I believe Thomas Friedman has been on the wrong side of the Iraq war issue, but then so have many other people of good will and good heart.
And so I recommend Friedman's column Big Talk, Little Will in the New York Times today. Democrats and their supporters (I am one) will probably not like his conclusion, but not liking it doesn't make it less real.
Read all of what Friedman has to say, right to this conclusion:
Mr. Cheney, if we’re in a titanic struggle with Islamic fascists, why do you constantly use the “war on terrorism” as a wedge issue in domestic politics to frighten voters away from Democrats. How are we going to sustain such a large, long-term struggle if we are a divided country?
Please, Mr. Cheney, spare us your flag-waving rhetoric about the titanic struggle we are in and how Democrats just don’t understand it. It is just so phony — such a patent ploy to divert Americans from the fact that you have never risen to the challenge of this war. You will the ends, but you won’t will the means. What a fraud!
Friends, we are on a losing trajectory in Iraq, and, as the latest London plot underscores, the wider war with radical Islam is only getting wider. We need to reassess everything we are doing in this “war on terrorism” and figure out what is worth continuing, what needs changing and what sacrifice we need to demand from every American to match our means with our ends. Yes, the Democrats could help by presenting a serious alternative. But unless the party in power for the next two and half years shakes free of its denial, we are in really, really big trouble.
The man has a point. He has a point.
So do the authors of this editorial, Meanwhile in Baghdad, in the same edition of the Times.
3,000 people have died in Baghdad since June of this year. Three thousand. Since June. Do you think they've paid enough now for the sin Osama bin Laden committed against our nation? Do you think the torrents of blood of the innocent children, the women and the old people have washed away the sin of bin Laden now?
Do you ever wonder where bin Laden is?
The Current Occupant doesn't. On March 13, 2002, he said so: "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
Mr. Cheney doesn't seem to care either.
But I wonder. I care.
Maybe you should, too, because the Current Occupant is about to roll out the fear-fest to try to win another election for his party.
Think about that.
Three wars -- Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon -- and only the first one was the right one. That one, they abandoned.
Think about that, then do something in November. Consider that, no matter your party affiliation, it might not be a very good idea to vote for members of a party that is blindly following these Lords of Chaos straight into hell.
Just this once, if you can't stand to vote for a Democrat, sit on your hands and let this be a triage election. Let the rest of us do what we can to stop the bleeding.
Then we can all go back to our corners and come out fighting.
However you can manage it, do the right thing.
We don't have too many chances left.
