Expert Testimony

The "Today" show this morning will feature representatives from, as Katie Couric says, "Americans who don't want America to send troops into Iraq". Who are these "respresentatives"?

• "A clergyman". OK, fair enough. But (not having seen the story yet), I'll bet that the "clergyman" is a representative of a denomination that has cast its lot behind appeasement of all violent dictators. Maybe even my own, Presbyterian church.
• A Retired Admiral
• Martin Sheen. You know: the "Real President", the leader of the Democratic party. A man with vast foreign policy experience if there's ever been one.

UPDATE: The Reverend is, predictably, from the US Council of Churches. These are "america last-ers' of the worst order - the same people who raised money to send to Communist guerrillas in the seventies and eighties. The same people who turned out the troops to get Elian Gonzales sent back to his long-suffering father in Cuba - but refused to help a Cuban father in America whose child was being illegally held in communist Cuba. Some of his bon mots: "We saw women at a presbyterian church (in Baghdad) who are...committed to peacemaking". He carped endlessly about the sanctions. The Revererend has judged that the inspections are being given full latitude - nothing is being hidden. Honest Injun. "We're concerned about the children", he kept repeating. As if the rest of us aren't. He mentioned nothing of oppression, of the chidren that the secret police tortured, raped, murdered, nothing of the behavior that got the sanctions instituted...well, not like I expected that.

The admiral, a Mr. Shanahan, says "Iraq poses no threat today that would warrant an invasion. There is no smoking gun". He says he's more concerned with the "military aspects" - "Taking Iraq is not going to be a piece of Baklava...my experience with siege warfare is that it's the worst form of warfare". Of course, his experience was in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. In the Navy. Not to belittle that, but warfare has changed. To her credit, Couric asked the Reverend about the deception in Iraqi inspections, even held his feet in the fire.

Sheen was his inevitably sanctimonious self. "There is no reason to justify killing Iraqi children". "If we are a Christian nation...then this war denies and destroys our humanity", says Sheen, suddenly a great Christian leader. He went on to ask "if we know where the Weapons of Mass Destruction are, why aren't we telling the inspectors? [that's right - we're the problem].

Couric asked him "why haven't we heard more voices like yours?" Sheen answered with the biggest hooter of the morning: "We're ruled by fear and idolatry". But of course - anyone who disagrees with you isn't playing with a full deck. Yes, Martin, many of us do fear terrorists with weapons of mass destruction, of whatever origin, or fear the real result of future Iraqi WMDs - hegemony over the Middle Eastern oil supply on which many of our jobs depend. But there's a lot more to it than that.

Sheen ended with this: "And may I remind you, the only fear we have is fear itself.". I'm not making that up.

I'm going to slip into Kim du Toit mode: Let's hope this interview makes it onto the evening news. It'll set the left back even further.

Posted by Mitch at January 9, 2003 08:06 AM