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July 10, 2005
A Neo-Con Laments As His Son Goes to War
Eliot A. Cohen, Robert E. Osgood Professor of Strategic Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, and one of the American neoconservatives anxious for war in Iraq, has a fascinating article in today's Washington Post headlined "A Hawk Questions Himself as His Son Goes to War." Mr. Cohen concludes his article by saying: There is a lot of talk these days about shaky public support for the war. That is not really the issue. Nor should cheerleading, as opposed to truth-telling, be our leaders' chief concern. If we fail in Iraq -- and I don't think we will -- it won't be because the American people lack heart, but because leaders and institutions have failed. Rather than fretting about support at home, let them show themselves dedicated to waging and winning a strange kind of war and describing it as it is, candidly and in detail. Then the American people will give them all the support they need. The scholar in me is not surprised when our leaders blunder, although the pundit in me is dismayed when they do.
Mr. Cohen said, "What the father in me expects from our leaders is, simply, the truth -- an end to happy talk and denials of error, and a seriousness equal to that of the men and women our country sends into the fight."
Well, sir, I'm afraid you will be waiting a long time if you expect forthrightness from the Bush Administration. Secondly, you got your war and now your son will help fight it. So will my niece, who is scheduled to depart for Iraq in August.
Posted by Munir Umrani at July 10, 2005 09:56 PM
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