Orientalism

Marty Peretz of the New Republic.

All the talk of we could have done it better than Bush and trying to speak for what Iraqis really want - because some neocon magazine editor really knows - is Orientalism of the highest order, which is to say an assumption of one's omniscience and infalibility to the detriment of being able to more objectively assess reality. In Peretz's case, this has a lot to do with Israel. From over at TPMCafe:

It's pretty interesting once you understand that Peretz has only one yardstick
by which he judges people: pro-Israel and anti-Israel. The subcategory is Jewish
or not Jewish.

The only strong feeling I have towards Israel is that it be treated no differently from any other foreign country. I think it is wrong for an American to place the interests of one foreign country above all others countries, especially his own. Peretz's overtly negative characterization of Iraqis - never mind it ignores the horrors Bush committed because Bush supports Israel - is a result of his hawkish unilateralism and is completely wrong minded. It leads him to make spurious attributions - and not make others - to both Bush and Iraq. Yglesias has more, via the first link, on how wrong Peretz is.

This last point is important. Peretz was wrong from the beginning, is wrong, and will most likely continue to be wrong. Therefore, no one should pay attention to him. He is pathetic and belongs circle jerking with the rest of the Keyboard Kommandos.