Reply #6: How about the lie [View All]

[charlie]

that this is a fresh column? It reads like he plagiarized his 1983 scribblings on Beirut. Stay the course. We're liberating, not invading. We (Israelis) were received with celebration and flowers, we have solid popular support. A westernized Lebanon will be the lynchpin for a democratic renaissance in the mideast. Nevermind the embassy bombing, the 241 dead Marines, failure cannot be countenanced, Beirut would become sanctuary for Arafat ("the Chief of Terrorism") to export terror to Israel and the world. It only looks like ad-hoc-ery, we have a plan. We don't need an exit strategy, success is the exit strategy.

I'll bet Safire was using the same erase-and-replace template for his writings during Vietnam.