GW Discourse

Yes, you saw me place “Bill Kristol” and “anti-war” in the same thought. Like most things relating to Bill Kristol, however, this is a dishonest formulation. This is classic Kristol, same as the old. Bill claims that “military action is likely at some point over the next couple of years if there’s not regime change in Iran.” So he castigates President Obama for not embracing regime change, the only way to avoid war!

I doubt the U.S. or Israel will ever preventively attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. The costs are simply too big and too lasting, with considerable risk of a counterproductive outcome. But Kristol doesn’t see Obama’s avoidance of war through sanctions as anything but wrongheaded. He quotes an Obama official unapprovingly who said “[sanctions are] about driving [Iranians] back to negotiations, because the real goal here is to avoid war.” For shame.

Yep, the same Bill Kristol as before. Vague about policy to the point of self-parody, instead preferring to hide behind slogans like “expressing solidarity” with the Iranian people; overoptimistic about the involvement of America in a region that believes America needs to step back; making decisions based on faith-based rather than reality-based assessments; interested only in punishing or overthrowing rogue actors and not in seeing if their behavior can be changed. Some anti-war protestor.