Jackie Danicki

My homeboy Ben Casnocha has some interesting notes from New York Times columnist David Brooks’ talk in San Francisco last night. One of Brooks’ points - that if the US pulls out of Iraq early, the first people to be murdered will be those who supported democracy and freedom - is one I always think of when I hear ‘peace’ activists arguing that we need to pull out for the sake of ‘innocent Iraqis’. In their view, are the insurgents the actual innocents? In their view, are the pro-democracy Iraqis not innocent? I’m genuinely curious about how they reconcile this.

This reminds me that Antoine and I were walking down King Street in Hammersmith last weekend and were approached by some of those out-of-Iraq-now loonies (the same ones who think Kim Jong Il is a swell guy). We were tempted to tell them that we agreed with them: “Yeah, we need to get out of Iraq NOW. We need the troops for Iran and Syria!” But it’s rarely worth engaging with these sorts.

Filed under: Life