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

Book by Christopher Hitchens · 6 quotes · Leftism, Terrorism, United States

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

“As to the 'Left' I'll say briefly why this was the finish for me. Here is American society, attacked under open skies in broad daylight by the most reactionary and vicious force in the contemporary world, a force which treats Afghans and Algerians and Egyptians far worse than it has yet been able to treat us. The vaunted CIA and FBI are asleep, at best. The working-class heroes move, without orders and at risk to their lives, to fill the moral and political vacuum. The moral idiots, meanwhile, like Falwell and Robertson and Rabbi Lapin, announce that this clerical aggression is a punishment for our secularism. And the governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, hitherto considered allies on our 'national security' calculus, prove to be the most friendly to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Here was a time for the Left to demand a top-to-bottom house-cleaning of the state and of our covert alliances, a full inquiry into the origins of the defeat, and a resolute declaration in favor of a fight to the end for secular and humanist values: a fight which would make friends of the democratic and secular forces in the Muslim world. And instead, the near-majority of 'Left' intellectuals started sounding like Falwell, and bleating that the main problem was Bush's legitimacy. So I don't even muster a hollow laugh when this pathetic faction says that I, and not they, are in bed with the forces of reaction.”

DemocracyIslamHumanismTerrorismAfghanistanWorking ClassEgyptNational SecurityPakistanSecularismAl QaedaTalibanSaudi ArabiaJihadLeftismAlgeriaIslamismGeorge W BushSeptember 11 AttacksCentral Intelligence AgencyPat RobertsonJerry FalwellFederal Bureau Of InvestigationDaniel Lapin
Book:Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left
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“Watching the towers fall in New York, with civilians incinerated on the planes and in the buildings, I felt something that I couldn’t analyze at first and didn't fully grasp (partly because I was far from my family in Washington, who had a very grueling day) until the day itself was nearly over. I am only slightly embarrassed to tell you that this was a feeling of exhilaration. Here we are then, I was thinking, in a war to the finish between everything I love and everything I hate. Fine. We will win and they will lose. A pity that we let them pick the time and place of the challenge, but we can and we will make up for that.”

WarNew YorkTerrorismWar On TerrorWashington DcSeptember 11 Attacks2001
Book:Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left
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“I can remember when I was a bit of an ETA fan myself. It was in 1973, when a group of Basque militants assassinated Adm. Carrero Blanco. The admiral was a stone-faced secret police chief, personally groomed to be the successor to the decrepit Francisco Franco. His car blew up, killing only him and his chauffeur with a carefully planted charge, and not only was the world well rid of another fascist, but, more important, the whole scheme of extending Franco's rule was vaporized in the same instant. The dictator had to turn instead to Crown Prince Juan Carlos, who turned out to be the best Bourbon in history and who swiftly dismantled Franco's entire system. If this action was 'terrorism,' it had something to be said for it. Everyone I knew in Spain made a little holiday in their hearts when the gruesome admiral went sky-high.”

TerrorismFascismDictatorshipSpainAssassination1970s1973Francisco FrancoEtaBasque PeopleHouse Of BourbonJuan Carlos I Of SpainLuis Carrero Blanco
Book:Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left
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“The President is also captured in a well-worn TV news clip, making a boilerplate response to a question on terrorism and then asking the reporters to watch his drive. Well, that's what you get if you catch the President on a golf course. If Eisenhower had done this, as he often did, it would have been presented as calm statesmanship. If Clinton had done it, as he often did, it would have shown his charm.”

United StatesTelevisionGolfTerrorismCharmHypocrisyWar On TerrorDouble StandardsStatesmanshipBill ClintonGeorge W BushDwight D Eisenhower
Book:Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left
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“Suppose that we agree that the two atrocities can or may be mentioned in the same breath. Why should we do so? I wrote at the time (The Nation, October 5, 1998) that Osama bin Laden 'hopes to bring a "judgmental" monotheism of his own to bear on these United States.' Chomsky's recent version of this is 'considering the grievances expressed by people of the Middle East region.' In my version, then as now, one confronts an enemy who wishes ill to our society, and also to his own (if impermeable religious despotism is considered an 'ill'). In Chomsky's reading, one must learn to sift through the inevitable propaganda and emotion resulting from the September 11 attacks, and lend an ear to the suppressed and distorted cry for help that comes, not from the victims, but from the perpetrators. I have already said how distasteful I find this attitude. I wonder if even Chomsky would now like to have some of his own words back? Why else should he take such care to quote himself deploring the atrocity? Nobody accused him of not doing so. It's often a bad sign when people defend themselves against charges which haven't been made.”

WarReligionEmotionUnited StatesIslamTerrorismPropagandaMiddle EastDespotismOsama Bin LadenWar CrimesMonotheismTheocracyIslamic TerrorismSeptember 11 AttacksNoam Chomsky1998The NationAl Shifa Pharmaceutical Factory
Book:Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left
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