SO WHO DIDN'T SHOOT THEMSELVES IN THE FOOT OVER IRAQ? | 2003-05-31
As America went to war, National Review had a cover article saying that those on the right who opposed the Iraq War were traitors.
It didn't stick.
In fact, all that National Review managed to do in attacking rightists who opposed the war was exactly what liberals did while opposing the war. They showed their hates.
If you opposed the war by saying Europeans were brilliant and Americans were stupid, you screwed up. But if you had previously said that that Europeans, the United Nations, and leftists hate America, you had a right to dissent on Iraq. The rightists who opposed the Iraq War had consistently done that.
If you opposed the war by saying that neoconservatives just want to use America to please the Israeli Lobby, you may yet be proved right.
The lesson is that if you are going to fight the mainstream, you had better be damned careful you make it clear exactly why you are doing it. Don't join America's enemies against America. Don't join the leftists in their hates.