Perry on Sully
From Perry on PoliticsTimothy Perry gets a chat with Andrew Sullivan, here is a bit from the elections segment:
TP: You have been a strong supporter of the president when it came to his handling of the war. Lately there have been several setbacks that are causing concerns. Candidate Kerry has suggested that he considers the war to be more of a "law enforcement" issue than a war. My opinion is that this policy was tried and failed, and therefore a flawed view of the current position we are in. What do you feel is the best course of action and how would the major differences be in how the two candidates acted in the next four years?
AS: I'm with you. But I'm encouraged by some of the things Kerry has been saying recently, and I am worried by the lack of international legitimacy our noble effort in Iraq lacks. Not because international legitimacy is in itself indispensable or a good thing; but because it helps us achieve our goal. That's why I favored the UN approach to begin with. In general I trust Bush more than Kerry in this war - far more. But I'm open to persuasion and don't think of myself as blindly in support of a person. If another person can better achieve our goals, the beauty of a democracy, unlike a dictatorship, is that we can change leaders quite easily.
Matt's Chat
It is painful to see such an acclaimed pundit get it so wrong. Sullivan apparently doesn't realize that Kerry is fishing for votes and the no matter what he says now, he will always be in "law enforcement" mode when it comes to the War on Terror.Also, I think Sullivan places too much emphasis on "international legitimacy." First of all, Sullivan seems to by the Kerry rhetoric that the Coalition of the Willing is somehow fraudulant. It isn't. If I am reading between th lines correctly, Sullivan would support UN management of Iraq. That would really turn Iraq into a quagmire. All you need to do in order to see that is check out Kosovo and Rwanda. History shows us that the UN is not very good at this sort of mission.
I do agree with Sullivan on one thing: if there was another person who could do the job better than President Bush, I would consider shifting my support. The reality is that there isn't a viable candidate in this election cycle that beats the President on the primary issue of the day: prosecuting the global war on terror. The loonatic left fringe have hijacked the Democratic Party and there are no third-party candidates that will get the job done either. President Bush and his team has done a miraculous job fighting this war and deserve the opportunity to continue with their program. Afterall, it is working; we are winning.
UPDATE
Lileks' The Bleat takes Sullivan to task for something completely different: a Sullivan propossed gas tax.Mark's Remarks
OK, Andrew, let's review....
You talk about achieving the goal of the beauty of a democracy, then obviously you WERE NOT listening very well to the Russert interview, where Kerry basically said he didn't care what Iraq looked like as long as it was stable. Doesn't sound like someone committed to democracy, there, Sully, maybe you should check the tape...
Also, you talk about the UN approach. Tell me, sir, where has the UN approach worked? Rwanda? Still fighting....Kosovo? Still policing....Sierra Leone? You guessed it. Korea? Wow, we ended up with a divided country...Somalia? I guess you wouldn't mind soldiers dragged through the streets if the UN were in charge, right, Andy? Mr. Sullivan, I cannot believe how full of it you have become. You have, because of other issues not related to terror, hedged your support of this President.
Mr. Kerry, you should realize, is fishing for votes. He is trying to talk tough. Similarly to the same way Jimmy Carter talked tough to the Arabs who took our embassy...what happened there? 444 days of Hell for those people. The same way Carter talked tough to the Soviets...what happened there? Afghanistan. Sir, for one whom I usually agree with, you are terribly off, and quite frankly, it is sad. You obviously have fallen prey to the hype, or in your effort to hate Bush for another issue, you are trying really hard to swing toward Kerry, even though every instinct is telling you not to. Shame on you, Mr. Sullivan. I expected better.
