Psychopathology on Parade

Boy, oh boy. I've written about the particularly virulent and homicidal dementia that consumes Ralph Peters before. If you want to know what pure, undiluted rage looks like in human form, with no other element whatsoever mitigating the murderous hatred that defines him, Ralph Peters is your go-to guy.

The total collapse of Our Excellent Imperial Adventure in Iraq has caused Peters to become completely unhinged. Let's stroll through the newest entry in Clinical Studies of War Lovers Who Are Batshit Crazy Insane. Here's Peters' intro:

YOU can call her a blond, but she's still a redhead. The endless spitting match over whether Iraq is in a state of civil war is a media-driven grudge fight that ignores the complex reality. It's name-calling, not analysis.

A lot of this is just "get Bush" stuff from journalists whose biased reporting helped shape the dismal reality in Iraq and who now crow that they were right all along - the media as a self-licking ice-cream cone.

"A self-licking ice-cream cone." Hmm.

Hmm.

I just can't do it. Fill in your own explanation. It'll probably be dirtier than mine anyway. But let's not lose sight of the first part of that sentence, about "journalists whose biased reporting helped shape the dismal reality in Iraq..." I'm so naive. I actually thought that the actions of our armed forces and the decisions of our political and military leaders had something to do with that "dismal reality." Live and learn. Thanks, Ralph! (Here's a serious discussion of a variant of the identical lie offered by Mark Steyn, and I wrote a follow-up essay on the same subject.)

Peters offers his usual ration of pure bloodlust:

Really taking on our enemies - not least Moqtada al-Sadr and his legion of thugs - would require us to defy the elected Baghdad government we sponsored. To kill those who need killing to pacify Iraq and re-establish our ascendancy would mean that we would again become an outright occupying power.

Not that it really matters, but doing what it would take to win would also tear up our permission slip from the United Nations.

Then Peters becomes...um...more "colorful" again:

Let's hope that President Bush will make it hurt-so-bad-he-can't-sit-down clear to Prime Minster Nouri al-Maliki at their meeting in Jordan today that Allah helps those who help themselves. Our soldiers and Marines can't continue to serve as human shields for a corrupt, feckless government. Maliki must get serious about Iraq's problems immediately.

Hmm.

Hmm.

You fill it in again. So to speak.

And finally, Peters returns to one of his primary themes:

And let's not lose sight of the incontestable fact that, while being liked in the Middle East would be nice, being feared by our enemies is essential.

I feel obliged to point out still one more time that, until our immoral and illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, we had no "enemies" in that country that mattered a damn in terms of our national security.

Not that this is any kind of news, but there is something very seriously wrong with these people. There are many things very seriously wrong with these people.

And I might overlook all the rest, but I won't be able to fully enjoy an ice-cream cone for a long time. That is unforgivable. Damn you, Ralph Peters!