-talk] "Appalling"

[Dennis Perrin]

A. Cockburn, ever the contrarian, eulogizes Ford as "our greatest" prez. On 
Timor, C writes:

"Ford was surrounded by bellicose advisors such as his secretary of state, 
Henry Kissinger; his vice president, Nelson Rockefeller; his chief of staff, 
and later secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld and his presidential 
assistant, Dick Cheney. The fact that this rabid crew were only able to 
persuade Ford to give the green light for Indonesia's invasion of East 
Timor--an appalling decision to be sure -- is tribute to Ford's pacific 
instincts and deft personnel management. Unlike George W. Bush, Ford was of 
humane temper and could mostly hold in check his bloodthirsty counselors."

<http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn12272006.html>

"Appalling"? Wiping out a third of Timor's population inspires C to say only 
this, and then return to praise Ford's "pacific instincts and deft personnel 
management"? That in itself is appalling, sort of like saying that the 
slaughter of Vietnamese by the US was "tragic" or "awful." But at least he 
mentions Timor, unlike most of the Web and the press.

Dennis