Christopher Hitchens

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AzariLoveIran

Christopher Hitchens

Post by AzariLoveIran »

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quote from a friend :
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I once admired Hitchens but then he became terrified of Islam as a global threat & all his opinions became twisted by this.

The last 30mins of this YouTube clip show a broader view of Hitchens beliefs.

He became obsessed with the cause of Eretz Israel and agreed generally with Paul Wolfovitz approach to the Middle East.

I do not miss him now.
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Azrael
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Re: Christopher Hitchens

Post by Azrael »

Perhaps decades of alcoholism fried too many brain cells.
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Ibrahim
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Re: Christopher Hitchens

Post by Ibrahim »

The most excoriating things I've read about Hitchens following his death were written by former friends and colleagues, and they all framed his late-stage conversion to slobbering warmonger as a consequence of two character traits that he displayed throughout his life:

1. He was desperately looking for a great struggle of his generation, in the style of WW2.

2. He never admitted he was wrong, no matter what.

So its easy to see how, post 9/11, he thought he was in the middle of one of the great good-vs-evil moments in history, and why he wouldn't back down on his initial enthusiasm even as the heroic war against evil dissolved into corruption, torture, murder, and outright pointlessness.
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Re: Christopher Hitchens

Post by monster_gardener »

Ibrahim wrote:The most excoriating things I've read about Hitchens following his death were written by former friends and colleagues, and they all framed his late-stage conversion to slobbering warmonger as a consequence of two character traits that he displayed throughout his life:

1. He was desperately looking for a great struggle of his generation, in the style of WW2.

2. He never admitted he was wrong, no matter what.

So its easy to see how, post 9/11, he thought he was in the middle of one of the great good-vs-evil moments in history, and why he wouldn't back down on his initial enthusiasm even as the heroic war against evil dissolved into corruption, torture, murder, and outright pointlessness.
Thank you Very Much for your post, Ibrahim.
why he wouldn't back down on his initial enthusiasm even as the heroic war against evil dissolved into corruption, torture, murder, and outright pointlessness.[/
IMVHO not so much...............

I recall Hitchens allowing himself to be waterboarded and then pronouncing waterboarding to be torture to the dismay of his allies neo/conservative/whatever who wish to pretend otherwise............
Well, then, if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7u-Wk1aU-E

If it was the alcohol that gave Hitchens his courage and thirst :wink: for truth, perhaps we/US should find out what brand of whiskey he drank* but IMVHO I think it was more than that...........

*with apologies to Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant
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Ibrahim
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Re: Christopher Hitchens

Post by Ibrahim »

monster_gardener wrote: IMVHO not so much...............

I recall Hitchens allowing himself to be waterboarded and then pronouncing waterboarding to be torture to the dismay of his allies neo/conservative/whatever who wish to pretend otherwise............

He didn't do the exact same kind of waterboarding that the US gov used against detainees (something about being on an incline vs. being flat) but he did correctly label it torture.

However, he continued to support the Iraq and Afghan wars, and never spoke against the practice of detaining whomever for however long without any kind of trial or external review process.
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Re: Christopher Hitchens

Post by monster_gardener »

Ibrahim wrote:
monster_gardener wrote: IMVHO not so much...............

I recall Hitchens allowing himself to be waterboarded and then pronouncing waterboarding to be torture to the dismay of his allies neo/conservative/whatever who wish to pretend otherwise............

He didn't do the exact same kind of waterboarding that the US gov used against detainees (something about being on an incline vs. being flat) but he did correctly label it torture.

However, he continued to support the Iraq and Afghan wars, and never spoke against the practice of detaining whomever for however long without any kind of trial or external review process.
Thank you Very Much for your post, Ibrahim.

He didn't do the exact same kind of waterboarding that the US gov used against detainees (something about being on an incline vs. being flat) but he did correctly label it torture.
Very Fair Enough......................

Hitchens himself admits that: was in more or less friendly hands, knew he wasn't going back to a cell etc..... Still was BAD........ and brave to have a second go at it................

Noted in the comments section of the video that other conservative commentators, notably ManCow :wink: Mueller, had the Bull :wink: courage to do it too....

It's true.......... ManCow didn't go as full force as Hitchens in his waterboarding: not tied down etc...........but he too said it was torture............

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However, he continued to support the Iraq and Afghan wars, and never spoke against the practice of detaining whomever for however long without any kind of trial or external review process.
Don't know if I have Hitchen's courage but I might be willing to try out Club Gitmo :wink: ..........

Joking aside, I know that even "country club" white collar criminals complain about the loss of freedom..............

What to do with "War on Terror" detainees............ Ron Paul is IMVHO right on the need to declare war............. POWs can be held for the duration of the conflict or until they are exchanged, give parole..........
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Orion Must Rise: Killer Space Rocks Coming Our way
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