The Emerging "Neocon" Alibi on Iraq

[SteveMetz]

Rewriting history this side of the Atlantic has yet to appear, largely as Gordon Brown's government is trying to ignore Tony Blair's leadership. Few I think here will be brave enough to publically say "We were right to invade". Many of the politicians involved have left the limelight.

The impact of how intelligence is used to persaude the public may have a longer shelf life; many commentators here say the legacy of the Iraq invasion means the public will remain sceptical, if not hostile to intelligence.

Side issues, like the mysterious death or suicide of Dr David Kelly, a government scientist deeply involved in disarming Iraq, who spoke out of turn to the BBC, arouse some attention and a book on the subject is in it's fourth impression (since late 2007).

davidbfpo

I gave a talk on insurgency week before last at the Royal College of Defence Studies and was surprised at how little interest there was in Iraq. All they wanted to talk about was Afghanistan. Iraq seems to be purely history.

[J Wolfsberger]

Perle is out of the generation of cold warriors, with a world view shaped by that "competition." How much do you think that experience, in him and others, is shaping our current policy? i.e. Is this group that is referred to as "Neocons" shaped by strong experience that required a hard line in a competition of ideologies?

[SteveMetz]

Perle is out of the generation of cold warriors, with a world view shaped by that "competition." How much do you think that experience, in him and others, is shaping our current policy? i.e. Is this group that is referred to as "Neocons" shaped by strong experience that required a hard line in a competition of ideologies?

IMO, the problem is that people like Perle and Norman Podhoretz whose entire psyche has been was shaped by struggle against an evil enemy have simply shifted fire to "Islamofascism" (which I personally consider a nonsense word, at least the way they use it). Problem is that the notion of World War III or IV which they promote resonates with a lot of Americans, particularly but not exclusively evangelical conservatives.

I was relieved that Guiliani's defeat showed that as we move further from September 11, receptivity to this idea is declining. I don't think there is enough distance that whoever is president can come right out and reject it, but hopefully they can stop comparing the threat from Islamic militants to the the threat from the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. I am worried, though, that this group might become involved in the McCain campaign. But I think he's independent enough to make up his own mind rather than being seduced by misguided advisors.