“The problem with opposition senators like Obama running for President calling for tough military action—in this case going into Pakistan—is twofold: he has no fides after wanting to get out asap from Iraq and opposing much of the post 9/11 legislation that has helped to keep us safe. And two, and far more importantly, he is a US Senator after all, and has had plenty of time to introduce legislation authorizing the invasion of a sovereign country. Anything less and it is just theatrical politics”. –Victor Davis Hanson
HP,
I apologize in advance for constantly criticizng these quotes, but this one is even worse than the previous one.
You, me, Victor Davis Hansen,and everyone else in the world understands the context of the question that Obama was addressing - namely, would Obama authorize a military strike on Osama Bin Laden if his whereabouts were well known and lied within Pakistan. Yet Hansen simply chooses to ignore the context of the question - disingenuously suggesting that the complex scenario Obama was responding to is the de facto situation of today. It is not.
To the contrary, Hansen, you, me and everyone else knows that no one knows with any certainty where Osama Bin Laden is holed up. What’s more, we are all in perfect agreement that if we did know precisely where he was,and if he was in Pakistan, we would bomb the place.
Which is precisely the position that Obama has taken.
So, in conclusion… Victor Davis Hansen is a partisan hack. If asked the question Obama was asked, Davis would answer precisely as Obama did. If he were a Senator, Davis would act precisely as Obama has. His motivation is obvious - to smear the opposition party’s candidate.
LaurenceB,
No apology necessary. I don’t learn when people agree with my posts, I learn when they disagree and explain why. Something you do intelligently and poignantly. So please, criticize more!
To be fair to Hanson, his full reasoning behind the quote is here. Here is a relevant section:
Perhaps I shouldn’t have quoted his single statement above without providing more context.