Stephen Walt partner of Mearshiemer in Jew hating got it wrong on Libya ROFL

[mord]

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/02/028474.php  




Pretense and Delusion, Libya Edition
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February 26, 2011 Posted by John at 11:04 AM

We have written a number of times about Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, whose virulent anti-Israel crusade has contributed to ignorance about the Middle East. At Urgent Agenda, our friend Bill Katz notes that Walt's myopia has extended to Libya in a manner that, given current events, supplies today's ration of black comedy. Last year, Walt visited Libya. He was impressed by what he saw:

    Although Libya is far from a democracy, it also doesn't feel like other police states that I have visited. ...

    It is also a crime to criticize Qaddafi himself, the government's past human rights record is disturbing at best, and the press in Libya is almost entirely government-controlled. Nonetheless, Libya appears to be more open than contemporary Iran or China and the overall atmosphere seemed far less oppressive than most places I visited in the old Warsaw Pact. . .

    The remarkable improvement in U.S.-Libyan relations reminds us that deep political conflicts can sometimes be resolved without recourse to preventive war or "regime change." One hopes that the United States and Libya continue to nurture and build a constructive relationship, and that economic and political reform continues there.

 
That "remarkable improvement in U.S.-Libyan relations" is really paying off for us. This is one more reminder of what a foreign policy based on pretense and delusion leads to. Unfortunately, as Bill Katz notes, "academics like Walt are just the kind invited to give lectures to high-ranking government and military officials, which is one reason we often get things so wrong."


http://www.urgentagenda.com/PERMALINKS%20VI/FEBRUARY%202011/24.DELETE.HTML?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d67570a76a92313%2C0  





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GUESS HE FORGOT TO HIT THE "DELETE" BUTTON – AT 9:20 A.M. ET:  You've no doubt watched as a parade of Mideast "experts" crossed your television screen, giving us the benefit of their vast wisdom and knowledge.  Some are good, some are great, like Fouad Ajami of Johns Hopkins, whom we often quote here, and some are world-class duds, who couldn't learn the difference between red and green on a traffic light.

Among the duds we now count one Stephen Walt of Harvard.  Walt is famous for writing, along with his partner in crime, Professor John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, a book-length smear of American supporters of Israel that was, to put it mildly, factually challenged.  As The Wall Street Journal reports, Walt, last year, wrote this about his excellent adventure in Libya:

    Although Libya is far from a democracy, it also doesn't feel like other police states that I have visited. I caught no whiff of an omnipresent security service—which is not to say that they aren't there. . . . The Libyans with whom I spoke were open and candid and gave no sign of being worried about being overheard or reported or anything like that. . . . I tried visiting various political websites from my hotel room and had no problems, although other human rights groups report that Libya does engage in selective filtering of some political websites critical of the regime. It is also a crime to criticize Qaddafi himself, the government's past human rights record is disturbing at best, and the press in Libya is almost entirely government-controlled. Nonetheless, Libya appears to be more open than contemporary Iran or China and the overall atmosphere seemed far less oppressive than most places I visited in the old Warsaw Pact. . . .

    The remarkable improvement in U.S.-Libyan relations reminds us that deep political conflicts can sometimes be resolved without recourse to preventive war or "regime change." One hopes that the United States and Libya continue to nurture and build a constructive relationship, and that economic and political reform continues there. (I wouldn't mind seeing more dramatic political reform—of a different sort—here too).

COMMENT:  If you're debating where to go on your next vacation, better not call Stevie. In fact, better not call a lot of the academics we're seeing on TV these days, "scholars" whose professorships are sometimes subsidized by the Saudis or other worthies.

Maybe journalists will start doing real research again and question some academics on their past statements about the Mideast.  Might make for some genuinely embarrassing conversation.

The sad fact, though, is that academics like Walt are just the kind invited to give lectures to high-ranking government and military officials, which is one reason we often get things so wrong.

February 24, 2011