February 02
2005
Jenkins at it again
» Posted on February 2, 2005 10:45 PM » Category: Iraq

It's something of a relief that Sir Simon is back to his usual self: plain wrong.

His piece today is simply breathtaking in its arrogant, patronising, defeatist nonsense. Amidst a sea of misstatements, half truths and wilful misinterpretations, one statement stands out as typical of the bizarre world view from Jenkins Towers:

America refused to acknowledge Yassir Arafat as a democrat...

Hello? In what world do the words 'Arafat' and 'democrat' hang together? Praise the recent Palestinian elections, yes. But Arafat? The man who went beyond even the Sinn Fein slogan "with an Armalite in one hand and a ballot box in the other". For Arafat it was an Armalite in one hand and a suicide murderer on the other.

How this man is taken seriously is quite beyond me.

(The sentence

There were active, contested elections in Palestine in 1996, Egypt in 2000, Iran in 2001 and Pakistan in 2002.

runs the above a pretty close second. Sir Simon clearly has a different idea of what a contested election involves than the traditional definition of free speech and a free contest.)


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Comments

Stephen, well said! I was going to write something similar over at Samizdata but you saved me the job. How Jenkins is taken seriously is one of the great mysteries of our age. His remarks about how Iraq is a devastated country is beyond parody - did he think life was swell under Saddam? He also insinuated that Iraq could have gone democratic in time, ignoring the brutal repressions of the Kurds and Shiites by Saddam and the difficulty of starting reform there while the man was in power. Jenkins analysis is extraordinarily bad.

I really cannot figure this man out. He writes often eloquently about democracry and the need to diffuse power, but he has written a thoroughly nasty piece about one of the most amazing democratic elections in my lifetime. What a buffoon.

Stated by: Johnathan on February 3, 2005 9:38 AM

Isn't he moving to The Guardian soon? That'd suit him better

Stated by: andrewf on February 3, 2005 11:23 AM

Stephen, I perfectly agree with you.

Stated by: Leon B on February 3, 2005 12:27 PM

I have a lot of time for Simon Jenkins on many subjects, but I disagree profoundly with him on others.

He is wrong in this article to claim "Just as Washington and London supported Saddam (and sold him ghastly weapons) when it suited them, etc."

Washington and London may well have supported him. However, independent reports have long demonstrated that it was primarily the Russians, French, Chinese and Germans who sold him weapons. The UK sold him comparatively little and the US sold him almost nothing.

Stated by: HJHJ on February 3, 2005 5:48 PM

I suppose Sir Simon would think that the Saddam legitimacy referendum in 2002 (campaign song: "I will always love you") qualifies as an election too? Or perhaps the USSR 1936 constitution shows the Soviet commitment to democracy?

I hate the way the lefties are trying to deny the legitimacy of the election. Either that, or saying it's a great day, whilst not being able to come to terms with the fact its only a great day because of Bush.

Stated by: Ken on February 3, 2005 11:52 PM

Dear Stephen

I am would like to send a very personal brochure to Sir Max Hastings. Could you please let me know where I can send it that it gets to him personaly? It is very confidential.

Thanks for your help
With regards
Vajihe soleymani

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