Bush appointee Eliot Cohen is a necon who called for draft to prevent stupid and female troops

[ProSense]

Monday March 5, 2007 07:38 EST

Neoconservative Eliot Cohen's new position at the State Department

(updated below - updated again)

On Friday, Condoleezza Rice announced that Eliot Cohen has been chosen to be the new Counselor of the State Department. It is not hyperbole to say that Cohen is as extremist a neoconservative and warmonger as it gets. Even The New York Sun's Eli Lake -- in an article claiming that Cohen's replacement of Philip Zelikow signals a more militaristic approach for the administration -- points out that Cohen " intellectually is neoconservative" and that "he was an early supporter of the military intervention in Iraq and came out against recommendations from the Iraq Study Group in December to launch negotiations with Iraq's neighbors," i.e., Iran and Syria -- especially Iran.

But Cohen's record is far more extremist than just that. In a November, 2001 Wall St. Journal Op-Ed, Cohen criticized the attempts up to that point to name "The new War" -- all the names chosen were far too limiting and unglorious. Rejecting all the possibilities, Cohen insisted that "a less palatable but more accurate name is World War IV." Even back then, look at what was on Cohen's mind:

more....

Monday March 5, 2007 17:05 EST

Eliot Cohen called for draft to prevent stupid and female troops

(updated below)

As noted earlier today, new Bush appointee at the State Department, Eliot Cohen, expressly views the U.S. not as a republic, but as "a global empire," and his entire foreign policy world view is centered around the need to maintain and expand that empire through an "imperial strategy." Cohen believes, in essence, that the U.S. should rule the world through superior military force. And in particular, he has long urged the U.S. to change the government of Iran using any means, and has repeatedly argued against even negotiating with the Iranians as a method for resolving our conflicts.

Cohen has written multiple times over the year for Commentary Magazine -- ground zero for neoconservatism. One of the essays (.pdf), from 1982, was entitled Why we Need a Draft. In it, Cohen argues that a draft must be reinstated because that is the only way to preserve military readiness, and because an all-volunteer force produces troops who are too stupid to fight and, worse, forces the U.S. to allow females into the military, which destroys the macho fighting spirit needed for an effective force.

Cohen specifically emphasized the unfairness of having the U.S. dramatically expand its military commitments while having only the poorest and dumbest in the society serve in the military, which -- Cohen says -- is what happens with an all-volunteer force. This is the title:

more...

[ProSense]

1. Kick! n/t

[CTyankee]

2. Yep. What an idiot.

Unbelievable we have these people in government still.

[Auntie Bush]

3. I wish he'd pick up his marbles (even though he doesn't have many)

and go home...maybe fall down a well on the way.

Sorry A M

[Supersedeas]

4. Which of the few PNAC guys has not be promoted?