New York Times’ Friedman proposes “endgame” bloodbath in Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/frie-o01.shtml

Since well before the US invaded Iraq, Thomas Friedman, the New York Times’ chief foreign affairs commentator, has been the most enthusiastic proponent of US imperialism’s neo-colonial conquest of the country.

Early on he served as a conduit for the right-wing ideologues in the civilian leadership of the Pentagon—putting their phony pretexts for war into print, while embellishing them with noble aims of bringing “democracy” and “liberation” to the Iraqi people.

That the newspaper identified with an erstwhile American liberal establishment published Friedman’s exhortations to war played no small role in poisoning public opinion on the eve of the US invasion. It helped pave the way for the ongoing tragedy that has cost the lives of over 100,000 Iraqis and nearly 2,000 American soldiers.

As it became ever more apparent to the American people that they had been dragged into an unprovoked war based upon lies about non-existent “weapons of mass destruction” and phony claims of ties between Baghdad and terrorism, Friedman brushed off the criminal implications of the Bush administration’s actions.

[marmar]

1. He is one psychotic mofo...

He is as bloodthirsty as the Bush administration.

[wtmusic]

2. anything but admit he was fucking wrong

thanks for getting my heart rate up Don

my favorite: Friedman describes the “moral vacuum in the Sunni Arab world”. :grr:

Tom is a piece of shit.

[i_c_a_White_Ghost]

3. I use his colums to wipe my ass

n/t

[wtmusic]

4. Be sure to clean your ass afterwards nt

[leftchick]

5. friedman's fairy tales....

<snip>

Who is Friedman to preach morality to anyone? Here is a man who has made his living inventing alibis and pretexts for the most powerful imperialist state in the world seizing control of an oppressed and impoverished nation, killing thousands upon thousands of men, women and children in the process, all for the purpose of controlling the region’s strategic oil reserves.

As Iraq sank into a hellish abyss of bloodshed, poverty and the disintegration of all essential functions of society, Friedman invented fairy tales about it becoming a beacon of democracy that would be emulated by peoples throughout the Arab world. As thousands of young American soldiers came home in coffins or returned maimed physically and shattered psychologically, he casually called for sending twice as many. And now he has the gall to accuse others of living in a “moral vacuum”?

[i_c_a_White_Ghost]

6. I say give him a gun

and ship him off to Iraq!

[leftchick]

8. he has two teenage girls

I say sign them up at eighteen!

[kenny blankenship]

7. Only the knowledge that

he would be replaced by another agenda pusher swearing allegiance to the same interests prevents me from calling for his dismissal.
Same thing for Ms. Miller. The day she was fired, NYT would just ring Gen. ______________ for instructions on her replacement.

[NNN0LHI]

9. The NYT is a commodity

If you went to the store and they sold you shit packaged as candy you wouldn't buy any more of it would ya? Same thing with newspapers.

Don

[1932]

10. I read the first 50 pages of The World is Flat last night.

Then I read the first 15 pages of Jeffrey Sach's The End of Poverty.

Before picking up Sach's book, my feeling was that Friedman's book wasn't saying much. It's mostly just descriptive -- it's not very reflective or analytical. He also brand name drops like a B52.

After reading a few pages of Sach's book, the Pollyannish nature of Friedman's book really comes into relief.

Friedman really is an extreme cheerleader for imperialist globalization.