Dead Horse Dept

When I saw the half-page-above-the-fold Muravchik editoral in the Sunday edition of my local rag I was sorely tempted to take the editoral staff to task for such dreck onto their unsuspecting readers. But other duties called and time passed. Fortunately I wasn't the only one with that visceral response. I offer you the words of Timothy Mesford:

"Joshua Muravchik's editorial 'Can neocons get their groove back?' (Nov. 26) was a near-perfect example of neoconservative denial of reality and responsibility. It was stunning to read him unabashedly supporting U.S. military intervention (or the threat of it) as a near-universal panacea for global problems, then criticizing Middle East political culture as the root cause of terrorism -- without a trace of irony, blaming it on their 'habit of conducting politics by means of violence.'

Even more ridiculously disengenuous was his assertion that 'few neocons have served in the Bush administration,' specifically claiming that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are 'traditional conservatives' rather than neocons. Of course, Cheney and Rumsfeld are both members of the Project for the New American Century (www. newamericancentury.org/), one of the premier neoconservative think tanks. PNAC produced the report 'Rebuilding America's Defenses' (www.newamericancentury.org/ RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf), laying out (in September 2000) the neocon rationale for invasion of Iraq.

Though the neocon rats now desert the sinking ship of Iraq (www.vanityfair.com/politics/ features/2006/12/neocons 200612), their habitual lies and hypocrisy continue unabated.

As long as they are given a voice, they will use it to drag America down their ruinous path.

TIMOTHY MESFORD, Richland"