It Ain’t Even A Contest

Andrew Sullivan cheerleads as Christopher Hitchens smacks down Juan Cole on Iran’s desires to start the Holocaust, Part Two. As can be expected, Cole goes for his typical cheap shots, while Hitchens unleashes one of the world’s most singularly devastating intellects. Cole’s specialty was 19th Century Arab literature – his current speciality is hateful blog commentary. There can be no mistaking Iran’s intent towards Israel – unless, like Cole, one is willfully blind to the reality of the situation.

The West cannot merely and blindly assume that Ahmadinejad’s apocalyptic rhetoric is mere bluster. It is only a matter of time before Iran develops nuclear weapons, and once they do there is an unacceptably large chance that they will use those weapons to attack Israel or another nation. Conventional deterrence can’t be counted upon when the leader of Iran is the member of a mystical sect who thinks that its their job to bring about the coming of the Imam Mahdi. Allowing someone that dangerous to obtain some of the most dangerous weapons on the planet is an unacceptable risk – and the world may just be faced with the unthinkable.

Cole’s blindness to that threat is a sign of his fundamental intellectual dishonesty, and his crude attacks against Hitchens further evidence of that fact. Cole’s constant apologia for tyrannical regimes makes him the very model of a “useful idiot” – his fluency in Middle Eastern languages and literature aside. Even an advanced degree can’t mask such a fundamental blindness, and in a war of wits between anyone and Christopher Hitchens, may God have mercy on the poor dumb bastard’s soul who’d go against that wit.

(As a note, I apologize to any readers who may have suddenly had visions of Andrew Sullivan in a cheerleading outfit…)