Return of the Radio Star

The radio appearance went fine (albeit brief). I said my bit in response to Debbie Schlussel, who argued that we needed far more troops than 20,000 (she said more like 200,000) to make an impact. Basically, I pointed out that a) where are we going to find that many troops, and b) there's no political will to send those troops, and no political will to keep them there. So all we'll see is perhaps a temporary increase in security, and then everything will fall apart again.

What was rather surreal was what happened next. Who do the hosts recruit to respond to my (ever so erudite) comment? None other than Richard Perle, former Assistant Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, noted neo-conservative, PNACer, and current fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. In other words, a big name, certainly in the neo-con circles that have driven Iraqi policy for this administration.

Kind of flattering when you think about it. To be honest, though, he made pretty weak points I thought. Basically, he thought that if the surge worked (and he wasn't even willing to commit to that), it would show Americans we were winning, restoring our faith in the war effort and thus giving us the space to undertake in more longterm reconstruction projects. The prospect that the escalation will actually restore American confidence in the war such that we would support remaining in country for another half dozen years or so struck me as delusional, but alas, they cut to news before I could say anything.

Still, a whole bunch of fun for me.

Oh, and ironically, I just got an email from the host of the political talk show I do at Carleton. Everyone else is out today, so I'm doing the normally 4-person show solo.