Doubting Thomas

The pen is mightier than the tank

Yesterday's column "Young, Brave and Muslim" elicited the following e-mail from reader John Primmer:

Today he is cautiously optimistic about the Middle East because many arab youth have sought him out to ask that he keep saying positive things. In other words, if things go well, it will be because he kept writing. Having failed in his Palestinian peace partnership with the Saudi monarchy, he now claims new credibility with the “street.” (Mark Steyn did that one in.) Thomas, like so many other NYT columnists has been an obstruction to administration policies that have been wildly successful, despite that obstruction. Bush may well have been successful earlier had the obstructionists just kept quiet for awhile.

John is correct, the tone of the article is one of pride as if Friedman played a role in all this. And John is also correct in noting the irony here. Friedman, as mouthpiece for Prince Abdullah for the phony "Saudi peace plan" did what he could to prevent the liberation of Iraq and shield the Saudis from scrutiny. And given his expertise in the Middle East, Friedman's avoidance of giving credit to President Bush is all the more blatant when Gail Collins & co. wrote "Mideast Climate Change" that credits the Bush administration for supporting these changes. Too bad that Thomas is too much the partisan to follow suit.

Posted by SoccerDad at March 4, 2005 05:59 AM