The Flowers Bloom Like Magic in the Spring

Seriously, isn't it time that we banish fucking Kissinger to some decrepit parkbench, like Aqualung? Shouldn't he be feeding pigeons? Isn't the era of the crackpot Merwerkdigliebe past? Aren't our contemporary monsters supposed to be made of logos and high-definition feeds and iPhones and Facebook profiles? Why does this flesh-and-blood reptile continue to haunt us? Shouldn't he be sunning himself on a rock out on some nuclear Nevada proving ground, sucking blood and bile out of little girls impaled on curly straws? Can't he slink off to a decent Nazi-themed S&M party like other men of his generation, or enact his Saloian imagination in his own private redoubt, far from the madding crowd, far from me? When will it end, oh Lord, when will it end?

The American presence in Iraq should not be presented as open-ended; this would not be supported by either Iraqi or American domestic opinion. But neither should it be put forward in terms of rigid deadlines. Striking this balance is a way for our country to come together as a constructive outcome emerges. Thirty years ago, Congress cut off aid to Vietnam and Cambodia two years after American troops had been withdrawn and local forces were still desperate to resist. Domestic divisions had overcome all other considerations. We must not repeat the tragedy that followed.

The next president has a great opportunity to stabilize Iraq and lay the basis for a decisive turn in the war against jihadist radicalism and for a more peaceful Middle East. Surely he will want to assess the situation on the ground before setting a strategy for his term. He should not be limited by rigid prescriptions to vindicate maxims of the past, no matter how plausible they once seemed. Withdrawal is a means; the end is a more peaceful and hopeful world.

Cut off aid to . . . desperate to resist . . . domestic . . . Hey, you know, FUCK YOU, Henry, you whore.