The Neocon Challenged

Last week we took note of Tucker Carlson's explosive interview with Ralph Peters and Max Boot. Here's the episode with Boot, which is the more important of the two:

Boot is an intellectual. He writes books. He has a fellowship and a fancy pants foreign policy think tank.

Watching this clip one gets the impression that this was the first time in decades Boot's been challenged. He didn't do very well, did he?

Over at the National Interest we have an interesting article on the episode. Basically, Carlson was once a hawk but not anymore.

See, speaking as a neocons myself, the problem is your always looking for the next enemy. I subscribed to William Kristol's The Weekly Standard from the first issue. All through the late 90's they were ginning up China as the enemy. Now you have to remember something. During the Reagan Administration the people running the state department were neocons, guys like Wolfowitz and Pearle and Abrrams and a host of others. With the Soviet Union gone these guys had nothing to do.

Whether or not the Iraq campaign was wrong or worth it no longer matters. Ten years ago now we were finally winning via the Surge. For our part we are far more interested in the mechanics and details of the Iraq campaign than the arguments for and against. We think the evens of 2006-2008 are fascinating. We will go on record again as supporting the liberation Iraq, still.

The point is we have learned. Syria is basically a smaller version of Iraq and when it comes to intervention we have no stomach for it. That said we don't think a few tomahawk strikes on the Syrian air force are a big deal.

But it seems Boot and company are eager to get into Syria. Worse, they think Russia is the great existential threat. Just like China in the late 90's, the neocons must now gin up Russia as the enemy. Look, Russia is not our friend. We are not best buddies. We're never really going to get on. We rivals, we're adversaries. That doesn't make Russia an existential threat. What the hell do we care if Putin is monkeying around with Ukraine? Besides, Putin is killing a lot of ISIS terrorists, isn't he?

Hey, World War 1990: Arctic Storm, World War 1990: Eastern Storm, and World War 1990: Castro's Folly all have neocon characters like Kristol and Wolfowitz. There's a reason why as the series progresses they become more sinister. From World War 1990: Operation Arctic Storm,

Since the war began, Bull Feathers had remained open 24 hours a day. Located down the street from the Cannon House Office Building, the owner felt it was his patriotic duty to remain open so congressional staff had a place to unwind after Congresses marathon sessions. Besides, he was making a small fortune.

            The time approached midnight as the Vice President's chief of staff sat down at a table in the back corner, far away from the chattering young congressional staffers. The chief watched in amusement. Young people dropped shot glasses into beer classes and chugged. One young man did a Jell-O shot from between the breasts of a young woman, the pair shouted 'bipartisanship!' and high fived.  The chief  wasn't surprised by the display. His colleagues at the District's major universities, George Washington and Georgetown, reported that students were skipping class, ignoring course work and generally enjoying themselves. A certain fatalism had set in amongst the young, he had noticed, a consequence, he supposed of being raised on tales of nuclear Armageddon. He wondered what he would do if he were twenty years old.

            The chief finally saw the rest of his party. The under secretary of defense walked past the gaggle of young drunks and sat down. The two shook hands.

            'Bill,' the undersecretary said, 'Thanks for meeting me here.'

            'Not at all, Paul,' Bill replied. He pointed to his drink, 'Want one?'

            'Sure.'

            Paul flagged down a waitress and ordered a whisky.

            Bill nodded to the young people at the bar and said, 'You think they know something we don't?'

            Paul smirked, 'I think they're acting like young people.'

            Bill shook his head. 'The whole city is paralyzed. Those who haven't left town stay indoors. It took me ten minutes to get here from my house in Northern Virginia.'

            'I think those kids,' Paul nodded to the bar again, 'are using this as an excuse.'

            Bill sipped his drink and shook his head. 'I think if you had seen movies like The Day After as a kid, you might be fatalistic about the war.'

            'Eh. I saw On the Beach as a kid.' Paul sipped his drink. 'Business?'

            'Business,' Bill agreed.

            'Tell me, what does your boss think about the war?'

            'He doesn't,' said Bill. 'The Vice President is grateful that the President has found a role for him.'

            'I think inviting him to the NSA meetings is the right thing,' Paul said. 'I know the president insisted, in case something happens to him, he wants Quayle up to speed.'

            Bill nodded.

            'Let me ask you, what does the vice president think should happen next?'

            Bill laughed. 'So that's what this is about.'

            Paul nodded.

            'The Vice President is not in the policy loop and he hasn't expressed one way or the other what he thinks should happen next.'

            'Do you know what transpired at meeting at St. John  last week?'

            'No.'

            'Thatcher wants to invade Eastern Europe.'        

            'Jesus.'                                                                                                                

            'So does Kohl.'

            'They're serious?' Bill asked.

            Paul nodded.

            'What does the president think?'

            'He's cautious as you know.'

            'Is that bad?'

            'I didn't say it was bad. Just that he is cautious.'

            'What do you think?'

            'Think about this, Bill, and Thatcher made this point at St. John. What if the war stops, the Soviets recoup, and we have to do this all over again?'

            'Mmmmm,' Bill said in thought.

            'What if it's like 1918 and the Soviet Army feels it's been stabbed in the back?'

            'I see where you're headed.'

            'Now think about this, and I think you'll agree. What if we win the war decisively? What if we took away the Soviet's ability to wage war on the west?'

            'You mean, what if we free Eastern Europe.'

            Paul nodded.

            For a moment, Bill imagined the possibilities.

            'We can go even further, I think. '

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 [SA1]really Will ?!?!?!?!?

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