Also, there's a world market for maybe five computers
On April 16, 2003, celebrating the victory in Baghdad, archconservative columnist Cal Thomas had the following to say about people who had warned that an Iraq war might not go smoothly: "All of the printed and voiced prophecies should be saved in an archive. When these false prophets again appear, they can be reminded of the error of their previous ways and at least be offered an opportunity to recant and repent. Otherwise, they will return to us in another situation where their expertise will be acknowledged, or taken for granted, but their credibility will be lacking."
FAIR has compiled exactly such an archive.
"The three-week swing through Iraq has utterly shattered skeptics' complaints." "And it gets easier. I mean, setting up a democracy is hard, but it is not as hard as winning a war." "I doubt that the journalists at the New York Times and NPR or at ABC or at CNN are going to ever admit just how wrong their negative pronouncements were over the past four weeks." "Over the next couple of weeks when we find the chemical weapons this guy was amassing, the fact that this war was attacked by the left and so the right was so vindicated, I think, really means that the left is going to have to hang its head for three or four more years." "The final word on this is, hooray."
There's much more along those lines, not just relishing victory over Saddam, but over the antiwar left. So is it childish for the left to throw those words back in the pundits' faces (including, I note, pundits from the New York Times, NPR, ABC, and CNN)? Maybe, but you know what? Fuck 'em. My only wish is that FAIR would have gone back to all these folks with their quotes and given them the opportunity to recant and repent. What do you think they'd say?
Comments
If recent speeches by Bush and Rumsfeld are any guide, all these writers will deny that things in Iraq are bad, and continue to insist that they what they wrote in 2003 is still correct.
Posted by: Jesse | March 17, 2006 12:05 PM
I'm not sure. Just today, Bill Kristol is quoted in the Times saying "it's unfair to say that supporters of the war thought it was going to be easy to build a democracy in Iraq." Which is only technically true. Barnes didn't say it would be easy, just easier than the invasion.
Posted by: radosh | March 17, 2006 2:21 PM