The Weekly Dish

Clark for the war

Any pretense that the maverick general might have been able to sustain about his antiwar stance must now surely collapse. As late as September 2002, he was testifying before Congress on the necessity for dealing with Saddam Hussein. The Drudge Report has the smoking gun. The evil of unilateralism? Nah.

“Every president has deployed forces as necessary to take action,” retired Gen. Wesley Clark explained. “He’s done so without multilateral support if necessary. He’s done so in advance of conflict if necessary.” A Saddam-al Qaeda link? Probably, says the general: “It’ s normal. It’s natural. These are a lot of bad actors in the same region together. They are going to bump into each other. They are going to exchange information. They’re going to feel each other out and see whether there are opportunities to cooperate. That’s inevitable in this region, and I think it’s clear that regardless of whether or not such evidence is produced of these connections that Saddam Hussein is a threat.”

Much of what Mr. Clark said is sensible and sound. But what it means is that he is now and has been for some time a massive liar. A little over a year later, in October 2003, Mr. Clark declared, “I’ve been very consistent … I’ve been against this war from the beginning … I was against it last summer, I was against it in the fall, I was against it in the winter, I was against it in the spring. And I’m against it now.” None of this was inevitable. Mr. Clark could easily have entered the race as prowar.

Rep. Dick Gephardt and Sen. Joe Lieberman have had the temerity to stand up for their beliefs. But Mr. Clark decided to pander, which means he started to lie. His candidacy should surely now be over. If he can lie so egregiously about the central issue of the campaign, he can lie about anything. Suddenly, I begin to understand why the Clintons like him so much. He’s one of them.

Britney for Bush

Yes, it’s true. Britney Spears is on the same wavelength as the president when it comes to civil marriage. “I do believe in the sanctity of marriage, I totally do,” she told MTV, days after her scared marriage lasted 55 hours.

Yes, she got married as a “joke.” But, hey, the sanctity of marriage isn’t affected by Las Vegas quickies, by serial divorce, rampant illegitimacy, or any other symptoms of heterosexual failure. The only thing that matters is keeping gays from having committed relationships. That really would be the end of the world.

Penn comes around

The actor has been back in Iraq and writing about what he saw. The piece he produced is complex and nuanced. The man is intelligent! (He’s also, of course, a fantastic actor). But I was struck by this concession from someone previously implacably opposed to intervention: “For Iraqis, there was no prowarorantiwar movement last spring when the United States invaded their country. That, in their view, was a predominantly Western debate. They’re used to war; they’re used to gunshots. What’s new is this tiny seed and taste of freedom. It is a compelling experience to have been in Baghdad just one year ago, where not a single Iraqi expressed to me opinions outside Ba’athist party lines, and just one year later, when so many express their opinions and so many opinions compete for attention. Where the debate is similar to that in the United States is over the way in which the business of war will administer the opportunity for peace and freedom, and the reasonable expectation of Iraqi self-rule.”

There is still, of course, immense danger and instability. But it is good to see the left regain some of its moral bearings and also see the good that we have done.

Germans come around

Even Europe’s Saddam-backers have begun to notice improvements in Iraq:

“Business is booming especially with no taxes to pay. Office furniture is currently in high demand as new companies are being established all over … There are modest loans from the occupational authority for those seeking to start a small business … In Baghdad the internet cafes are shooting out of the ground like mushrooms. Even in distant small towns you find some.”

That’s from the Berlin Morning Post.Eventually,thetruth emerges.