Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Richard Falk on Christopher Hitchens

I knew Christopher Hitchens casually, envied his rhetorical fluency, abhorred his interventionist cheerleading, and was offended by his arrogantly dismissive manner toward those he deemed his inferiors in debate or discussion. Perhaps, his sociopathic arrogance is epitomized by the kind of explanation he often gave of why he was such a heavy drinker, as for instance, ”..because it makes other people less boring. I have a great terror of being bored.” I confess that someone who needs to drink hard liquor to bear the company of others likely to be a bore, if not a boor! Presumably as result of his profligate life style, Hitchens surprisingly graduated from Oxford with rather paltry third class honors. If some non-academic institution of appraisal were available to offset Hitchens’ undeniable gifts of the mind with his deficiencies of character and heart, the Oxford grade would seem deserved even if Hitchens had been a dutiful student.

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15 comments:

  1.   "I was particularly appalled one time when we were on a panel together by the way he insulted a member of the audience for putting a question awkwardly. There was something so chilling about this revelation of character as to cancel out for me his brilliance of expression reinforced by an astonishing erudition. It coheres with his willingness to forgo second thoughts about his advocacy of launching an unlawful aggressive war against Iraq, despite the false pretenses and bloody ordeal that the Iraqi people endured, and continue to endure."

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  2. Remember when George Galloway called Hitchens a popinjay, and sent US journalists scurrying off to consult their dictionaries?

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  3. Has Galloway repented for backing Saddam and taking bribes from Saddam? Gallaway is one of the worst Brits of his generation. He gives England a bad name.

    Don't attack the Hitch. He was a good man. He was loyal to the more than 30 million Kurds. The Kurds have been severely oppressed for over a thousand years. Far more harshly oppressed than Palestinians. More harshly repressed than Jews.

    The Hitch was always loyal to the Kurds. The Kurds [their mother religion is Yezidi] deserve friends too.

    Who else stood by the Kurds?

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  4. The Iraqi civil war started in 1975 or 1980. The Hitch was on the right side. Was England on the right side?

    The Hitch was good even though he was English. Hitch never failed to criticize English imperialism.

    Gallaway by contrast is an imperialist who hated and hates Kurds and backed sectarian sunni arab militias against them.

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  5. Can you back thaat last comment up with fact?
    Seems to me the Kurds had it better before the war when they had a no fly zone overhead and effectively had their own country.

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  6. George Galloway is a Scot, so how does he give England a bad name, bahinchot?
    Which Kurds was the slavering drunk loyal to? The Barzani Kurds who slaughtered Zibari Kurds, who cosied up to Saddam Hussein when the PUK Kurds were fighting him, who helped the Turkish military to hunt down and kill Kurdish refugees from Turkey, who helped Khomeini to put down Iranian Kurdish rebels?
    Or was it the PUK Kurds who cosied up to Saddam when the Barzani Kurds were fighting him.

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  7. I am confused. What statement?

    The Kurds in Iraq are clearly better off. The vast majority of Kurdis Iraqis say so when asked.

    In all the recent polls I have seen, a majority of Iraqis say it was worth it. However the vast majority of Sunni Arabs [and probably Christians, although I haven't seen them broken out] say it was not. The answer to these polls is sectarian.

    Today the Kurds have substantial influence over the Iraqi government. The Kurds can bring down Maliki's government at will. If Allawi comes to power, he would also be controlled by the Kurds. Only a unity Maliki/Allawi government could govern Iraq without the Kurds. For now Maliki prefers to cozy up to Kurds than Sunni Arab parties.

    Iraq is a much less violent place than it has been since at least 1980. [In 1980 the great Khomeini backed Iraqi revolt against Saddam began.] Iraq is also a much richer country now than it has been anytime since 1989. By many measures since 1981.

    Iraq is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. One of my friends just attended an international energy conference in Iraq.

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  8. Galloway is so bad. Feel sad for the Scotts. The Scotts have suffered enough because of English imperialism. But to now have to endure Galloway. :(   Very very sad!

    Please don't make fun of the Barzanis and Talabanis. I like both of them . . . a lot. The Hitch was loyal to the both of them and the more than 70 thousand brave peshmerga who marched alongside international forces in liberating Iraq (they got support from Europe, America and Iran). [Let us not also forget the contribution of the 30 thousand SCIRI (ISCI now) Badr freedom fighters (who Khamenei and America both supported)] who also liberated Iraq in April, 2003. Chalabi and the INC also made an important contribution. Chalabi was close to the Sadrists at the time, which means that Chalabi/Sadr also helped liberate Iraq.

    The Hitch supported the Peshmerga and their seperate allegiance to Kurdistan versus the Iraqi Army. Hitch also supported the Iraqi army. I don't know why Hitch wasn't as positive towards Al Dawa and ISCI/SCIRI/Badr as I was. Confusing.

    The PKK are terrorists. Kurdistan helps the Turks against them.

    My biggest differences with Hitchens outside of God and faith was on Turkey. Why couldn't the Hitch appreciate the greatness of Turkey, an emerging great global superpower?

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  9. anan (You brainless piece of trash)
    <span>Do you read what you write ?</span>
    <span>eg. " Please don't make fun of the Barzanis and Talabanis. I like both of them ."</span>
    <span>"Galloway is so bad. Feel sad for the Scotts. "</span>
    What gives you the right to ask anyone to respect your opinion when you never miss an opperunity to mock others . 

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  10. Vaa, respect you. Have learnt a lot from you and hope to continue learning from you. Any mocking was inintentional. Please let me know if it happened.

    Is mentioning how Galloway took bribes from Saddam Hussein [as a sitting member of the British parliament], engaged in treason against the english people and world, and backed Saddam through the worst of Saddam's genocides = mocking?

    That was not my intent. I can't think of a worse Britisher than Galloway, and that is saying a lot.

    The Hitch wrote a book on the crimes of Kissenger [please read it], so England isn't the only place with bad people. Gallaway was Kissenger on steroids.

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  11. anan
    You never miss an oppertunity to disrespect all on this blog , simply by commenting such garbage yet you allude yorself and call it respect.

    You have problems with anyone who's not your sect and tribe , you're a racist bigot piece of deadshit. 

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  12. <span>"So England isn't the only place with bad people. "</span>


    Racist bigot . You're the kind of something that i can get volatile with if i ever put my hands on you misreable bastard .(respectifully). 

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  13. "Please don't make fun of the Barzanis and Talabanis"
    You whiny little twat. You think I'm making fun of murderers? I'm expressing hatred for them and their blood-soaked history, and contempt for all who try to depict them as heroes or freedom fighters, e.g., your devious, slimy self, and the shape changer Hitchens.

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  14. TGIA and VAA, you saw what Jemmy wrote about the Barzanis and Talabanis, and about the Kurds in general.

    It was widely said by Iraqis, including the brave lions in the Iraqi Army that the English were backing the "resistance" that was attacking the Government of Iraq, Iraqi Army and Iraqi people.

    Is it any surprise that so many Iraqis believed this?

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  15. Suffering Jesus, the lions are back. Do they rock, Lal Bhujjakar?
    "the English were backing the resistance"
    Where did you learn this? From your study of the Lal Kitab, or was it in the elusive Haqqani papers?

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