From a reader:
Mr. Robinson,
Just a quick remark on the interview you conducted
recently with Hitch….
[T]his enlightened rambling
produced, in my view, one of the most important points
that could have been made at this juncture in the war
– Bush’s inability to articulate to Americans the
utter disaster that awaits Iraq if we should withdraw
within the next year. It is all too easy to grow
uncomfortable and impatient in this country without
comprehending the terrifying consequences of a
precipitous withdrawal from the region. We cannot, as
Hitchens said, even conceive of the vulgar
possibilities that will arise from handing over Iraq
and its people to Al-Qaeda and an assorted mess of
other sectarian groups. This is too important to get
wrong….
I happen to be a liberal who agrees with Hitchens on
most issues, but to those conservatives who do not –
remember that we cannot forget what led us to see
eye-to-eye in the first place. We have seen a common
enemy in Islamic Fundamentalism, and while often at
odds ourselves, we understand the stakes in this
keystone nation in the Middle East. May we always be
willing to offer what solidarity we can to the Iraqi
people, regardless of what the opinion polls offer us.