Previously I had an excerpt from the first installment of an interview with Thomas Friedman at The Debate Link. In the second installment Friedman discusses his views on fighting radical Islam. While I don’t agree with him on all points, one area where we do agree is his criticism of George Bush and Dick Cheney, who he considers frauds:
Well what I find so breathtakingly dishonest about Bush and Cheney–and I wrote a column about this after the whole Ned Lamont victory over Lieberman, because as you recall Lamont defeated Lieberman in the primary then Cheney came out and said, “Well, this shows that the Democrats don’t really understand the war on terrorism, the titanic struggle we’re in.” He used it as a way to hit on the Democrats. And my response to that was: “Oh really? Oh really? Democrats don’t understand what a titanic struggle we’re in with these forces of violent radical Islam?” Well if that’s so, Mr. Cheney, then tell me something: If we’re in such a titanic struggle with violent political Islam, why is it that you fought the war in Iraq with the Rumsfeld doctrine of just enough troops to lose, and not the Powell doctrine of overwhelming force? …. And by the way, if we’re in such a titanic struggle, the struggle of our lives, with violent political Islam, why do you keep using it as a wedge issue in domestic politics? Would Roosevelt have done that? How do you think we’re going to win this titanic struggle with a divided country? You think you’re going to win with 50.1% of America? So please. Give me a break. You are just a fraud. This is just a fraud. You keep telling me we’re in a titanic struggle. Yet Ned Lamont doesn’t command our troops. Even Joe Lieberman doesn’t control our energy policy. You guys are the ones with all the levers of power. You have the House, the Senate, the White House, and the Supreme Court. You could have fought this war either seriously or unseriously. And you have chosen to fight it unseriously…. That’s completely fraudulent. And history, ultimately, will be very unkind to these people. It will catch that fraud.