Free Advice to GOP by Thomas L. Friedman

[frank frankly]

The great pseudo-intellectual of the BushCo Era is starting to wise up.

He's got a long way to go, but this is helpful, I think.

Free Advice to G.O.P.
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/23/opinion/23FRIE.html?pagewanted=print&position=

If I were a Republican senator, here's what I'd tell the Bush team:

• What in God's name are you doing forcing Iraqis to accept Turkish peacekeeping troops? Are you nuts? Not only will Turkish troops in Iraq alienate the Kurds, our best friends, but they will rile the Shiites and Sunnis as well. Honor is hugely important in Iraqi society, and bringing in Turkish soldiers — Iraq's former colonizers — to order around Iraqis would be a disaster. "If we bring in the Turks, it will bring back bad memories," notes Yitzhak Nakash, a Brandeis University professor and author of one of the best Iraq books, "The Shi'is of Iraq." "Worse, a Turkish presence in Iraq will only prompt the Iranians, Syrians and Saudis to try to increase their influence. That is no recipe for a stable country."

It's time for the Bush team to admit it made a grievous error in disbanding Iraq's Army — which didn't even fight us — and declare: "We thank all the nations who offered troops, but we think the Iraqi people can and must secure their own country. So we're inviting all former Iraqi Army soldiers (not Republican Guards) to report back to duty. For every two Iraqi battalions that return to duty (they can weed out their own bad apples), we will withdraw an American one. So Iraqis can liberate themselves. Our motto is Iraq for the Iraqis."

[ewagner]

1. Gads!

Friedman is getting smart!

[thebigidea]

2. this is not LBN

Friedman is filth. This is opinion, but smug and justified.

[pasadenaboy]

3. Even a broken clock

is right twice a day.

[lostnfound]

12. Friedman's broken clock has indeed had 2 (this month)

One of his other recent columns (Oct 16th) was pretty blunt about Cheney. Complaining that Cheney gives speeches at the American Enterprise Institute yet doesn't even allow questions to be asked even among that conservative group, Friedman said that the media should tell the VP that if no questions are allowed, then the speech is not news, it's advertising, and Cheney needs to pay for his ads.

Never fear, there's been much to hate, too. In the interim, he's had his normal racist pro-empire fantasy of "winning the war of ideas" containing such nuggets of wisdom as "we're in Iraq for one reason: to help Iraqis implement the Arab Human Development Reports, so the war of ideas can be fought from within". HEY! Finally we have a reason to be there! Get the news to the pResident!!

[legin]

4. The problem with this fucking lowlife Friedman

is that give it a couple of weeks and he will be back seeing how far he can stick his head up bush*'s backside.

I've said before it's like a sailing boat tacking down a narrow channel, one moment heading for the left bank then hard over and head for the right bank.

There is something very calculating about his behaviour.

[Nashyra]

5. It's very simple

The oil has gotten to expensive.

[TahitiNut]

6. This is an Op/Ed piece ...

... as is clearly indicated both within the URL and on the top of the web page for the (non-print formatted) article at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/23/opinion/23FRIE.html

I'm moving this thread to the E&OA forum.

Thank you,
TahitiNut - DU moderator

[frank frankly]

7. sorry this was an error posting on LBN

sorry
:hi:

[frank frankly]

8. sorry this was an error posting on LBN

sorry
:hi:

[RobertSeattle]

9. Tom - this is pointless

Taking your advice would force the Bushies to admit they were wrong - something they fundamentally cannot do. Arrogance + Ignorance means never having so say your sorry.

[Flying_Pig]

10. Mr. PNAC is a detestable idiot. He's always giving advice to

everyone. Who the fuck does he think he is? He's nothing more than a butt-licking Republican-hyper-Zionist, who gesticulated daily for the U.S. to invade Iraq. The little bastard should be given a gun, and his butt should be put on the front lines, that called for this war. He's now pushing for an invasion of Syria too. Put him on a tank!!

[frank frankly]

11. Please know that I despise, mortally despise, Tommy Friedman

I was just gauging the temperature of the whore media.

Trust me, I loathe Tommy Friedman. He is cheerleader to the war criminals.

[Jack Rabbit]

13. No, Friedman still doesn't get it

First, there is no good reason to pass any of Mr. Friedman's concerns to the junta. The Bushies wouldn't listen anyway.

The reason they won't listen is that they had no good intentions in Iraq. Wknow that now that Iraq was a paper tiger; we can conclude that the junta knew this or should have known it. The invasion and occupation is not about Iraq having been a threat, since it clearly was not, or about bringing democracy to the Iraqi people; it is about transferring ownership of Iraq's infrastructure and resources to people who are not Iraqi. Today, Iraqi women are afraid to leave their homes for fear of kidnapping and rape by thugs. There's nothing political about that. The Iraqis could solve this problem themselves, but the Americans won't let them because that would deal out DynCorp. As far as the Bushies are concerned, it is better not to solve the problem of public safety than to solve it in a way that fails to enrich Bush's campaign contributors.

Therefore, the Iraqis know what the problem is. It is the occupation. Getting these psuedo-liberators out of their country is the duty of an Iraqi patriot.

It is time for Mr. Friedman to admit that he made a mistake supporting the invasion of Iraq. The war and occupation isn't just colonialism, it is the most grotesque political scandal in history.

The best thing Americans can do for Iraqis is oust the junta.