John Bolton’s “Armed Social Workers”

As part of the continuing discussion of Michael Steele, Judge Andrew Napolitano and Rep. Ron Paul bravely take on former UN Ambassador and AEI senior fellow John Bolton with passion but the winning zinger goes to Christopher Preble, Director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. Professor Preble dares to ask why conservatives who opposed nation building under President Clinton now embrace such under President Obama.

Coulter unsheathes her blades on neocons. we yawn.

Ann Coulter went  Jungle Red* on neoconservatives Bill Kristol and Liz Cheney this week over their demands that GOP Chair Michael Steele resign. The fun stuff comes at the back end of her WorldNetDaily column on Wednesday. First she seems shocked that her fellow Republicans would even suggest one’s support for war is tied to his support for the troops. Then she goes right for the throat, Bill Kristol’s throat:

But now I hear it is the official policy of the Republican Party to be for all wars, irrespective of our national interest. What if Obama decides to invade England because he’s still ticked off about that Churchill bust? Can Michael Steele and I object to that? Or would that demoralize the troops? Our troops are the most magnificent in the world, but they’re not the ones setting military policy. The president is – and he’s basing his war strategy on the chants of Moveon.org cretins. Nonetheless, Bill Kristol and Liz Cheney have demanded that Steele resign as head of the RNC for saying Afghanistan is now Obama’s war – and a badly thought-out one at that. (Didn’t liberals warn us that neoconservatives want permanent war?) I thought the irreducible requirements of Republicanism were being for life, small government and a strong national defense, but I guess permanent war is on the platter now, too. Of course, if Kristol is writing the rules for being a Republican, we’re all going to have to get on board for amnesty and a “National Greatness Project,” too – other Kristol ideas for the Republican Party. Also, John McCain. Kristol was an early backer of McCain for president – and look how great that turned out! Inasmuch as demanding resignations is another new Republican position, here’s mine: Bill Kristol and Liz Cheney must resign immediately.

Matt Cockerill over at The American Conservative blog calls this an “antiwar column.” Maybe. That would be hopeful. Certainly James Antle thinks the Tea Party movement is ripe for it. And it is refreshing to hear a Republican hatchet decry unconditional support for war after nearly ten years of unconditionally supporting war. But it’s her terrifying interpretation of history that splashes ice cold water on the whole fantasy:

Yes, Bush invaded Afghanistan soon after Sept. 11. Within the first few months we had toppled the Taliban, killed or captured hundreds of al-Qaida fighters and arranged for democratic elections, resulting in an American-friendly government.

Then Bush declared success and turned his attention to Iraq, leaving minimal troops behind in Afghanistan to prevent Osama bin Laden from regrouping, swat down al-Qaida fighters and gather intelligence.

Having some vague concept of America’s national interest – unlike liberals – the Bush administration could see that a country of illiterate peasants living in caves ruled by “warlords” was not a primo target for “nation-building.”

By contrast, Iraq had a young, educated, pro-Western populace that was ideal for regime change.

Cockerill asks if Coulter’s outcry “is progress or mere partisanship? Time will tell.” My gut is this is Ann lashing out at the enemy in her own Long War against the conservative elite at the Weekly Standard and National Review. It is Ann making sure that Obama completely owns the disaster in Afghanistan by rewriting current and past history on a fourth grade reading level. It is Ann making sure we don’t forget she is still around and is one tough broad.

But it is not a step forward, but a shuffle in place, her stilettos still kicking out at the usual “cretins” in her universe, a place where Bush is Popeye and Obama is Olive Oyl, and where Coulter spits, “no grass grows, ever.”**

* From The Women (1939): “I’ve had two years to grow claws mother. Jungle red!”

** Also from The Women: “You’re passing up a swell chance, honey. Where I spit no grass grows ever!”

Eric Garris on Bill Meyer Show

Antiwar.com founder and webmaster Eric Garris will be interviewed on the Bill Meyer Show Wednesday, July 7th at 7:05am Pacific/10:05am Eastern. The topic will be the recent comments by Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele on Afghanistan.

Listeners can enjoy the audio stream as well as a video feed from the host here.

Update: Mr. Garris also discussed the case of Michael Steele on The Karel Show on Green960 AM earlier today (July 6th.) Alternate format here.

He NAILS it!

Regular antiwar.com contributor Tom Engelhardt NAILS it – – – on Democracy Now! too.

Tom Engelhardt on “The American Way of War: How Bush’s Wars Became Obama’s” Here: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/18/afghan

We’ve Always Been at War With… Line, Please

Poor John Cornyn. It’s tough to keep track of all the people we may have to murder indiscriminately.

A key US Senator who has extensively supported India, including the passage of the nuclear deal, stunned his Indian and Indian-American supporters this weekend when he identified India as a US national security threat and clubbed it with North Korea and Iran, while arguing for continuing the F-22 fighter jet programme, which would keep up to 100,000 jobs going in the US.

”It (the F-22 program) is important to our national security because we’re not just fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Texas’ Republican Senator John Cornyn said in a TV interview. “We’re fighting – we have graver threats and greater threats than that: From a rising India, with increased exercise of their military power; Russia; Iran, that’s threatening to build a nuclear weapon; with North Korea, shooting intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of hitting American soil.”

Turns out the Senator had a ‘slip of the tongue.’

”Senator Cornyn misspoke saying ‘India’ when he meant to say ‘China.’ As Founder and Co-chairman of the Senate India Caucus, no Senator has greater respect or admiration for India or values our relationship with them more. Sen. Cornyn regrets the mistake and apologizes for any misunderstanding this may have caused,” his spokesman Kevin McLaughlin clarified after the remarks were brought to his notice.

Well, let’s not be so hasty. After we go to war with China (yes, that really was the soothing clarification), we’ll have to stop the Indians from supplying the insurgents across the border.