Hard-line right-wing war hawk Max Boot applauds Hillary Clinton in op-ed

[realmirage]

49. Since you prefer insults to putting forth smart arguments

let me explain to you why your question is still not a good one. First, a clue to the problem with your question lies in your lack of understanding of the wars in Syria, Libya, and Iraq, as you attempted to equate all three. When I see someone making such false assumptions, the first question I ask is - what other false assumptions are they making? After asking you for clarification, you walked back your "regime change" theory and now are simply going with "Boot knows nothing about foreign affairs" while sticking with a characterization of him as a one dimensional evil war profiteer. Let's look at both of those.

First, the only source in this entire thread is the notoriously shitty Salon. But even in this article, which does a terrible job of supporting its assertions, I find things that counter its own premise. Boot cites NATO - Trump being against it, Hillary for it - as a big reason for preferring Hillary's foreign policy. Alliances in the war against ISIS I'd say are very important. So I give Boot credit for understanding that. Trump is an isolationist who simultaneously wants to "bomb the shit out of ISIS" as his military strategy. Boot's reaction to this? - "Donald Trump does not have a serious foreign policy thought in his head. He has no ideas, he only has impulses — and those impulses change every 30 seconds." Sounds to me like Boot agrees with nearly every Democrat here.

Now let's look at your simplification of Boot as just some evil supporter of war profiteers. In that same interview Salon cited, Boot says he's pro immigration, anti-tea party, and calls Trump a "fascist demagogue." He also says there's a "vein of xenophobia, protectionism, racism, and other sentiments out there" that accounts for a "significant share" of Trump's base. Does this sound like the caricature you put forth of Boot as some one dimensional, evil war profiteer?

It sounds to me like you heard someone say he supported the Iraq war, then boiled him down to some cartoon character who couldn't possibly have any knowledge of foreign affairs or care about anything or anyone. Except the facts show differently.

Here's a final quote from the Boot interview. You tell me if he sounds like an insane, evil war profiteer, or like a reasonable person who (while I disagree with many of his political stances) is not an insane person and whose support of Hillary on foreign policy makes perfect sense. Note also that he has learned somewhat from his past beliefs on the Iraq invasion. (emphasized in bold)

"Trump loves dictators. He praises Putin, he loved the Tiananmen Square crackdown, he praises Kim Jong-Un. He said Saddam Hussein was great because he killed terrorists, which is a hell of a way to characterize the hundreds of thousands of victims Saddam Hussein claimed.

At the same time, he saves his venom for democratic allies like South Korea, Japan, and Germany because he thinks they're freeloaders. That's because, as he's repeatedly said, he admires strength and leadership, and people like Putin have it.

I do think there's been a swing in the Republican Party against the perceived excesses of the George W. Bush administration. I don't think we should go around, necessarily, toppling every dictator in the world — but I also don't think embracing these murderous thugs is going to be the solution to our foreign policy problems. And I think Donald Trump is certainly prone to embracing them."


Am I saying I agree with Boot on everything? No, but the evidence I provided you with showed the danger of turning those you don't agree with on everything into cartoon characters who are without souls or brains. Many of us have family who disagree with us on political matters, but we don't go around saying those family members are evil people who care only about getting blood money.

Also, going around condescending to people isn't very attractive. Get your facts first. Research things. Don't just react to headlines and run with it.