Posted by
Katie Favazza on Tuesday, May 06, 2008 5:40:06 PM
Last week, I recounted a short question from my interview with George Will about his new book, "One Man's America." Here is another question and answer from that discussion.
KF: Included in the "Paths
to the Present" chapter is a column from last September about Normandy, in which you comment on the
popular "War is not the answer" bumper stickers. You say, "It is well to
remember that whether war is the answer depends on the question." I know you
come right out in the introduction and call this book "an Iraq-free zone," but
I couldn’t help but wonder: What is "the question" for the situation in Iraq
today?
GW: "Well the question today is, 'what do we do now?'
T.S. Eliot defined success as what we make of the mess we’ve
made. We want to succeed in Iraq.
Treasure has been sunk, blood has been lost, lives have been lost. We clearly
can’t walk away now.
As Colin Powell presciently said to the president before the
Iraq
invasion, “Remember the Pottery Barn rule: If you break it, you own it.” We are
now morally complicit and as well as politically entangled with Iraq.
It’s all very well to say, and I will cheerfully say,
knowing what we know now: we should never have gone in. But that’s an academic
exercise."
What does Will say about today's "general entitlement mentality" and "bailout culture?" What is "a quiet epidemic" in America today? What does Will think is a sign of "lazy writing?"
For these answers and more, check out "The Bookshelf" in the June issue of
Townhall Magazine for more of my interview.
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