Ted Kennedy's anti-American slanderPage 2 of 2 -- To be sure, Kennedy has a long history of opposing American interests in the world. During the Cold War, he fought time and time again against US efforts to promote liberty and repel totalitarianism. From demanding the abandonment of South Vietnam and Cambodia in the 1970s to advocating a ''nuclear freeze'' in the 1980s to opposing the liberation of Kuwait in the 1990s, Kennedy has repeatedly raised his voice and cast his vote in support of some of the world's worst tyrants. His furious opposition to the current American campaign in Iraq is in keeping with that ignoble record.
But even for Kennedy, it crosses a line to claim that US forces in Iraq are no better than the monster they toppled. It suggests that his partisan hunger to defeat President Bush is so great that he would rather see America fail in Iraq than let Bush reap the benefit of success. Which is why the silence of the liberal establishment in the face of Kennedy's terrible falsehood is so ominous. For if the United States loses in Iraq, the consequences will be catastrophic. In the words of Mort Kondracke, the respected editor of the journal Roll Call, ''If Iraq descends into chaos, Iraqis who have sided with the United States will be butchered.... America will cease to be seen as the leader in the world, no matter who is president. The forces of evil - Islamic fanatics and Saddamist killers - will be ascendant in the Middle East. The forces of democracy and liberalism will be defeated.''
The war for Iraq and the larger war against Islamist terrorism are no less crucial than were the Cold War and World War II. The stakes are enormous. All Americans - liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans - ought to be pulling for a US victory, whether or not they favored going into Iraq. There is nothing wrong with political passion. Nor is there anything wrong with criticizing the administration's conduct of the war. But accusing the US Army of being no better than Ba'athist torturers is not constructive criticism. Shrugging when a formidable politician broadcasts such a terrible libel is not responsible citizenship. Those are forms of propaganda, and propaganda in wartime is a lethal weapon. To turn that weapon against the United States is to give aid and comfort to the enemy.
Jeff Jacoby's e-mail address is jacoby@globe.com. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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