Jonah Goldberg -- The Verbal Incontinent

This morning, Jonah Goldberg (columnist, National Review Editor), openly admitted in his column that the Iraq Invasion was a mistake. Nothing too interesting there. I suspect Jonah was simply getting lonely, what with only the guys at the Weekly Standard to keep him company -- and they keep forgetting the rules of Uno. The diatribe that followed, however, was remarkable for two reasons.

First, Goldberg takes the peculiar position that, while he now concedes the invasion was a mistake, everyone else who holds that position was and is wrong. They were wrong because they are peaceniks who oppose U.S. interests, they were wrong because they did not buy the cherry picked intelligence used to justify the invasion. (Goldberg conveniently calls the process of selecting pro war intelligence a "global intelligence failure.") So, Jonah was right to favor the invasions and now right when he says it was a mistake. And others were wrong to oppose the invasion and now wrong to say it was a mistake. Apparently, the sun shines benevolently on Jonah's intellect. He is never wrong, particularly when he is right about being wrong.

Perhaps more interesting than Jonah's peculiar method of reconciling diametrically opposed positions -- in a way quite flattering to him -- is Jonah's reason why he was right to support the invasion. You see, it was fully in line with America's "interests." Fascinanting. So as long as something is in our "interest," no other justification need be offered, no moral qualms need be overcome. The Goldberg Doctrine will come as hearty news to North Korea, who has decided that a nuclear weapon is in their "interest." It will come as happy news to Hamas, who believe that a Middle East free of Israel is in their "interest." Israel will also be comforted, as they have always thought that an Israel free of Arabs would make life a lot easier.

One does not have to be a genius to see the problem of conflating one's "interests" with what is right. But that is where the rest of he anti-war movement parts with Jonah. The rest of the movement realizes that there are certain values that transcend any country's interests. The preservation of life and sovereignty to name just two. There is nothing noble or redeeming about sacrificing those values, or the lives of others to pursue your "interests." Human beings are an end. They are not a means. You cannot sacrifice them just because you had a nifty idea about democracy in the Middle east or a fear about weapons of mass destruction that was justified only in a kind/sort/maybe type of way.


I wrote this as though the fallacy of Mr. Goldberg reasoning is self evident. The trouble is that for a great mass of Americans, it is not.