[Mb-civic] NYTimes.com Article: The Arabian Candidate

[michael at intrafi.com]

The article below from NYTimes.com 
has been sent to you by michael at intrafi.com.


READ THIS!
I have written if I were a terrorist I would not want Kerry to be elected. 
Michael

michael at intrafi.com


/--------- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight ------------\

THE CLEARING - NOW PLAYING IN SELECT CITIES

THE CLEARING stars ROBERT REDFORD and HELEN MIRREN as Wayne
and Eileen Hayes - a husband and wife living the American
Dream. Together they've raised two children and struggled to
build a successful business from the ground up. When Wayne
is kidnapped by Arnold Mack (WILLEM DAFOE), and held for
ransom in a remote forest, the couple's world is turned
inside out.

Buy tickets now at:
http://movies.channel.aol.com/movie/main.adp?mid=17891

\----------------------------------------------------------/


The Arabian Candidate

July 20, 2004
 By PAUL KRUGMAN 



 

In the original version of "The Manchurian Candidate,"
Senator John Iselin, whom Chinese agents are plotting to
put in the White House, is a right-wing demagogue modeled
on Senator Joseph McCarthy. As Roger Ebert wrote, the plan
is to "use anticommunist hysteria as a cover for a
communist takeover." 

The movie doesn't say what Iselin would have done if the
plot had succeeded. Presumably, however, he wouldn't have
openly turned traitor. Instead, he would have used his
position to undermine national security, while posing as
America's staunchest defender against communist evil. 

So let's imagine an update - not the remake with Denzel
Washington, which I haven't seen, but my own version. This
time the enemies would be Islamic fanatics, who install as
their puppet president a demagogue who poses as the
nation's defender against terrorist evildoers. 

The Arabian candidate wouldn't openly help terrorists.
Instead, he would serve their cause while pretending to be
their enemy. 

After an attack, he would strike back at the terrorist
base, a necessary action to preserve his image of
toughness, but botch the follow-up, allowing the terrorist
leaders to escape. Once the public's attention shifted, he
would systematically squander the military victory:
committing too few soldiers, reneging on promises of
economic aid. Soon, warlords would once again rule most of
the country, the heroin trade would be booming, and
terrorist allies would make a comeback. 

Meanwhile, he would lead America into a war against a
country that posed no imminent threat. He would insinuate,
without saying anything literally false, that it was
somehow responsible for the terrorist attack. This
unnecessary war would alienate our allies and tie down a
large part of our military. At the same time, the Arabian
candidate would neglect the pursuit of those who attacked
us, and do nothing about regimes that really shelter
anti-American terrorists and really are building nuclear
weapons. 

Again, he would take care to squander a military victory.
The Arabian candidate and his co-conspirators would block
all planning for the war's aftermath; they would arrange
for our army to allow looters to destroy much of the
country's infrastructure. Then they would disband the
defeated regime's army, turning hundreds of thousands of
trained soldiers into disgruntled potential insurgents. 

After this it would be easy to sabotage the occupied
country's reconstruction, simply by failing to spend aid
funds or rein in cronyism and corruption. Power outages,
overflowing sewage and unemployment would swell the ranks
of our enemies. 

Who knows? The Arabian candidate might even be able to
deprive America of the moral high ground, no mean trick
when our enemies are mass murderers, by creating a climate
in which U.S. guards torture, humiliate and starve
prisoners, most of them innocent or guilty of only petty
crimes. 

At home, the Arabian candidate would leave the nation
vulnerable, doing almost nothing to secure ports, chemical
plants and other potential targets. He would stonewall
investigations into why the initial terrorist attack
succeeded. And by repeatedly issuing vague terror warnings
obviously timed to drown out unfavorable political news,
his officials would ensure public indifference if and when
a real threat is announced. 

Last but not least, by blatantly exploiting the terrorist
threat for personal political gain, he would undermine the
nation's unity in the face of its enemies, sowing suspicion
about the government's motives. 

O.K., end of conceit. President Bush isn't actually an Al
Qaeda mole, with Dick Cheney his controller. Mr. Bush's
"war on terror" has, however, played with eerie perfection
into Osama bin Laden's hands - while Mr. Bush's supporters,
impressed by his tough talk, see him as America's champion
against the evildoers. 

Last week, Republican officials in Kentucky applauded
bumper stickers distributed at G.O.P. offices that read,
"Kerry is bin Laden's man/Bush is mine." Administration
officials haven't gone that far, but when Tom Ridge offered
a specifics-free warning about a terrorist attack timed to
"disrupt our democratic process," many people thought he
was implying that Al Qaeda wants George Bush to lose. In
reality, all infidels probably look alike to the
terrorists, but if they do have a preference, nothing in
Mr. Bush's record would make them unhappy at the prospect
of four more years. 

E-mail: krugman at nytimes.com 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/20/opinion/20krug.html?ex=1091340309&ei=1&en=78c9f946dff31da5


---------------------------------

Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine
reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like!
Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy
now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here:

http://homedelivery.nytimes.com/HDS/SubscriptionT1.do?mode=SubscriptionT1&ExternalMediaCode=W24AF



HOW TO ADVERTISE
---------------------------------
For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters 
or other creative advertising opportunities with The 
New York Times on the Web, please contact
onlinesales at nytimes.com or visit our online media 
kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo

For general information about NYTimes.com, write to 
help at nytimes.com.  

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company