Ezra Klein’s Iraq War Apology & Ted Rall’s Response
Another piece in the fascinating, if limited, wave of apologies coming out lately from the more honest pro-war voices.
Mistakes, Excuses and Painful Lessons From the Iraq War
By Ezra Klein Mar 19, 2013 3:28 PM PTI supported the Iraq War, and I’m sorry.
I have my excuses, of course. I was a college student, young and dumb. I thought that if U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell and former President Bill Clinton and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair all thought it was necessary, then that was because they had intelligence proving as much. I thought there was no way the Bush administration would neglect to plan for the obvious challenges of the aftermath. I turned on the war quickly when I saw how poorly and arrogantly it was being managed.
There are many notable responses, but Ted Rall’s is the most hard hitting:
Christ, what garbage. Who’s “everybody”? I was one of many leftie writers and cartoonists who repeatedly screamed that the Iraq War - like the Afghanistan War, the “Good War” at the time, even for “liberals” like Obama - was illegal, immoral, counterproductive and reckless, with absolutely nothing to recommend it (unless you’re a defense contractor). Not only were we ignored, we were subjected to vicious press censorship that continues to this day while hacks who were wrong wrong wrong kept their high-profile jobs (hi, Tom Friedman). Sorry, Ezra. Keep your apology. On behalf of two million dead Iraqis, I refuse to accept it.
Tell you what: go work at Starbucks. Never express a political opinion again. Don’t vote. That, at least, would be penance.