We Can Kill You, and You May Not Object

Shorter Tom Friedman:

It's perfectly okay, and even admirable and required, for us to invade and occupy countries that don't threaten us, murder hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, destroy entire nations, and destabilize the broader Middle East.

It is definitely not okay for anyone who lives in those other countries to object. If they understood what's good for them, they'd shut up and die.

It's sort of American Exceptionalism for Dummies, written by one of the chief dummies.

P.S. If you can't access the entire article, you may think I misrepresent Friedman's argument. If so, I provide one key sentence: "It would be depressing to see the jihadists influence our politics with a Tet-like media/war frenzy." In Friedman's world, you see, all those Iraqis who oppose the U.S. occupation and who seek to control their own lives are "jihadists." They just don't understand that we're trying to improve them, and bring them the blessings of liberty.

You know, the blessings Bush signed away yesterday.

If you want to read a coherent and genuinely informed account of what's happening in Iraq now and see why we must leave as quickly as possible, consult Patrick Cockburn.