On Iraq and Russia, Obama channels Bill Buckley
On Iraq, Obama channels Bill Buckley
Speaking in Brussels today, President Obama dismissed the notion that America's intervention in Iraq was morally equivalent to Russia's invasion of Crimea. As the Washington Post's Aaron Blake reports, after noting he opposed the intervention, Obama added:
[E]ven in Iraq, America sought to work within the international system. We did not claim or annex Iraq's territory, nor did we grab its resources for our own gain. Instead, we ended our war and left Iraq to its people and a fully sovereign Iraqi state could make decisions about its own future.
Good for Obama. It's about time he pushed back against this sophistry.
And speaking of pushing, this reminds me of something William F. Buckley said to Johnny Carson:
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To say that the CIA and the KGB engage in similar practices is the equivalent of saying that the man who pushes an old lady into the path of a hurtling bus is not to be distinguished from the man who pushes an old lady out of the path of a hurtling bus: on the grounds that, after all, in both cases someone is pushing old ladies around.
All these years later, and it's almost like déjà vu.
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Matt K. Lewis is a contributing editor at TheWeek.com and a senior contributor for The Daily Caller. He has written for outlets including GQ Politics, The Guardian, and Politico, and has been cited or quoted by outlets including New York Magazine, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. Matt co-hosts The DMZ on Bloggingheads.TV, and also hosts his own podcast. In 2011, Business Insider listed him as one of the 50 "Pundits You Need To Pay Attention To Between Now And The Election." And in 2012, the American Conservative Union honored Matt as their CPAC "Blogger of the Year." He currently lives in Alexandria, Va.
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