Thomas Friedman on the Iraq War

For those of you who follow these things, Friedman was a supporter of the war in Iraq. Here, he defends his position by starting off saying that he's not a neo-con, but a neo-liberal...

The guy consistently writes intelligent, well-informed articles about many world issues. And you probably don't know this, but he wrote an article about India's secular democracy and it's then-sputtering economy way back in 2002, before it was cool to hype India. Here's an excerpt:

The more time you spend in India the more you realize that this teeming, multiethnic, multireligious, multilingual country is one of the world's great wonders -- a miracle with message. And the message is that democracy matters.

...

No, India is not paradise. Just last February the Hindu nationalist B.J.P. government in the state of Gujarat stirred up a pogrom by Hindus against Muslims that left 600 Muslims, and dozens of Hindus, dead. It was a shameful incident, and in a country with 150 million Muslims -- India has the largest Muslim minority in the world -- it was explosive. And do you know what happened?

Nothing happened.

The rioting didn't spread anywhere. One reason is the long history of Indian Muslims and Hindus living together in villages and towns, sharing communal institutions and mixing their cultures and faiths. But the larger reason is democracy. The free Indian press quickly exposed how the local Hindu government had encouraged the riots for electoral purposes, and the national B.J.P. had to distance itself from Gujarat because it rules with a coalition, many of whose members rely on Muslim votes to get re-elected. Democracy in India forces anyone who wants to succeed nationally to appeal across ethnic lines.

Published way back in the NYT on August 14, 2002.

Anyhow, below are his views on Iraq. This was written in October, 2005. Ok, I'm a little slow in picking up these things, but it's still makes for an interesting read.

On Iraq: What Was I Thinking? Here's What.

PS. Unfortunately, you need to be a TimesSelect member to view the article.