I guess the editors at the Washington Post are on vacation:
On the very day that George Bush changed his mind and said that the war on terrorism was in fact winnable, the following things happened: Suicide bombers killed 16 people in Israel; 12 Nepalese service workers (dishwashers, etc.) were massacred in Iraq; five Afghans were accidentally killed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan; nine people were killed by a suicide bomber at a Moscow subway station, and five more American servicemen were reported dead in Iraq. For worldwide terrorism, it was not a bad day.
You would be hard pressed to fill more nonsense into two sentences.
A.) Bush never ‘changed his mind’ about the war on terrorism. What he stated was that he is not sure that, in the abstract, it is possible to win in the sense that you will stamp out all terrorism. There will always be someone with a gun or a bomb somewhere. The Waron Terror, however, is a fight against organized terrorism with global reach. Cohen knows this- the NY Times knows it, and everyone who is not selling their credibility to buy John Kerry an election knows that.
B.) The next time someone tells you the left is not hostile to the American military, bring up this Cohen piece. Other than overt hostility, is there any way to describe why the accidental shootings in a combat zone of civilians (which has not even been verified yet) would be treated as terrorism?
Cohen’s words again:
Suicide bombers killed 16 people in Israel; 12 Nepalese service workers (dishwashers, etc.) were massacred in Iraq; five Afghans were accidentally killed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan; nine people were killed by a suicide bomber at a Moscow subway station, and five more American servicemen were reported dead in Iraq.
Shorter Richart Cohen: “The United States Air Force. Worldwide Terrorists.”
Dean
John,
Careful.
If you were a bit more of a media target, I’d expect someone to say/write, “Even John Cole, a conservative blogger, has condemned the US military’s use of excessive force, closing a recent post with the observation:
The United States Air Force. Worldwide Terrorists.”
shark
The Waron Terror, however, is a fight against organized terrorism with global reach. Cohen knows this- the NY Times knows it, and everyone who is not selling their credibility to buy John Kerry an election knows that
This doesn’t bother me, because lets be fair, the Bush team knows what Kerry meant when he used “sensitive” but it’s grist for the RNC mill.
The moral? Bush needs to be careful is all.
America knows how Bush feels about the war. This won’t hurt him, not even close to how they can make “sensitive” stick to Kerry.
Mikey
Maybe someone neeeds to hit Mr. Cohen upside the head with the OED. He apparently thinks “accidental” and “intentional” are synonyms.
Sofla
Originally posted at jaycaruso.com:
Cole is tendentious, and you should be ashamed of linking to this bizarre take approvingly, Jay.
Cohen listed a number of things showing worldwide terrorism is thriving. Our accidental killing of Afghans is NOT terrorism, but HELPS foster terrorism, by giving Afghans still more reason to hate the US.
This should be universally understood. While the American people shrug over other peoples
Dean
Amazing how HELPING other folks (see Bosnia, Kosovo in the case of Muslims) gets us *nothing*, though.
Similarly, if they’re so all-fired het-up about what we’ve done, I’m curious—will these folks be *equally* pissed at the Iraqis who blow up people at police stations, working at the UN compound, passers-by? Are the Afghans whose wives and daughters were being killed by the Taliban among those cooperating with them now?
Or is it just the Americans who arouse ire?
eric
So according to Sofia, the USAF is terroristic? Isn’t? Sorry, honey, but you cannot have it both ways. We’ll get no credit for humanitarian acts, of which we are FAR and away the world leaders and instead be pilloried for (possible) errors? So in the world of Sofia there is a one-way moral equivalency inwhich we are always wrong? By whom should this be “universally understood?” Keep your pseudo-intellectual masturbation to your self, you’ll seem smarter.
tibor
I follow reports of US casualties pretty closely, and I don’t recall reports of 5 US soldiers being killed the other day. Does anyone else know to what he is referring?
Mikey
Pretty condescending, Sofia. You are certain that no one else in the world can see the difference between an intentional terrorist act and accidental deaths caused by the US military. Kind of selling those other people short, aren’t you?
rick
All of these recent terror attacks are *not* our fault. The fascists have a stated, publicized desire to own the world, dominate every free person, convert-or-kill mission. It would be our fault if we didn’t go out and kill every last one of these menaces to our freedom. It would be our fault if we didn’t do everything in our power to bring these medieval animals to heel.
Seems so obvious. Why plaster it with nuance? Accept the facts. It’s being preached in mosques every day all around the globe.
syn
Richard Cohen wants American to face another 9/11/2001.
Guy from Ohio
Just ignore sofla. That person cannot be reasoned with, I know from another site. I’ll summarize: “Everything that Bush/America does is wrong and the world will hate us unless we roll over and let them have their way.”
sofla has the ABB tunnel vision but is otherwise pretty harmless.
john b
Grr. Surely you can see that the more civilians we kill, the harder it is to get people to support the Allied forces instead of the terrorists? To say this isn’t defeatism or selling out our troops – it’s just *true*. Nor is it assuming that foreigners are stupid. If I shoot your brother completely by mistake, I’m not still going to be invited round your house for dinner – that’s just the way people work.
The article was stupidly phrased, but it seems fairly clear – or at least charitable to assume – that that’s what Cohen means.
Dean
If we are indiscriminately bombing the opposing side, then the prospects of poor relations afterwards goes up. Fair enough.
‘Course, that would suggest that we shouldn’t put much faith in Germany or Japan (and didn’t we bomb a whole lotta French cities even as we were “liberating” them?).
More to the point, as I asked earlier—why is it that the people WE kill will have vengeful families, but the people THEY kill apparently are all orphans and friendless, w/ no one to go after the suicide bombers’ supporters, the Mukhabarat left-overs, etc.?
M. Scott Eiland
World War II failed to get rid of every last Nazi in the world–yet, it is still considered a success. Terry McDumbass and the WaPost should send a memo to clear up that little misconception.