After Afghanistan, No More Moral Blackmail From Failed Global Interventionists
In the nearly two decades since it was published, the column has become something of a Rosetta Stone for deciphering the underlying motivations and mindset of the most ardent proponents of the idea that stable democracies can be imposed by military force from the top down. Like an insect captured in amber, Frum’s essay is a near-perfect specimen of the neoconservative id, equal parts delusion and sanctimony.
Frum attacked legendary conservative columnist Robert Novak for correctly predicting that America’s foray into Afghanistan would be a “futile slaughter”; he attacked Pat Buchanan for correctly predicting that America’s military might wouldn’t be enough to overcome its ignorance of Afghanistan’s culture and history; and he characterized the entire movement of conservatives who opposed the neoconservative plan to democratize the world through military conquest as Vichy apologists whose sole aim was to stand up for terrorist suicide bombers.
After tarring war opponents as Nazi collaborators, Frum transitioned to tarring anyone who opposed open borders and unchecked immigration as racist relics pining for the return of the KKK. “They began by hating neoconservatives,” Frum wrote. “They came to hate their party and this president. They have finished by hating their country.”
“War is a great clarifier,” Frum concluded. “The paleoconservatives have chosen—and the rest of us must choose too. In a time of danger, they have turned their backs on their country. Now we turn our backs on them.”
Frum, who was sent packing from his perch at the American Enterprise Institute for his refusal to do much of anything in exchange for his six-figure sinecure there, was right about one thing: war is a great clarifier.
In the nearly two decades since it was published, the column has become something of a Rosetta Stone for deciphering the underlying motivations and mindset of the most ardent proponents of the idea that stable democracies can be imposed by military force from the top down. Like an insect captured in amber, Frum’s essay is a near-perfect specimen of the neoconservative id, equal parts delusion and sanctimony.
Frum attacked legendary conservative columnist Robert Novak for correctly predicting that America’s foray into Afghanistan would be a “futile slaughter”; he attacked Pat Buchanan for correctly predicting that America’s military might wouldn’t be enough to overcome its ignorance of Afghanistan’s culture and history; and he characterized the entire movement of conservatives who opposed the neoconservative plan to democratize the world through military conquest as Vichy apologists whose sole aim was to stand up for terrorist suicide bombers.
After tarring war opponents as Nazi collaborators, Frum transitioned to tarring anyone who opposed open borders and unchecked immigration as racist relics pining for the return of the KKK. “They began by hating neoconservatives,” Frum wrote. “They came to hate their party and this president. They have finished by hating their country.”
“War is a great clarifier,” Frum concluded. “The paleoconservatives have chosen—and the rest of us must choose too. In a time of danger, they have turned their backs on their country. Now we turn our backs on them.”
Frum, who was sent packing from his perch at the American Enterprise Institute for his refusal to do much of anything in exchange for his six-figure sinecure there, was right about one thing: war is a great clarifier.
