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Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left

Book by Christopher Hitchens · 5 quotes · Leftism, Terrorism, United States

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Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left Quotes

“George Bush made a mistake when he referred to the Saddam Hussein regime as 'evil.' Every liberal and leftist knows how to titter at such black-and-white moral absolutism. What the president should have done, in the unlikely event that he wanted the support of America's peace-mongers, was to describe a confrontation with Saddam as the 'lesser evil.' This is a term the Left can appreciate. Indeed, 'lesser evil' is part of the essential tactical rhetoric of today's Left, and has been deployed to excuse or overlook the sins of liberal Democrats, from President Clinton's bombing of Sudan to Madeleine Albright's veto of an international rescue for Rwanda when she was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Among those longing for nuance, moral relativism—the willingness to use the term evil, when combined with a willingness to make accommodations with it—is the smart thing: so much more sophisticated than 'cowboy' language.”

EvilUnited StatesMoralityIraqLiberalismAnti WarUnited NationsIraq WarRwandaLeftismSudanAbsolutismPeace MovementMoral RelativismBill ClintonGeorge W BushSaddam HusseinRwandan GenocideDemocratic Party United StatesMoral AbsolutismBa Ath PartyMadeleine AlbrightOpposition To The Iraq WarPresidency Of Bill ClintonAl Shifa Pharmaceutical FactoryPresidency Of George W Bush
Book:Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left
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“The 'pre-emption' versus 'prevention' debate may be a distinction without much difference. The important thing is to have it understood that the United States is absolutely serious. The jihadists have in the past bragged that America is too feeble and corrupt to fight. A lot is involved in disproving that delusion on their part.”

WarUnited StatesIslamDebateDelusionIraq WarWar On TerrorJihadIslamic TerrorismPreventive WarBush DoctrinePreemptive War
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“There is a noticeable element of the pathological in some current leftist critiques, which I tend to attribute to feelings of guilt allied to feelings of impotence. Not an attractive combination, because it results in self-hatred.”

PsychologyGuiltIraq WarWar On TerrorImpotenceSelf HatredPathologyLeftismAntiwar Movement
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“Some lurid things have been said about me—that I am a racist, a hopeless alcoholic, a closet homosexual and so forth—that I leave to others to decide the truth of. I'd only point out, though, that if true these accusations must also have been true when I was still on the correct side, and that such shocking deformities didn't seem to count for so much then. Arguing with the Stalinist mentality for more than three decades now, and doing a bit of soapboxing and street-corner speaking on and off, has meant that it takes quite a lot to hurt my tender feelings, or bruise my milk-white skin.”

RacismHomosexualityAlcoholismIraq WarWar On TerrorInsultsStalinismEdward SaidAd HominemClosetedAlexander Cockburn
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“You might think that the Left could have a regime-change perspective of its own, based on solidarity with its comrades abroad. After all, Saddam's ruling Ba'ath Party consolidated its power by first destroying the Iraqi communist and labor movements, and then turning on the Kurds (whose cause, historically, has been one of the main priorities of the Left in the Middle East). When I first became a socialist, the imperative of international solidarity was the essential if not the defining thing, whether the cause was popular or risky or not. I haven't seen an anti-war meeting all this year at which you could even guess at the existence of the Iraqi and Kurdish opposition to Saddam, an opposition that was fighting for 'regime change' when both Republicans and Democrats were fawning over Baghdad as a profitable client and geopolitical ally. Not only does the 'peace' movement ignore the anti-Saddam civilian opposition, it sends missions to console the Ba'athists in their isolation, and speaks of the invader of Kuwait and Iran and the butcher of Kurdistan as if he were the victim and George W. Bush the aggressor.”

IraqSocialismCommunismAnti WarMiddle EastIraq WarBaghdadLeftismKuwaitPeace MovementLabour MovementGeorge W BushSaddam HusseinRepublican Party United StatesDemocratic Party United StatesKurdish PeopleBa Ath PartyIran Iraq WarIraqi KurdistanOpposition To The Iraq WarInvasion Of KuwaitAl Anfal CampaignIraqi Communist Party
Book:Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left
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