September 23, 2004
MODO VS. ACCOUNTABILITY:
The Prince of Tides, Tacking and Attacking (MAUREEN DOWD, 9/23/04, NY Times)
Yet Mr. Kerry's case has a hollow center. He was asked at his press conference on Tuesday about W.'s snide reminders that his rival gave him authority to go to war (and, playing frat pledge to W.'s rush chairman, inanely agreed that he would still have voted to give that authority even if there were no W.M.D.).That vote, he replied, was correct "because we needed to hold Saddam Hussein accountable for weapons. That's what America believed."
Not all Americans.
Ms Dowd, perhaps unintentionally, though her obsession with George Bush makes it hard to know for sure, makes a case for the war right there. The fact that even support for the UN sanctions and holding Saddam to the terms of the 1991 truce was slipping among our European enemies and on the American Left made it necessary to remove him post haste.
As the President told the UN:
Twelve years ago, Iraq invaded Kuwait without provocation. And the regime's forces were poised to continue their march to seize other countries and their resources. Had Saddam Hussein been appeased instead of stopped, he would have endangered the peace and stability of the world. Yet this aggression was stopped -- by the might of coalition forces and the will of the United Nations.To suspend hostilities, to spare himself, Iraq's dictator accepted a series of commitments. The terms were clear, to him and to all. And he agreed to prove he is complying with every one of those obligations.
He has proven instead only his contempt for the United Nations, and for all his pledges. By breaking every pledge -- by his deceptions, and by his cruelties -- Saddam Hussein has made the case against himself.
That folks like Ms Dowd sided with Saddam only makes the case more compelling. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 23, 2004 2:39 PM
The acceptance, explicit as well as implicit, by the anti-war left that everything was hunky-dory under the sanctions regime is stunning in its cynicism.
Posted by: David Cohen at September 23, 2004 3:04 PMRemember the old Bond movies, where the villan would upbraid one of his henchmen for their failure to eliminate 007, before dropping him through a trap door into the shark tank? If I were Kerry and I lost the election, I wouldn't get anywhere near MoDo unless I could be sure her hands weren't anywhere near a secret button.
Posted by: John at September 23, 2004 6:16 PMJohn;
Shouldn't it be Kerry dropping MoDo in the shark tank? He could do a pay-per-view and retire his campaign debts.
AOG --
MoDo's the more vengful one of the two -- she's kind of like Teresa with less money, but a higher profile and badder attitude. It would be easier seeing Kerry trying to explain to her that he did everything he could, but he was defeated by Bush and his VRWC minions. Then she says something like "You're useless to me now" and buzzes him down to the sharks (special dramatic twist if Hillary walks out from behind a curtain and shares a fiendish laugh with MoDo as the tank water turns crimson).
Posted by: John at September 23, 2004 8:16 PM