Help In These Times reach its five-week $10,000 online fundraising goal! With two weeks left, we're only halfway there. Donate now!

The Radical Conservative

Vietnam veteran and author Andrew Bacevich on American decadence and the failure of the Iraq War.

By David Barsamian

At least at first glance, Andrew Bacevich might seem an unlikely candidate to have become one of the Iraq War’s fiercest critics. A graduate of West Point and a Vietnam War veteran, Bacevich spent 23 years in the military before retiring as a colonel. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he contributed to the conservative Weekly Standard and National Review.… return to article

  • subscribe to print magazine

  • Zoom OutZoom In Reader Comments (2)

    Page 1 of 1 pages

    If all the US was looking for was a place to make a template, why not Yemen?  Or even Syria?  All that Mr. Bacevich has shown is that even an intelligent and broad-minded knee jerk apologist is still a knee jerk apologist.

    China Posted by mschlee on Jan 28, 2009 at 2:47 AM

    Didn’t you read the interview? Bacevich didn’t say he agreed with the Bush “template” (in fact he disagreed with the Iraq War at the beginning), he was simply explaining what the Bush mindset was.

    To explain others actions is not being an apologist, that’s analysis. He even described that “template” as bizarre. And that’s an apologist?

    So I again wonder, did you bother to actually read the interview with full attention or did you just scan for highlights as you multitasked other things? I ask this because that is how Americans read and take in information these days, thereby usually not even understanding what they read.

    United States Posted by Jon B on Jan 30, 2009 at 4:32 PM
    Page 1 of 1 pages

  • register a new account »Posting Security

    To participate in our forums, please register for a free account.
     

    Retreive lost password »

Article Appeared in this Issue

Full contents
Past issues

Also by David Barsamian
  • The Radical Conservative
    Vietnam veteran and author Andrew Bacevich on American decadence and the failure of the Iraq War.
  • Citizen Gore Vidal
    Elections won't reverse the decline of American democracy, the prolific literary legend says
Popular Discussions