Wednesday, September 12, 2007

An unusual critic of Walt & Mearsheimer

Timothy Rutten of the Los Angeles Times is a diehard critic of the Bush Administration, and was (and still is) strongly opposed to the Iraq War. He recently reviewed the Walt & Mearsheimer book, and to say that he disagrees with what he sees as their central thesis (that the malevolent and manipulative "Israel Lobby" led the U.S. into the Iraq War) would be a major understatement: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-rutten12sep12,1,634860.story.

You may have to sign up to be a registered user of the L.A. Times to read this piece. If so, sign up. It's free, and the read is worthwhile.

UPDATE (8:30 a.m., 9/13/07): Victor Davis Hanson, in typically erudite fashion, responds to the Walt & Mearsheimer crowd: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/09/the_world_again_turns_to_jews.html.

6 comments:

Eris said...

Here are some questions for Walt and Mearsheimer and their supporters:

Anti-semites, polemicists and dictators have been writing about the "Jewish control of the world" for some time. Er - about 2,000 years, to be exact.

Starting in Roman Times, to the Blood Libel of the Middle Ages, to the anti-Jewish polemics that fueled the pogroms of Russia, to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, to the rants of Julius Streicher; Josef Goebbels; Adolf Hitler, to Arab propaganda that accelerated after the founding of Israel, to Iran's Ahmadi-Nejad ... and many others ... the claim has been made that the Jews exert undue influence to their own benefit and to the detriment of everyone else.

So, I ask you, Professors Walt and Mearsheimer:

- Which of the historical accusations (those in my list and the others that have occurred) against the Jews do you find true, and which untrue?

- If you believe the historical predecessors to your essay and book on the "Jewish Lobby" were untrue, I also ask you: why are you "correct" now, in 2006-7, when your historical predecessors saying basically the same thing for 2,000 years were not?

- If your historical predecessors were correct in their assessments that Jews controlled the world or exerted undue influence, why have you not referenced these works to bolster your arguments?

Bald Headed Geek said...

Fabulous post, "Eris". If you are a blogger, I would love to see your blog!

BHG

Anonymous said...

Great stuff.

InformaticsMD said...

For my opinions on these issues and a surprise reply from a Big Man on Campus, see my emails to Michael Smerconish, a radio talk show host who's started a furor in Philadelphia over his support of the Walt/Mearsheimer work.

I spoke of the need for increased sensitivity to the angry responses from the Jewish community to Walt and Mearsheimer, responses based on 2,000 years of persecution often started through polemical writings.

My emails were CC'd to Walt and Mearsheimer.

Note the puerile response from someone not on the mailing list, Michael Desch, Professor and Robert M. Gates Chair in Intelligence and National Security Decision-making at TAMU.

Walt and Mearsheimer must have forwarded to him, but don't have the balls to reply themselves.

Stunning.

Email thread is at this link.

Bald Headed Geek said...

Actually, it's not stunning at all. Former President Jimmy Carter similarly refuses to face his critics on his "Peace, not Apartheid" book, despite his claim that all he was trying to do was stir up a debate.

BHG

Anonymous said...

I long for the day when the United States is transformed from a possession of the State of Israel back into a sovereign independent country with its own government.

If Israel has right to its own government, so do American Goyim.