alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

September 27, 2006

Strawman Watch

by AltHippo @ 10:20 am. Filed under rhetorical fallacy

William Arkin writes on Early Warning that both the Right and the Left are Wrong (but he, of course, is certain that he’s on the money):

The simplistic story line that the Democrats are pushing is all about and solely about Iraq: withdraw U.S. forces, defeat the Republicans, tidy up foreign policy by giving human rights to prisoners and being nicer in the world, and voila, terror subsides.

This is a poor summary of the positions expressed by Senator Biden and Ambassador Galbraith (aka, partitioning). A decent summary here. It’s also a poor summary of Murtha’s position (strategic redployment). A modified version of Murtha’s strategic redeployment is summarized in this TomPaine.com article.

These two plans represent mainstream Democratic thought on moving forward in Iraq. Most readers will find that it’s very different from “giving human rights to prisoners and being nicer in the world.”

I’m not sure what Arkin used as a basis for “The Left”. A cartoon based on a Free Republic parody of a Michael Moore film? The voices in his head?

Not only is withdrawal (or “cut and run” as Arkin would likely put it) a Democratic proposition, it’s also an Iraqi proposition. As this WaPo article notes, cutting and running would be okay by the Iraqis:

BAGHDAD, Sept. 26 — A strong majority of Iraqis want U.S.-led military forces to immediately withdraw from the country, saying their swift departure would make Iraq more secure and decrease sectarian violence, according to new polls by the State Department and independent researchers.

Does Arkin think the Iraqis are also wrong? Or, perhaps he believes that the Bushies fondness for benevelont global hegemony trumps what Iraqis want?

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hip·po·pot·a·mus n. A notion, perhaps distinct from conventional wisdom, that needs to be verified by reality-based scrutiny.

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