Revolutionary Moderation

Not everything the left says on the war is gold



Elsewhere in these pages, I have made my thoughts on war, and my perceptions of American motivations for war, abundantly clear.



Back in January, Nelson Mandela made the extraordinary implication that Bush and Blair have no respect for the United Nations because the Secretary-General is black. Christopher Hitchens, an excellent and thoughtful writer who has been nonetheless wrongheaded on the entire question of Iraq, has written why this implication is patently false, and I tend to agree. I mean, yes, Colin Powell was appointed to the administration out of tokenism... he's the token smart person.



I don't think the President and the people closest to him are motivated by racism. Their obvious disconcern or dislike of poor people sometimes produces very racist results, and there is definitely racism in congress (Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Trent Lott!), but no, racism isn't what's driving the United States to blow off the UN or spy on its members.