I have not read through all these letters, but just want to thank Glenn for these revisionist articles. I was once a Friedman fan. I suffer from what I call, the "Superman" complex: the need to try to fix everything that is wrong with the world. That's pretty much the reason that I did not protest the war, (if not exactly supporting it, I guess I am revising myself, if I want to be honest). Even if, in the end, Iraq becomes everything the US hoped it would become, how can we say that there was no other way to achieve the same end? I desperately hope that the Obama administration can throw out the foreign policy of the 20th century (big sticks) and come up with something new. I, like many Americans perhaps, have this fear that, if we let down our guard, we are going to get stomped on. But Obama has my support if he tries. I won't be relying on Tom Friedman as a guide.

is not to do them at all.

fine work glenn. this guy is a joke. this was funny - friedman's tough guy routine during the campaign.

http://www.supercollide.com/2008/09/making-america-stupid.html

The sad thing is I believe most Americans would be saying the same thing as Friedman had the war gone well. The American people have not miraculously seen the "evil of their ways" as it were. Just as suddenly as all Americans became eco-conscious as the price of gasoline went up, all have become moral bastions now that the war has gone sour.

However they are no more invested in eco-consciousness than the idea that unilateral use of force is wrong. In the end most believed that this war was ok, and would still believe so if it wasn't so badly executed. We shall see the same with the environment - as gas drops, so shall SUVs become popular again, damn the environment.

That in the end is what is most disturbing about this war - we got to see the real soul of the nation. They were happy to invade a country for immoral pretenses, we still don't give a damn about habeas corpus, and we still are happy to ignore the torture that went on. The election of Obama ultimately changes nothing of this - there has been no national reconciliation to the evils of the last 8 years.

of which the very unintelligent T. Freedman is almost always part of along with AIPAC.

I know it's the fear that talking openly about this will stir up anti-Semitism in the USA, but it's a bogus false fear.

Secrecy has always been historically the biggest ally of anti-Semitic forces because it allows enemies to create a "false truth" vs. a vs. the reality of Jewish Influence.

Oddly it's a truth the Israeli media has talked openly about for years.

I only wish we in the USA enjoyed the sort of freedom I read daily in the Israeli media.

Jewish voices in Israel seem to know the real danger of this sort of "pretending there is no tie" to extremists in Israel and key Team Bush supporters who formed the core group of the well-known warmongering Neo-cons here.

That truth stated clearly by Sharon himself was to use any means available to bend and twist American foreign policy to achieve his/Extreme Wing goals, and goals that are proving to be the worst possible long-term goals for Israel too boot.

Sharon's motivations were very myopic and tied to Saddam's $25,000 reward to families of suicide bombers.

He was all for invading Iraq to stop that.

As far as the consequences, he couldn't care less since the USA is big enough to take care of itself right?

From his overt support drew the support of the Neo-cons along with T. Freedman and his ilk, all who joined in the chorus of approval of taking action against Iraq and the eventual excuse making for its ultimate failure.

To the typical uninformed American news reader, there does exist a danger of creating the false notion that Israel and Jews are to blame, but that can and would be avoided IF Americans in general received honest and clear explanations OVER AND OVER AND OVER again which is necessary to sway the general public re: issues situations they are basically unfamiliar with.

One thing is certain. The deafening silence on this topic, and pretense that merely mentioning this proves anti-Semitism is the most effective way to ensure it does become an endless source for virulent anti-Semitism based on distortions and lies of the reality.

We already see it online. A growing # of Americans are finding out a part of this story or finding out 3rd or 4th hand various INcomplete details that inherently feed the fires of rabid, mindless Antisemitism beyond the reach of logic and reason and unaffected by the truth.

The only thing that can defeat it is real truth now, before these beliefs spread far and wide and become malignant.

An acknowledgment is essential that the Neo-Cons, the Extreme Right Wing in Israel colluded to mislead fellow Jews to achieve parts of their insane agenda and did so working together with the christian evangelical, Extreme Right Wing.

These sort of people do NOT deserve the protection accorded by the cultural imperative to never speak ill to a gentile of a fellow Jew. And that is what is protecting them, and that is in large part why their "ties" are never addressed and pretended to be irrelevant, because there are key gentiles who also support their actions.

Biblically speaking they are the idolaters among Jews wandering in the Sinai desert who almost turned everyone against Moses when he left to receive the words.

And how Moses dealt with them when he found they had erected idols in his absence is a great inspiration for how to deal with today's Neo-Cons among us.

nicely put. hope you don't mind if i steal your analogy...

Hannity, is that you?

Especially when the books come out--and they will come out--detailing the reasons for the current economic crisis. In short, the notion that a few rich Republicans were the reason will be shot down and the connection between the Dems and laws and policies allowing people who could not afford a mortgage to take them on. -ehillesum

This has been debunked more times than a body can count. But one more time for posterity's sake:

Tue, Nov 25, 2008 7:29pm ET
Hannity baselessly blamed Democrats, CRA for financial crisis

Summary: Sean Hannity baselessly asserted that "[t]he federal government and the Democrats ... forced these banks, through the Community Reinvestment Act, to make these risky loans," adding, "The risky loans started the subprime mortgage crisis, which impacted all these financial institutions, which needed government bailouts." In fact, according to housing experts, the vast majority of subprime loans were made by independent lenders not covered by the CRA.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200811250018