Noam ( America Done It ) Chomsky
One of my self-appointed tasks in running MediaRight.ca, is that I read scores of opinion pieces on the Afghan conflict every few days. By now they are all beginning to sound familiar, because few writers from either side of the aisle bring novel ideas to the table.
My disgust though, at those “opposed” to the ISAF, NATO, and United Nations mission in Afghanistan is growing. Before you jump to the obvious conclusion that I’m just a rightwing nut who worships George Bush’s spurs and grovels as the feet of Stephen Harper, hear me out.
I fully acknowledge that opposition to the conflict is a right. Opposing ISAF, NATO, and even America for that matter, is one’s right if they live in a Western Democracy. So, it is not opposition that gets my ire up, it is instead the disingenuous modus operandi of the left. Simply put, leftists live and breath to oppose the right no matter the cause, no matter the issue, no matter the risk to themselves and their country.
A test of my theory is easy. Examine any “opposition” opinion piece. Check for constructive criticism and a balanced point of view. Just in case your rusty on what constructive criticism and balance are, I’ll refresh your memory.
Constructive criticism always recognizes context. In other words, it acknowledges the realities, the history, facts on the ground, efforts made thus far, difficulties, and successes, and in this light it offers alternatives. But, reading the standard leftist diatribes now plugging the pages of the broadsheets, which by the way make up 80% of all op-ed, one would conclude that every step, every utterance, every move, every expenditure, every battle, and every thought ever held or enacted by those prosecuting the Afghan conflict, is flawed.
Now stop and think about it for a moment. Imagine, believing that every single action taken in the Afghan conflict has been defective. Only a deluded fool, or a religiously zealous ideologue, could possible believe such, yet that’s what the world of opinion writing within the media would lead us to believe. So fixated on opposition is the left, that it can’t even get itself to give praise where praise is due. So engrossed on opposition is the left, that it can’t become a constructive partner in a conflict where Canadian and other Western men and women are dieing. So obsessed with opposing is the left, that it is willing to side with the enemy by undermining the national effort.
It is dumbfounding, that those who railed against the Iraq War on the grounds that it was not United Nations Sanctioned, are now railing against a United Nations sanctioned effort. Surely, something has been done right in Afghanistan. Yet, reading dozens of op-eds every few days confirms for me that the left is solely bent on protest and opposition. Frankly, it’s pathologic.
Furthermore, any admission of problems, of difficulty, or change in tactics by those prosecuting the war on the Taliban, brings on a shrieking torrent of finger pointing by the left; “I told you so!”, “Even HE wants to negotiate with terrorists”, “He admitted it might not be winnable!” In other words, any chance for reasoned dialogue or even cooperation is instantly destroyed by the braying left. Every single thing done by ISAF, NATO, America, the UN, and Canada in Afghanistan is “wrong”. Even when those directing the Afghan mission openly and honestly reassess and react to changing situations, the left simply fumes all the louder.
Obsessive, fixated, pathological, obstinate, and mulish, characterize the modern day left; opposition at all costs and no matter the cost is its operational manual, and a driving hate of the right its impetus. If you don’t believe me, just read the op-eds and begin counting the “constructive” ones. Good luck.
Note: The most objective “opposition” opinion pieces I’ve found usually originate in Canada or Australia. The rest of the planet seems to be a sea of almost Marxist opinion writing, originating in academia, Europe, and the MSM.
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